"you're wasting time."
"I should keep something on..."
You
really can’t enjoy 70’s cinema without talking about Peter Walker. I
always felt he was a strange hybrid of Russ Meyer and Gordon Hessler,
but more talented than either of them. My first introduction to his odd
mind was “The Flesh and Blood Show”. I was referred to this film after
noticing (upon multiple viewings) that the drop dead gorgeous Luan
Peters was in two of the three Hammer Karnstien films. Completely
infatuated with her I began to seek out more and the rest is a memory.
Boy
was I in for a treat. The film opens with Luan’s character Carol naked
in bed with another woman, Jane (Judy Matheson, also of hammer’s
Karnstein films) being awakened by a banging at the door. Carol doesn’t
even stop to put clothes on, as she answers the door in the buff…(and I
do mean buff). She opens the door to find her friend John (David
Howley), with a knife sticking out of his stomach. He stumbles in and
dies, but only for a moment. Yes, I know what you are thinking. Peter
Walker’s mind is a priceless place to visit, but would you really want
to live there? Food for thought.
Anyways,
they learn that they are all working on the same production, a horror
film called…you guessed it. Soon they arrive at the sea side theater,
which has been abandoned for years due to mysterious and unfortunate
incidents. Here they meet the rest of the wildly free bunch of
swingers…I mean actors who are participating in this Avant Garde
production.
With
no set script, the actors can be seen dancing in cave man outfits which
is interesting to say the least. After the first night which is more of
a sex party than anything, John turns up missing along with one of the
female actors, Angela (Penny Meredith). The group searches the grounds
but its Mike who finds Angela’s head sitting on a shelf. When he brings
the police back to the scene of the crime, John is back and Angela’s
head is gone. Maybe it’s a prank, maybe something more.
As
if there isn’t enough white hot flesh in this film already, Jenny
Handley (Hammer’s Scars of Dracula)shows up as well as Angela’s
replacement Sarah (Tower of Evil’s Candace Glendenning). Now that we
have a buffet of 70’s crumpets in the room, the fun can kick up a notch.
In
a nutshell, the play brings to light many dark secrets from the past
and red herrings abound. There are some nice twists and nicer twistys.
Actor’s start dropping one by one (usually naked) and the whole thing
points to the past.
Many
people like to say this is a precursor to the slasher genre but that
honor, I feel, actually goes to Tower of Evil. Speaking of which, the
cast includes so many faces from 1970’s horror cinema it’s a treat all
in itself.
Robin
Askwith, who is impaled in Tower of Evil, plays Simon in a blue tank
top adorned with a large orange fish. He wore a shirt with a large
butterfly in ‘Tower (what is up with his wardrobe?).
Tristin
Rodgers of Greta (The original 3D Boobfest), Patrick Barr (Satanic
Rights of Dracula), Jane Cardew (Hammer’s Demons of the Mind), and Alan
Curtis (Die Screaming Marianne).
Every
actor here is a professional, so that keeps the whole crazy idea from
derailing. The plot is both over complicated and aimplistic at the same
time and that is why so many reviews seem to skip talking about it all
together. When all is said and done, it’s a slow burning over sexed who
done it, and how can you be mad at that?
The
music by Walker collaborator Cyril Ornadel is top notch as is the
production design. This film has a varied reputation but I enjoyed it as
a nice light hearted mind fuck. Is it Walker’s best? I wouldn’t say
that, but it may be his most watchable, depending on what you’re looking
for. Best to watch it on a rainy day double bill with Die Screaming
Marianne. Knock back a bottle of the red stuff and enjoy.
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