Another film watched for the "House of Hammer" podcast, "Meet Simon Cherry" is yet another early Hammer adaptation of a successful radio series, though one I hadn't heard of. It's transformed here into a middling film, one which had sections I enjoyed but large stretches that I did not.
The Reverend Simon Cherry (Hugh Moxey) takes leave from his Eastend Parrish to head to the Coast. When his car breaks down during a storm, he ends up at Harling Manor, where he's offered shelter and a room for the night. When Lisa (Zena Marshall), Lady Harling's (Courtney Hope) bedridden daughter is found dead, and the circumstances are suspicious, the amateur Detective Cherry takes it upon himself to find the killer.
To be clear, nobody asks him too. He just starts asking questions and everyone is too polite to ask him to leave. For a film that is just 67 minutes long, it takes quite a while to get to the death, and amongst various discussions about the weather I began to lose interest pretty quickly. I hung in there though, and was rewarded with the Rashomon section, exploring Lisa's relationship with Alan, played by Anthony Forwood, from the viewpoint of a couple of different characters. I wish more of the film had been like that.
The performances are OK and Hammer keep the cost down by only really shooting in two locations (and one of those is only a single scene). Another drag though was the score that, at least in the version I saw, swelled at the wrong moments and drowned out dialogue at times.
It's not the worst film I've watched to keep up with the podcast, but it's far from good.
