BLOOD AND LACE (1971)

[The Burgomaster]

Okay, so it isn't really a good movie . . . but I enjoyed watching it.  I bought this on DVD-R from Cinema de Bizarre.  It's a fullscreen print, but the quality is excellent.

The story involves a teenage girl (Melody Patterson, Wrangler Jane from F-TROOP!) whose mother (a prostitute) is murdered (in a bloody, but not very convincing scene of her head being bashed in with a hammer).

The girl is shipped off to an orphanage run by Gloria Grahame, who only cares about the $150 per month the state pays her for each orphan.  Character actor Len Lesser (Uncle Leo from Seinfeld!) plays her handyman / henchman.

Grahame abuses the kids at the orphanage and punishes them severely if they try to escape.  One girl is locked in the attic for several days with no food or water.

Vic Tayback (!!!!) plays a police detective trying to solve the hammer murder.  And a young Dennis Christopher (!!!) plays one of the orphans.

This would make a good triple feature with DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT and LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT.  Cheap thrills, but I enjoyed it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MthrwGhPvE