House of Mortal Sin (1976)
One of director Pete Walker's more underrated efforts. Starring Anthony Sharp in an extraordinary performance as a Catholic priest who gets off on his own desires by violating the trust of the confession booth and torturing those he is supposed to help across the other side of the curtain with guilt. Naturally anyone who decides his methods are less than ethical are murdered in a diverse series of kill sequences, be it poisoned holy water or battered and burned to death with an incense burner. Lovely Susan Penhaligon soon becomes Sharp's victim and Stephanie Beacham and Norman Eshley give good support.
Walker stalwart Sheila Keith is of course on hand and gives another clever performance with a sting in the tail of this warped parable of morality. However after three Keith films on the trot i'm growing a bit tired of her seeing as she has become typecast playing 'psycho older woman'.
House of Mortal Sin also known as The Confessional to international audiences thanks to it's end credits title, may not be as well known as other Walker efforts like Frightmare and House of Whipcord but in it's own way it's just as good and gives Walker a voice on the Catholic church in the same way he did crime and punishment in Whipcord.
This may have been the best looking of all the films in the new 88 Films Pete Walker box set.
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