Mr_Ectoplasma A London couple are imprisoned after committing a string of cannibalistic murders in 1957. Years later, they are freed, but the wife is not quite as reformed as one may think. The couple's now-adult daughters, one of whom was raised without them, come to realize their mother's murderous impulses and hunger for flesh are ever-present.This twisted horror tale is as demented as it is absurd; companions to "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" are inevitable given they were released within weeks of each other, but they share little in common aside from a cannibal subplot; where "Chainsaw" was a venture into a living nightmare, "Frightmare" is more of a macabre family drama with a slasher underpinning; in some ways, it's more of a psycho-family drama than it is a horror film.This is not to say the film is not grotesque or disturbing-there are some great special effects and shockingly violent murder scenes, one of which entails a hot firepoker that is particularly difficult to stomach (no pun intended). For every few minutes of these primal terror sequences though, there is about fifteen minutes of wordy dialogue that floods the film to the point of weighing down the tension. This is mitigated somewhat by the fact that the performances are quite good; Sheila Keith is appropriately unhinged, while Rupert Davies makes a strangely likable counterpart who covers up her crimes. Deborah Fairfax and Kim Butcher also play the couple's adult daughters very nicely.Overall, "Frightmare" is a patently demented horror film with a macabre concept and stand-out performances, but is somewhat weighed down by its own loquaciousness and extended family drama hi jinx. Still, there are moments to be had in the film that are truly immediate and disturbing, which make it worth a watch for genre fan, and its downbeat ending packs a punch. 6/10.

HumanoidOfFlesh In 1957 Dorothy and Edmund Yates were put in a mental hospital:she for acts of vicious murder and cannibalism and he for covering up her crimes.Fifteen years later they are released.The youngest daughter Debbie begins to explore crimes committed by mother and becomes blood crazy...Delightfully morbid British psycho flick with truly haunting central performance by Sheila Keith.The direction by Pete Walker is solid and there are some shocking moments including the scene of using power drill on the head of a corpse.The pacing is quite uneven and "Frightmare" is not as disturbing as "House of the Mortal Sin",but if you want to see an oppressive shocker give this slice of British butchery a look.8 out of 10.

Indyrod This 1974 Pete Walker classic, is a definite trip into the macabre. A woman and her husband are sentenced to around twenty years for cannibalism and murder. And now, they have been released and are living on a farmhouse, and only their oldest daughter knows, at least that's what she thinks. The younger daughter lives with her Sister, but goes her own way on everything, usually ending in trouble. Meanwhile at the farmhouse, Mama is taking out whoever she can and storing them under the straw in the barn, after she uses her nice little drill to tenderize them a little. None of this is bound to be good about all of this, and as the story moves on, the more demented it becomes. Walker creates a world of "no body gets out of this one alive" kind of theme, even though the ending is somewhat of a surprise, and I certainly liked it. No Hollywood endings in a Pete Walker film. Very nice little bloody British horror film for the holidays, and after all these years, it holds up very nicely. Highly recommended, with a good commentary with Walker himself on the DVD.

Kazetnik This is a superbly savage and utterly bleak study of generational insanity and the fatuousness of the medicine that seeks to heal it. The world of this movie is realised with such economy and concision (no pointless repetition or endless discovery process) and the settings are so exactly right, from the funky flat to the farmhouse, yet not located in any particular area.Two characters stand out - Debbie, the younger daughter, and the father. The way in which the performance of the former veered from little girl to pseudo-grown up to almost a woman, primarily through voice and accent alone, was compelling and convincing, as she shifts from tough little vixen to teenage sexpot to needy child. But central to this movie is the father and his enigmatic, ambivalent persona. Evil (or madness) is actually much less interesting than complicity and greyer shades of guilt.So the gore is primitively rendered, the support acting lame and the cars a bit sad. This is ten times as smart and politically informed as Hostel or its ilk. And it lingers long in the memory, not for the blood splatter, but with Why? questions.