Assault

4/20/2025

**_A rapist/murderer lurks in the woods outside a girls’ school near London_** “Assault” (1971) was renamed “In the Devil’s Garden” for its American release. It fits because the only eyewitness in the movie says that the killer looks like the devil. Yet producers also wanted to take advantage of satan’s popularity in cinema in 1973-1974 when it finally made it to America. Lesley-Anne Down appears as the main student and was only 16 years-old during shooting. She hadn’t yet blossomed into the jaw-dropping beauty of “The Great Train Robbery” eight years later, but it’s interesting seeing her when she was so young. Elsewhere, Suzy Kendall plays the art teacher, the story’s heroine, and is quite attractive with the quintessential early 70’s look. As for the masculine cast, there’s a p