Reform School Girls

Wandering into a secondhand store in Savannah a few years back I came upon some promotional materials for a film from the 50s called So Young, So Bad. Intrigued to see that Paul Henreid had ventured far from the classy Now, Voyager and Casablanca,  I tracked the film down and watched it.  Soon I found myself down a juvenile delinquent rabbit hole, taking in a number of films from the reform school girl subgenre, with mixed results. Maybe Lindsay Lohan's recent troubles brought these films to mind for me this week?  In any case, here are some highlights from my exploration, should you want to follow suit with a festival of trashiness.

1. So Young, So Bad (1950): In this first true example of the reform school girl genre, Paul Henried plays a psychiatrist trying to make a difference, and a very young Rita Moreno plays one of the students in her first film performance.

2. Reform School Girl (1957): Takes the formula from So Young, So Bad and dials up the camp. But really, you can gather all you need from the trailer.

3. Untamed Youth (1957): Starring Mamie Van Doren, this one combines reform school depravity and the teenage musical with hilarious results. Despite being sentenced to hard labor, Mamie manages to find loads of time to sing and strip, a highlight being her rendition of "Like a Rolling Stone."

4. La residencia (The House That Screamed) (1969): The 60s saw an injection of horror into the genre (see also: Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory), and this one is the best, Argento-esque example.

5. Reform School Girls (1986): This cheap parody of the genre is better than it needs to be, mostly due to Wendy O. Williams' badassery.