This surprised me by its sense of urgency - the writer-director had a point to make and did - with a straight ahead drive, never straying from powering the plot along with extraneous moments. I'd have guessed its running time to be less than 104 minutes. Unleash the Savage Instincts: The Melting Toupee of Ray Milland: David Del Valle Talks Frogs (1972) March 2, 2018

House of Mortal Sin : Anthony Sharp, Susan Penhaligon House of Mortal Sin : Anthony Sharp, Susan Penhaligon

It's almost as if he could see into the future, or maybe he knew what only a few people did, but this was a time well before the truth came out about the perversions which The Church… adultery, divorce, polygamy, incest, free unions (cohabitation, concubinage),and fornicationor sexual acts before or outside of marriage As the tortured priest, Anthony Sharp brilliantly veers between whining, childish self-pity and stone-faced, stone-hearted bombast, characterising the hypocrisy that Walker sees in the Catholic Church. Happy to leave his mother to the depredations of Sheila Keith's vicious housekeeper, manipulating the young people who come to him for help, and blaming his actions on other people, Meldrum is a monster.

See also

Lying(in some cases CCC 2484), false witnessand perjury(CCC 2476 ), rash judgment, detraction, calumny(CCC 2477) , adulation(CCC 2480), violation of the sacramental seal(2490) and divulgation of professional secrets(2491)

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suicide and voluntary cooperationin it, insofar as it is a grave offense against the just love of God, of self, and of neighbor. One’s responsibility may be aggravated by the scandal given; one who is psychologically disturbed or is experiencing grave fear may have diminished responsibility. Gods and Monsters: Son of Frankenstein (1939): Doing it for the Kids, Karloff’s Last Monster Show March 30, 2020 Story has vulnerable young woman (Penhaligon) going to Confession, where she is harassed by the priest whose fatherly concerns have a sinister element. He turns out to be a crazed killer, stemming from his mother (yawn!!) who still lives with him in a semi-vegetable state. It doesn't take much plot before we find out, but in the meantime we're treated to a brief introduction to the rest of the cast - young priest Bernard Cutler, who very nearly runs over friend Jenny (Susan Penhaligon) in his car, Jenny's boyfriend (typical 70s bloke complete with comedy cravat), who's busy moving OUT of their flat above Jenny's sister's (Stephanie Beacham) shop. Solid performances here. Sheila Keith could gaslight me and shove food down my throat anytime. If nothing else, I'm so glad I discovered her performances. All are unforgettable.After having been told by a friend about Pete Walker's warped Women In Prison film House of Whipcord,I decided that I should first pay a visit to Walker's "religious Giallo" at the House of Mortal Sin. House of Mortal Sin is similar to House of Whipcord, as Walker turns his sights on a priest who takes it upon himself to cleanse people of their sins. There will be blood of course. Even here, there are two important caveats. On the one hand, not every violation of the Ten Commandments is a mortal sin. For instance, the person who steals a dollar is not necessarily damned. On the other hand, not every mortal sin is a direct and obvious violation of the Ten Commandments. St. Thomas Aquinas considers this objection directly in considering the sin of gluttony: “Every mortal sin is contrary to a precept of the Decalogue: and this, apparently, does not apply to gluttony.” Aquinas argues that gluttony is an indirect violation of the Third Commandment (keeping the Sabbath holy) by turning us away from holiness. That’s a strange answer, but he explains: “Mortal sins are not all directly opposed to the precepts of the Decalogue [Ten Commandments], but only those which contain injustice: because the precepts of the Decalogue pertain specially to justice and its parts.” In other words, the Ten Commandments lay out “the first principles” of the moral law; they’re not an exhaustive list of every serious sin. The right question is this: is this the kind of behavior that places something else above God or turns me away from God? If so, it’s grave matter. I wanted to revisit some of Pete Walker's filmography because it's been over a decade since I've seen any of his '70s horror films and when they popped up in Arrow's "last chance" streaming section it was time to jog my memory. I may have remembered some of the movies more fondly than I should have and I blame this entirely on how much I love Sheila Keith. While I will freely admit House of Mortal Sin is the better movie, I preferred her character in Frightmare, something about her as a deranged cannibal satiating loneliness with reading tarot cards for other lonely souls while also devouring their flesh suited her more, she had fun with that role but performed… I bought this movie as part of the Pete Walker Collection, a wonderful coffin shaped boxset containing this movie, along with FRIGHTMARE, THE HOUSE OF MORTAL SIN, THE HOUSE OF WHIPCORD and DIE SCREAMING MARIANNE. The said boxset is loaded with extras and is a must have for any fan of the director's movies.

House of Mortal Sin (1976) - IMDb

Paced nicely with some solid kills and some standout tension despite limited resources, House of Mortal Sin features a doozy of a turn from Anthony Sharp as a obsessive murderous priest who’s just keen enough to go under the radar when it comes to investigative suspicions despite spitting out ramblings of an overbearing delusional maniac who gets his ya-ya’s off while overseeing confession. Haven’t watched this in quite a long time and it was just the late night excursion into seedy giallo-esque trash that I needed. a disappointment, although it has its moments...The script relies too much on mild sacrilege for its effects, instead of concentrating on more interesting aspects of religious repression." ~ Time Out [5] The actual murders of the real and imagined heroine's lovers were horrific. The hospital scene where innocence collides with savagery left no doubt that the beast had won out - as he did through to the end. The death of the 'mistaken libertine' in his hospital bed had a sense of future doom.

What does “grave matter” mean? It means that the sin is serious. But how do we evaluate the seriousness of a sin? The Catechism is explicit about the grave nature of particular sins, including sacrilege (2120), blasphemy (2148), perjury (2152), deliberately avoiding Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation (2181), murder (2268), hatred of neighbor “when one deliberately desires him grave harm” (2303), prostitution (2355), sexual relations outside marriage (2390), and adulation that “makes one an accomplice in another’s vices or grave sins” (2480). St. Paul likewise gives lists in Galatians 5:19-21 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 of sins whose practitioners will not “inherit the kingdom of God.” But none of these lists is exhaustive. House of Mortal Sin", a.k.a. "The Confessional", is a very well made and engrossing picture, telling a story that is certain to push some buttons. Yet, he dares to make Meldrum a more than one dimensional character, one that could even earn some sympathy, despite the basic fact that this guy is a murderer. Of course, Meldrum doesn't quite see himself as the bad guy (although he does feel some guilt, especially after a case of mistaken identity). He naturally believes that he's on the side of Good, and this, coupled with the fact that people give little credence to Jenny's accusations, ensures that Meldrum seems to be untouchable. Walker gives the excellent Sharp and his favorite actress, Sheila Keith (as a nursemaid to Meldrums' bed- ridden mother), some real showcase moments towards the end, and they are riveting. The whole cast is fine, though, with Penhaligon, Stephanie Beacham (as Jenny's sister Vanessa), and Eshley delivering personable performances.