Girly (1970)

Mumsy, Nanny (Pat Heywood), Girly (Vanessa Howard), and Sonny are a perfect family—a perfectly evil family who lure unsuspecting men into their expansive mansion for role-playing games. Refuse to play by the rules and the new playmates are quickly dispatched to ‘play with the angels’. When Girly and Sonny’s newest friend (Michael Bryant) decides to play by his own rules, the entire household becomes topsy-turvy.

This oddly grisly cult film from the 70s is just weird. Like a train wreck, you can’t look away. Girly isn’t particularly gory despite horrific deaths—it’s the incestuously creepy relationships of the ‘perfect family’ and their Stepford Wives ways that freak this viewer out. Mumsy is clearly the head of the house with her weirdly little ticks. Nanny is obediently subservient. One gets the sense that she’s more than a nanny. Girly is this stunningly beautiful woman who lives in baby-doll gowns and schoolgirl uniforms with pouty lips and heaving chest. Sonny is cruel hateful boy despite his years. Both children sleep in cribs. This perfect family adheres to a whole other set of psychopathic values.

As I see it, Girly--perhaps better known by it’s UK title: Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny, and Girly--is perfectly ghastly. Reminiscent of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, the film is a must for any horror-film fan.