Two wackos kidnap young women, holding them captive in their cellar, always answering to dear old mama, who provides instructions and guidance to her sons. When they make the mistake of capturing a college student with some fight about her(..dating a Psyche professor who seeks after her), their devious operation falls off the rails(..a shameless reference to the train whose "character" is utilized to great effect by the director).
Director Don Jones(The Forest)based this sordid, trashy exploitation effort off of an idea that sprung up in his mind after noticing a newspaper article regarding the abandoned car off the highway by a missing girl. Echoing Hitchcock's Psycho, the demented duo of quietly menacing Frank(Gary Kent)and his nutty child-like(..he has the behavior of a kid around 8 always wanting to play children's games with his captives) brother Johnny(John Stoglin)are deeply motivated psychologically by their mother(..whose face is only seen in a flashback when Frank recounts the demise of a potential marriage to the only woman, other than mama, he ever loved to his recent rape victim)who was quite controlling and demanding of her boys. Stafford Morgan is the UCLA professor who doesn't take his college student girlfriend, Bonnie(Cheryl Waters)seriously when she comes to him about the fear of a stalker..that stalker being Johnny, who convinces mama to let him kidnap her.
What a trooper actress Suzanne Lund was as captive Ginger, because not only does her character endure the humiliating "playing Doctor" game with Johnny, she suffers a savage rape at the hands of Frank, whose anger is kindled by her unintentional provocation of his rage, attempting to get away from her captors through manipulative methods. Stoglin goes all out in the role of the misfit who demands his girls play games or else(..his method of intimidation is a pocket knife, for which he uses to threaten, but his behavior remains on a very adolescent level). Kent remains sullen and depressed, his violent outbursts ignited when his female victims attempt to escape from his grasp. His fate is quite unusual for these types of films, but director Jones establishes that Frank is an unstable, very burdened character suffering emotional conflicts. I will admit that Kent isn't exactly a multi-dimensional actor, but his build and menacing eyes make up for his weaknesses. The location(..the house and miles, it seems, of orange groves that isolate it)is ideal for a movie about two weirdos, suffering a mother complex, who hide women away from the outside world. TR Blackburn is Stevie, the first kidnapped victim(..who is ill with pneumonia, and about completely mad)who remains bedridden throughout. Interesting is how the two surviving girls, Ginger and Stevie, are incredibly weak and only when Bonnie, a much tougher broad, is introduced into this bleak, oppressive environment, does hope exist perhaps for them.
Besides a point-of-view shot from the eyes of a tragic victim(..with the creaky noise of rope on wood)looking down on Johnny returning Bonnie to the house after an attempted escape, I think the best sequence is where victim Sue(Merrie Lynn Ross)almost breaks free only for Frank to unload a shot gun blast into her back as a train passes..that feeling of grim damnation for those girls who wish to get away is set up by Jones. Very attractive lead actress, Cheryl Waters, went on to star in the cult film, Macon County Line. Of note, the film's official title(..a lurid title by the distributor cashing in on the rougher films on the market at the time), Schoolgirls in Chains, wasn't popular with director Jones or star Kent, and it is rather misleading..I agree with them that the European title, Abducted, is better suited for the film. When someone mentions the word, exploitation, Schoolgirls in Chains will always spring to my mind. I thought the final scene was rather superb, and it captures well the damage a horrible mother does to her children.
Director Don Jones(The Forest)based this sordid, trashy exploitation effort off of an idea that sprung up in his mind after noticing a newspaper article regarding the abandoned car off the highway by a missing girl. Echoing Hitchcock's Psycho, the demented duo of quietly menacing Frank(Gary Kent)and his nutty child-like(..he has the behavior of a kid around 8 always wanting to play children's games with his captives) brother Johnny(John Stoglin)are deeply motivated psychologically by their mother(..whose face is only seen in a flashback when Frank recounts the demise of a potential marriage to the only woman, other than mama, he ever loved to his recent rape victim)who was quite controlling and demanding of her boys. Stafford Morgan is the UCLA professor who doesn't take his college student girlfriend, Bonnie(Cheryl Waters)seriously when she comes to him about the fear of a stalker..that stalker being Johnny, who convinces mama to let him kidnap her.
What a trooper actress Suzanne Lund was as captive Ginger, because not only does her character endure the humiliating "playing Doctor" game with Johnny, she suffers a savage rape at the hands of Frank, whose anger is kindled by her unintentional provocation of his rage, attempting to get away from her captors through manipulative methods. Stoglin goes all out in the role of the misfit who demands his girls play games or else(..his method of intimidation is a pocket knife, for which he uses to threaten, but his behavior remains on a very adolescent level). Kent remains sullen and depressed, his violent outbursts ignited when his female victims attempt to escape from his grasp. His fate is quite unusual for these types of films, but director Jones establishes that Frank is an unstable, very burdened character suffering emotional conflicts. I will admit that Kent isn't exactly a multi-dimensional actor, but his build and menacing eyes make up for his weaknesses. The location(..the house and miles, it seems, of orange groves that isolate it)is ideal for a movie about two weirdos, suffering a mother complex, who hide women away from the outside world. TR Blackburn is Stevie, the first kidnapped victim(..who is ill with pneumonia, and about completely mad)who remains bedridden throughout. Interesting is how the two surviving girls, Ginger and Stevie, are incredibly weak and only when Bonnie, a much tougher broad, is introduced into this bleak, oppressive environment, does hope exist perhaps for them.
Besides a point-of-view shot from the eyes of a tragic victim(..with the creaky noise of rope on wood)looking down on Johnny returning Bonnie to the house after an attempted escape, I think the best sequence is where victim Sue(Merrie Lynn Ross)almost breaks free only for Frank to unload a shot gun blast into her back as a train passes..that feeling of grim damnation for those girls who wish to get away is set up by Jones. Very attractive lead actress, Cheryl Waters, went on to star in the cult film, Macon County Line. Of note, the film's official title(..a lurid title by the distributor cashing in on the rougher films on the market at the time), Schoolgirls in Chains, wasn't popular with director Jones or star Kent, and it is rather misleading..I agree with them that the European title, Abducted, is better suited for the film. When someone mentions the word, exploitation, Schoolgirls in Chains will always spring to my mind. I thought the final scene was rather superb, and it captures well the damage a horrible mother does to her children.