The Flesh and Blood Show

Walker's first horror film is an intriguing and enjoyable mix of sex and chills set in an abandoned theater; interestingly, in the accompanying interview on the DVD, he states that the nudity was deemed obligatory at the time if the picture was to hope for a distribution deal (particularly since Walker was his own financier).

The plot starts off by having eight out-of-work actors being convened to the aforementioned remote location by a mysterious employer; though they occasionally indulge in the kind of silly yet pretentious improvisational exercise also at the core of Jacques Rivette's insanely-long (13 hours!) OUT ONE: NOLI ME TANGERE (1971), they're often just interested in getting laid and the girls in particularly act like sluts most of the time!! At first, I was annoyed by this apparent laziness in scripting (by Alfred Shaughnessy, a respected if little-known director in his own right) – but, then, it's revealed that this was the reason these young and 'morally corrupt' folk were called upon to begin with (as the continuation of a notorious incident from the wartime era which had actually caused the theater's closure).

The male members of the cast are effectively enough led by Ray Brooks (from Richard Lester's Swinging London comedy THE KNACK [1965]) and also include Robin Askwith (soon to rise to dubious prominence with the smutty "Confessions" films) and veteran Patrick Barr (who turns in a bravura performance, particularly once his true identity is exposed). As for the girls, they all look great in and out of clothes – particularly Jenny Hanley (who, interestingly, discovers to have an inextricable link of her own with the gloomy theater) and Luan Peters (who escapes the murderer{s}' clutches the first time but not the second).

The film attempts a reasonable imitation throughout of the Italian Giallo style (that country, then, paid it the compliment by borrowing its single setting for Lamberto Bava's popular but third-rate DEMONS [1985]) – though it culminates with a rather unnecessary 3-D gimmick (which Walker had already utilized in the lackluster "Rashomon"-type sex comedy THE FOUR DIMENSIONS OF GRETA [1972]). For the record, of the director's horror outings, I've yet to get my hands on SCHIZO (1976) and HOME BEFORE MIDNIGHT (1979)

"The Flesh and Blood Show" bookends Pete Walker's 'golden period' of horrors, with "Schizo" (1976) at the other end; it is a gruesome piece of film-making that shows improvements in Walker's work from "Die Screaming, Marianne" - and yet he is still limbering up, in truth.

Patrick Barr - to be used again by PW - is excellent here, playing 'the Major', the first in a line of Walker protagonists who appear to be harmless English eccentrics, but are actually... well, that would be telling! The youth characters may be rather stereotyped, but that is part of Walker's approach: to set a licentious, permissive youth against a resentful and uncompromisingly vengeful older generation. It is much to Walker's credit that few if any characters could be described as typical heroes. And he doesn't take sides; the photography indeed mimics the voyeur's view at times - implicating the audience, using the trick first deployed by Michael Powell in "Peeping Tom" (1960).

The out-of-season seaside setting - Cromer, apparently - fits aptly into this dialectic. The troupe of young actors' arrival seemingly doubles the ageing population of the resort, who can seemingly only dream of the past. It can even be argued that there are pre-echoes of Alan Bennett's use of Morecambe in "Sunset Across the Bay" (BBC, 1975) - though of course, lacking quite the same sad humour and dry insight.

Still, it is an serviceable enough shocker. Not as bizarrely gripping as Walker's subsequent Melodramas of Discontent, but a decisive step in that direction. And with a script by Alfred Shaughnessy (one of the prime wits behind LWT's "Upstairs, Downstairs") and a suitably eerie score from Cyril Ornadel (who composed all of the music for ATV's seminal "Sapphire and Steel"). Oh, and Robin Askwith... who is enjoyably absurd in horror films (see also the ludicrous "Horror Hospital" from the following year), where he is rather more horrific in myriad dire sex comedies to come.

I have been a fan of director/producer Pete Walker's 1970's horror films in the past. I never knew he had a filmography of what shall I call them 'sexploitation' films earlier in his filmmaking career.

Now this 1972 UK film has elements of sexploitation in a slasher horror film as several members of an acting group are murdered at a disused theatre at the end of an old pier in a seaside town in England, out of season to add to the ambience of proceedings!

