The first thing that I need to make clear about this production is that this is not a video. "Crime At St. Thomas School" is clearly a film in the truest sense of the term. While it was shot on digital video equipment, the production values of this work from the " Werewolves Of The East" are at least as good as last years independent hit " Anniversary Party". That film by Jennifer Jason Leigh and Allan Cumings was also shot on digital video and then transferred to film. This production features a cast of twenty-seven actors and a production team of fifty.
This film is an amusing and disturbing tale about the interaction between the teachers and students at a conservative all girls' school. In many ways this film is the Czech version of " The Trouble with Angels." However, instead of Rosalind Russell in the role of Reverend Mother we have Aurora Von Kratzmar playing the role of The Headmistress and in the place of Hayley Mills we have Katerina Podbelohorska. One big difference between " The Trouble with Angels" and " Crime At St. Thomas School" is that the denouement in the latter is achieved through severe corporal punishment.
The basic plot of this film revolves around the manner in which the students of St.Thomas School for Girls deal with the pressures and indignities visited upon them at this very conservative institute of learning. Each day the girls of St. Thomas must lift their uniform skirts to prove that they are wearing the school's regulation underwear. The main conflict of this piece occurs between the students and their very peculiar chemistry teacher. This man is down right pixilated. This fellow of dubious physical and mental hygiene is prone to extreme variations in mood. At one point in this film the chemistry teacher berates each and every one of the student in the class for their inability to balance a variety of chemical equations.
The girls tire of their teacher's abuse and plot to pay him back. The leaders of this coup d'etat are Jana Kaudlova, Kristyna Smidova and Lenka Hudlova. Jana, Kristyna and Lenka are the alpha females in this school. Their classmates look to them to find a suitable way of achieving their vengeance. Knowing that the chemistry teacher was planning a demonstration in class, Jana, Kristyna and Lenka sneak into the teacher's laboratory and replace the benign chemicals that he was planning to use in his demonstration with a volatile mixture of dangerous elements.
In the next scene we see the teacher mixing one beaker of chemicals with another. The students take cover under their desks and there is a horrific explosion. Soon we see an ambulance pulling away from the school while the institutions cleaning woman is scrubbing the blood off of the floor and walls of the classroom.
It was evident by the fact that none of the students were injured in the chemical inferno that this was no accident. Once the viscera of the demented teacher was cleansed from the classroom, a vengeful Headmistress informs the students that they will pay dearly for this outrage. She tells them that they will all be paddled severely. To make matters worse for the frightened students, the headmistress summons to the classroom the schools caretaker to carryout the punishments. The caretaker is nicknamed Rimbada or strongman. The entire class was forced to lift their skirts and lower their panties in preparation for the punishment that was to come. The caretaker arrives with his instrument of pain in hand. Standing before the class of frightened schoolgirls with their lowered panties, he menacingly polishes his paddle with oil. One by one, each girl in the class is summoned to the front of the room by the Headmistress. She is made to bend over a desk and is subsequently reduced to tears by the intense paddling she receives at the hands of the burly Rimbada. In a comical moment one of the actresses who was playing the role of one of the naughty schoolgirls fled the room when it was her turn to be paddled.
Once each of the girls received their chastisement at the hands of the burly caretaker the Headmistress demanded to know who had lead this revolt. At first none of the girls would give up the leaders of their revolution, until they were informed that there were punishments far more severe than the paddle waiting them if they failed to accede to her demands. Now, the girls couldn't give them up fast enough. Jana, Kristyna and Lenka were idenifed by their classmates and lead away by the headmistress. In the next scene we see the beautiful blonde Lenka standing naked before all of the teachers in the school. Soon she was bound to the punishment table made so famous in " The Headmaster's Study Series." As she was being strapped to the table the tears rolled down the lovely Lenka's face. Within seconds after being fastened to the table of torture we hear Lenka shout out in pain as the German Instructor begins to strike to girls bottom with a thick cane. Her ordeal lasted for several minutes. While her bottom was being stripped by the cane Lenka pleaded for her punishment to stop and begged the forgiveness of those who stood in judgement of her. Kristyna and Jana each suffered the same humiliation as their comrade.
" Crime at St. Thomas School", is a remarkable artistic achievement. It works on so many levels. The production values of this film are simply remarkable. The cinematography in this production is unparalleled in the history of erotic entertainment. The plot is both humorous and disturbing. It is also notable that the corporal punishment featured in this superb work of erotica does not feel contrived. From an erotic point of view, we are treated to the sight of an entire class of attractive young women having their naked bottoms reddened by the paddle. Later we get to expierence the humiliation of Lenka, Kristyna and Jana who are stripped naked before their adversaries and caned.
Crime at St. Thomas School is truly a unique experience.
