Sheila Keith plays a supposedly cured cannibal recently released from the
nuthouse (how does THAT work, exactly?) who goes back to her old
ways…wow, couldn’t see that one coming.
The always welcome Rupert Davies
plays her rather embarrassed but spineless husband, and Deborah Fairfax is
their estranged daughter. She’s bringing up her sister, who unlike Fairfax
is unaware of her parents’ existence.
Forget the hype, this excruciatingly slow-moving and rather stuffy horror
pic is only marginally more violent than the typical offerings from
British horror in the s.
It has earned a rep for being a nasty little
number, but this is mostly due to horrendously misleading advertising,
promoting it as sort of a Brit ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ (‘A moral
obscenity!’ a quote on the box said), except that film isn’t as violent as
its reputation, either. The ending is botched, and the narrative rather
confusing at times.
A great eye-drilling moment, though. It’s just
average, and horribly talky, despite two very commendable performances.
OVERALL SUMMARY
Underwhelming, ugly to look at, and rather flat, from the director of
‘House of Whipcord’. It’s a major disappointment, watch a Hammer film
instead- less gory but much more fun.