Now my review title is a play on the Confessions films which were hugely successful in the 1970s starring Robin Askwith who is incidentally in this film as well as one of the young actors. Askwith plays a typical Timothy Lea type character from the Confessions franchise and points to the 'sexploitation' scenes in this film, which is a shame in my opinion. It puts the UK film industry of the period in a bad light. Mixed in with the gore of a slasher horror are scenes of the characters in semi-naked scenes.

Atmospheric and a mediocre early Pete Walker horror. I have found his later 1970's films better if I am honest. This film is very low budget. Scream (1996) it isn't!

Pete Walker brings us a proto-slasher that's now as cornball as can be. Is it worthy of respect in the pantheon of horror? Yes, maybe.

This is a coastal town that they forgot to close down.

A group of actors and actresses have mysteriously been lured to an end of pier theatre to star in a play. Pretty soon they start being bumped off one by one.

So it be! There's plenty of nudity, actors siting around musing on the "biz" and its perils, while the matter of fact attitude to the disappearances is almost as ludicrous as someone opening the door in the middle of the night stark naked...

It's good fun in truth, especially for British film fans like me to see the likes of Robin Askwith and Jenny Hanley in this. The run down theatre setting is a good one, while the play they are rehearsing makes no sense and is quite surreal! 5/10

My Ratings: Story 1.25 : Direction 0.75 : Pace 1.25 : Acting 1.25 : Entertaining 1.25 Total 5.75 out of 10.00.

Boobs. That's what this film has. To be truthful, there are nearly more boobs than actors or actresses. And not one of those scenes needs to be in the movie and is the reason I've marked the direction down accordingly.

The story isn't too new either. I admit I like the idea and concept behind the bad guy... or gal's motives, which I can't go into fully - spoilers, and all that. A Hodge-Podge of actors and actresses are hired to put on a London stage show. They are to report to the director, Mike, at a disused seaside theatre for rehearsals. However, once there, things take a step into the strange as the cast disappears, one-by-one. Mike even calls in the coppers when he believes he's found one of the missing actresses. They lay her body out on the guillotine prop... sans head. However, when the cops turn up, the body has gone poof! and the wooden mannequin has returned.

The writer Alfred Shaughnessy, gives the audience an entertaining and tension-filled hour and a half, with abundant twists and clues to pique the interest of the audience... of yes, and boobs.

Speaking of which, the director, Pete Walker, directs the story relatively well. I particularly liked the way he handled the cramped and confined spaces of the pier's theatre. You almost feel as though the walls are closing in. The way he also conducts the "Near Kill" sequence is outstanding. The way he stays in close and tight to the intended prey as the hunter, the strange hobo'esq character, slides closer on the bench, constantly coughing and wheezing builds the tension. Add to this, the cut-aways to the inside of the theatre and the casts realisation that something bad is happening outside and their swift reaction, which is too slow, build extra tension. This sequence is structured well and plays with the tempo perfectly, pulling the audience into the story.

The cast isn't too bad in their roles, though a lot is little more than stage dressing and butcher fodder. Robin Askwith, for example, is pretty much in "Adventures of..." mode. Cocky and self-assured, but seldom used. This movie is predominantly driven by Ray Brooks as Mike, Jenny Hanley as Julia, and Patrick Barr as Major Bell.

Don't get me wrong, everybody does a grand job in their roles. They just needed to and used more fully. It's like they focus on one character, then they get bumped off and it's onto the next. I never fully felt as though they were a unit. Working together to stay alive.

This is an enjoyable romp of a slasher flick; before they became known as such. And for those reasons, it's worth a watch. I have a feeling I may take a second and third look at this title before I pass on. So, if you enjoy your Chillers and Slashers, with a hint of the supernatural (and there is a hint in there - so I deem this a horror film too) then I recommend you watch this slice of celluloid history.

Swim on over to my Absolute Horror and Killer Thriller Chillers and The Game Is Afoot lists to see where I rated this English gem.

Take Care and Stay Well.