Joe Stemme I finally caught up with this on MGM HD. I had heard so many good things about it over the last couple of decades. The most common mini-review boiled down to something to the effect of, "RAW MEAT is a crude title for a subtle and effective horror film." Have to say, I agree with the naysayers here. It is a very poorly paced film. It takes over 20 minutes to get to the underground lair stuff, and it just jumps right into that (admittedly brilliantly done) tracking shot the film is famous for. I'm not averse to slow build-ups, but, here, it's just drawn out police procedural stuff that the audience knows from the opening scene is NOT going to be central to the horror plot. Pleasence is amusing, but his scenes come off as a Pilot for a British police TV show.And, as superbly done as the tracking shot is, it just seems plopped into the movie because they realized that it was fast approaching the 30 minute mark and they better get on with it! All of a sudden we cut from the police and young couple story into the "horror plot". It's just too abrupt to be as effective as it could (and SHOULD) have been.As to the rest of RAW MEAT. It's OK, but there really is no forward momentum with the plotting. Although there are a couple of neat shocks (and I mean ONLY a couple), it's pretty obvious where things are heading. Christopher Lee is really good in his one 3 minute scene (but, damn, many fans must have been real angry over the years when they see how disproportionate his billing is!).Why does RAW MEAT have such a strong reputation? I can only surmise that in those Pre-Internet days, a few good reviews in mags like Cinefantastique carried a lot of weight. Combined with how hard it has been to see over the years, and those fleeting good moments such as the tracking shot grow to semi-legendary status. And, heck, it was pretty gory for a "classy" British horror film back in the day, so it had that going for it, too.Worth seeing once.

mysteryclarke Personally I found the soundtrack was very disappointing and at times detracted from the film. However, it is used sparingly and the long periods without music are used to great effect. The strange acoustics of the London underground instead provide chilling loneliness and atmospherics. There are, in my opinion, close links with Tobe Hooper's original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" in the use of limited speech and dark, indistinct sets. For those readers/ viewers not from the UK the "Man" is saying "Mind the doors" (you'll know at which point) - I say this not as a spoiler as any London resident would be able to interpret his speech very quickly but because on reading other reviews there seems to have been a great deal of uncertainty about it. What he says is unimportant which is why I am telling you. It is the way he says it that is the key. The film also gives Donald Pleasance a rare opportunity to speak with a cutting working-class accent and features a remarkably accurate portrayal of the difficulties a pub-landlord often faces at closing time. A ridiculous cameo from Christopher Lee does at least give the viewer some wonderfully under-hand and quintessentially British insults. Mr.Lee's performance is great, just sadly unnecessary and far too brief. Watch it through to the end and you will feel you have had a taste of classic 70's British film- making. Not the greatest film ever by any means but in no way the worst. Although it is hard to like David Ladd as he went on to marry Cheryl. Lucky swine!

Renaldo Matlin Don't get me wrong. I love British horror movies, I'm a huge fan of Donald Pleasance and Christopher Lee (although the latter has nothing but a glorified cameo), but I don't feel this one lived up to its brilliant premise.It starts off very promising, with a great title sequence, the first attack happens quickly and the mood is set within the first ten minutes. Then sadly the movie just sort of lingers, with several overlong sequences leading up to a finale that is merely okay. It could easily have been edited down with at least 10 minutes, and although I still found the end product mildly entertaining I can't help but think about the amazing potential it had. Pleasance as a police inspector facing cannibals living in the London underground? That alone sounds like the coolest British film ever made. Well sadly it's not.A key factor when you want to create an effective horror film is to keep the threat constant, to have it sort of luring in the background in every scene. Well for me the monster(s) didn't seem threatening enough, as a matter of fact it came off more sympathetic than monstrous. So when the villain in a horror movie doesn't frighten you, what are we left with to scare us? The empty underground tunnels? Christopher Lee as an arrogant MI-5 operative? Not likely. It has some good effective gore though, I'll give it that.There is some fun acting from Pleasance and the supporting cast (like Clive Swift of later "Keeping Up Appearances"-fame), but too many of the characters also seem a bit wasted as most of them have little if any effect on the main plot itself. After all the American student is the guy who actually makes an impact on the plot, the police itself is too busy drinking tea and harassing bartenders.But I'm guessing the filmmakers were aware of what was missing when they released the film with false advertising and a poster that LIES.*MILD SPOILERS BELOW, NOT RELATED TO THE ENDING* The original vintage poster showed a whole group of cannibals, giving off the impression that we're in for some "living dead"-type horror action, where the threat is VERY real and dangerous. Instead we're treated to ONE single cannibal grieving his mate. Where the Heck is the scary HORROR? More than anything else I felt sorry for the poor cannibal, the last of his kind.The film wins on atmosphere and that wonderful British quirkiness, but that's about it.

Del Normanton 'Death Line' is about a group of people who had been making the 'old' tunnels and had become trapped and just left there to die. But they didn't die, they bred! And managed to survive up to the current day by entering the Underground tunnels and grabbing the occasional 'last train' passenger from the platform! Saw this in an old cinema in Victoria, London.There was this old guy (one of the last survivors of this 'lost' troupe) stumbling along dark 'tube' (underground) tunnels to get to the station for his next meal - a lone passenger from the platform, who he would take back to his lair and where his ugly bride was about to give birth to the next generation. He would hang her up on a meat hook (until supper, presumably). But he kept repeating something that he had obviously had heard many times before - I thought was mumbling 'Diana Dors! Diana Dors!. The girl I was with in the cinema thought he was saying 'I'm all yours! I'm all yours!' But what he was ACTUALLY saying was 'Mind the doors!' Great idea. They should re-make it. Great film (for the 70s)...Shame Diana Dors wasn't in it...