The US DVD by Mill Creek was compared to the US Blu-ray by Severin.

Dr. Julian Olcott starts his new job as a teacher in a remote boarding school for girls. Shortly after his arrival, he is confronted with a terrible crime. The student Mary blackmails the teacher Alfred Whiteman with offensive love letters he has written to her. When she secretly meets him one night, she becomes the victim of a brutal murder. The bite marks on her body indicate that she was attacked by a wild animal, but Mary's friend Priscilla isn't satisfied with it and tries to find out more about it. She learns of the love letters and suspects that Alfred or his wife Sheena are behind the murder. Julian is also suspicious because he was recently convicted and the murder was committed shortly after his arrival. But when more murders are committed, Priscilla realizes with horror that it's not a man but a werewolf who is behind the murders.

Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory is an Austrian/Italian co-production that has more in common with a whodunit than with a horror film. At the center of the film is Priscilla's investigative work, which reveals various dark secrets until the werewolf is exposed. Thus, one is confronted with various side characters, who are all sketchy, be it the dubious janitor, who pimps out the female students for money in exchange for sex or Alfred Whiteman, who has a weakness for young girls or his wife Sheena, who knows about her husband's lust. A werewolf has been thrown into this mix of characters, whose relationships only emerge in the course of the film, and directs the murder mystery into the horror realm. You should have a soft spot for both genres in order to like the movie, but then you get your money's worth.

The script was written by Ernesto Gastaldi, who later wrote the scripts for several Gialli, be it The Strange Vice Of Mrs. Wardh or Torso. For marketing purposes in the US, the film was renamed Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory in order to be released as a double feature with Corridors of Blood for a B-movie-hungry audience. For the regional adaptation, the film was provided with a, let's say, somewhat loveless dubbing. Besides a new opening and closing credits with the infamous song "The Ghoul in School" by Adam Keefe, the US version was slightly shortened. Basically, two short shots are missing. Missing is the moment in which Mary's body is thrown into the river and a short cut to one of the screaming girls when Walter steals the letters. This scene was removed because her partially exposed breast can be seen.

The remaining short gaps can be attributed to film tears. It's interesting that for the US release they made the effort to create an English counterpart of the Italian letters.

The US version falls under public domain law in the US, which leads to numerous DVD releases, be it from Mill Creek, Echo Bride or Madacy Records. Qualitywise, all these releases are a bit poor with an unattractive green shade, as the image comparison below shows. The DVD by Retromedia is supposed to be only slightly better and also misses the "The Ghoul in School" song during the title card.

Severin, who published the film for the first time in the original uncut version in the right picture format on Blu-ray, provides a remedy. The picture is far better than the previous DVD releases. The bonus material includes an interview with Ernesto Gastaldi and the opening credits of the US version. A booklet and a CD with the soundtrack of the film complete the release. If you are interested in the film, you should definitely go for the Severin Blu-ray.

Picture comparison:

US DVD:

US BD:

Runtimes:

US DVD: 83:10 min.
US BD: 84:36 min.

[00:00:00][00:01:43]

The DVD has a new opening with the title "Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory". You can also hear the "The Ghoul in School" song.

The BD has the original Italian opening credits.

DVD: 26 sec.
BD: 1:43 min.


[00:00:36][00:01:52]

The DVD shows a slightly different shot of Walter. It could also be that the DVD shows the beginning of the shot and the BD the end of it.

DVD:

BD:

DVD: 1 sec.
BD: 2 sec.


[00:11:44][00:13:01]

The BD shows Mary's body being thrown in the water.

BD: 3 sec.


[00:14:14][00:15:35]

Film tear: Sheena can be seen a little longer.

BD: 2 sec.


[00:17:49][00:19:16]

On the DVD, the letter is in English, on the BD, it is in Italian.

DVD:

BD:

DVD: 6 sec.
BD: 6 sec.


[00:21:03][00:22:30]

The letter in Swift's office is in English on the DVD and in Italian on the BD.

DVD:

BD:

DVD: 11 sec.
BD: 10 sec.


[00:32:15][00:33:42]

Film tear: Walter can be seen earlier.

BD: 1 sec.


[00:47:09][00:48:38]

Film tear: Swift is to be seen earlier.

BD: 2 sec.


[00:54:37][00:56:08]

The BD has another cut on one of the screaming girls as Walter gets caught stealing the letters.

BD: 1 sec.


[01:05:58][01:07:30]

Film tear: The surgery on the dog can be seen earlier.

BD: 1 sec.


[01:22:48][01:24:22]

The DVD has redesigned credits.

The BD shows another shot of the well, then "Fine" appears.

DVD: 22 sec.
BD: 14 sec.