bkoganbing This Hammer film is set in Canada and it's always interesting to hear British players sound like they're from across the pond. Gwen Watford and Patrick Carter have come across so Carter can take a job as the new high school principal. One fine day the parents are startled to hear their daughter tell that she and a friend met a kindly old stranger who had them take off their clothes and dance in the nude.When they go to the authorities they've got quite a surprise from them in that they know who it is and are reluctant to take action. It's as if Ben Cartwright in his dotage was given to this behavior. Felix Aylmer who plays such classic good guys as Isaac Of York in Ivanhoe and Merlin in Knights Of The Round Table is our old pervert. Aylmer who possessed one of the most majestic speaking voices in British cinema is silent here.Eventually they get their day in Canadian court, but Aylmer and his family have juice. That only sets things up for the shocking climax.This Hammer film doesn't have the blood and gore associated with the name. It also doesn't really move until the climax. It was rather unnerving to see Felix Aylmer in such a role. It's a sub par film and a sub par Felix Aylmer.

AaronCapenBanner Cyril Frankel directed this still bold drama set in England. Two Pre-teen girls named Jean & Lucille are playing in the woods when they learn that they can get free candy from the old man in the mansion. His name is Clarence Oldenberry Sr.(played by Felix Alymer) and unfortunately he is also a pedophile, and their parents learn later had the girls dance nude for him in exchange for candy. Outraged, Jean's parents Peter & Sally Carter inform the authorities, but are told that because the family are huge town supporters, that filing charges would be unwise. Undeterred, the Carters file charges, with unforeseen consequences for all... Provocative film remains quite daring, but is made with intelligence and restraint, and sadly also remains quite timely as well. An unusual but worthwhile film from Hammer studios.

Woodyanders Hammer is best known for their horror pictures, but this studio also made a sizable number of thrillers as well. This particular thriller is perhaps one of Hammer's most powerful and unsettling entries in the genre because it's about something that can actually happen -- and sadly does happen all the time even to this very day. The Carter family arrive in a prosperous small Canadian town. When sweet and innocent daughter Jean (a fine and touching performance by Janina Faye) accuses the elderly Clarence Olderberry Sr. of making her and her friend Lucille dance naked in front of him for some candy, her parents decide to take Olderberry to court despite the fact that he's the patriarch of an extremely rich and influential local family. Director Cyril Frankel, working from a gripping and intelligent script by John Hunter, handles the delicate subject of pedophilia in a commendably tasteful, nonexploitative, and straightforward manner; while the subject matter is undeniably unpleasant, it's nonetheless made tolerable by Frankel's wise decision to avoid explicitness in favor of suggestion instead. This film further benefits from uniformly outstanding acting from a top-rate cast, with especially stand-out work from Gwen Watford as the concerned Sally Carter, Peter Allen as the resolute Peter Carter, Bill Nagy as Olderberry's protective and formidable son Richard, Nial McGinnis as the shifty and aggressive defense counsel, Michael Gwynn as the shrewd and compassionate prosecutor, and MacDonald Parke as a wise no-nonsense judge. Felix Aylmer contributes a memorably creepy portrayal as the odious Clarence Olderberry; he manages to project a genuine sense of menace without ever uttering a single word. Moreover, we've also got a strong and provocative central message about the corruption of both justice and innocence and the abuse of power. But what really makes this film so potent and effective is the fact that it's firmly grounded in a thoroughly plausible everyday world populated by equally believable characters (Clarence in particular is an all-too-real human monster). The uncompromising grim ending packs a devastating punch. Both Freddie Francis' crisp black and white cinematography and Elisabeth Lutyens' moody score are up to par. An excellent, albeit quite harrowing and disturbing film.

b_moviebuff This was one of the most controversial films of its time, I remember vividly the the bad press this movie got,but what we have here is now so relevant to today's society and Hammer should ensure this is restored and put on DVD, I managed to track a copy down from the US where it had been on television, the owner of the disc can be found on a very well known auction site, to my knowledge this has never been shown on British TV.Starring veteran and distinguished theatre actor Aylmer, who does not breath one word in the movie by the way is accused by a young girl of being a child molester and is taken to court by the girl's father Patrick Holt, sadly Aylmer is the town's big-wig and is a much respected professor as well as owning most of the land in the town, the case against him is thrown out due to lack of evidence from the young girl.What follows is a harrowing chase scene involving the same girl and her friend from school both chased through the woods by a psychopathic Aylmer and ultimately leads to death of one of the girls before he is caught.Curiously set in Canada with an uneasy blend of stiff British upper lip and north American accents, talky in parts but stick with it to the end where the final scene's are shattering and every parent's nightmare, this movie should be seen by all.