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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on Aug 19, 2018 20:46:48 GMT
Young actors are invited to an old theater by the sea for an improv session. Strange things begin to happen, suspicious hobos linger about, and people begin to show up dead.
It starts off with the expectation that it will be a lurid comical proto-slasher film but becomes more philosophical as it progresses, reaching a Shakespearean finale that made me think the makers of THEATER OF BLOOD had been inspired by it. It becomes a commentary on the acting profession itself, i.e. the blurring of make believe and reality, the absence of moral boundaries that comes with performance. "Why would an actor need a conscience?" as Jimminy Cricket once said. A UK giallo which isn't bad in the final analysis, though it is much more about the flesh (they show lots of it) and not much blood.
This is only the third film I have seen with Jenny Hanley in it--she reminds me of Veronica Carlson here. If its her real voice-why was she dubbed in Scars of Dracula? Anyway, another Hammer alumni Luan Peters reveals herself--literally. Her best acting moment is when her boyfriend is watching a nude double of Hanley undressing and she is staring at him--although the creepiest scene is when she is sitting on a bench out in the pier and a mysterious hobo is sliding towards her.
Candace Glendenning also shows up. Only seen her in TOWER OF EVIL, and wanted to see more of her. The audience and the old hobo watching her dress from a mirror see a lot of her.
I find these obscure British horror films particularly interesting as a time capsule since they are not the Hammer-Amicus-Tigon and have mostly fallen under the radar. I never saw them talked about in horror books or magazines.
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Post by petrolino on Aug 19, 2018 21:02:40 GMT
Enjoyed reading your review, thanks. I'm a huge fan of the director Pete Walker. He's my favourite British horror filmmaker, made some cracking crime films too. Having said that, I find 'The Flesh And Blood Show' quite weak in comparison to his other horrors.
Never liked 'Theater Of Blood' (1973).
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