The eighth episode of "Hammer House of Horror" was lacking the usual gore that the series has had previously, but I wonder if it might be that I was watching a cleaned up version. Never the less it was a decent episode, with the typical dark resolution.
A newlywed couple, Tom (Christopher Cazenove) and Sarah (Celia Gregory), lose control of their car on the way to a West Country holiday cottage. Though they escape without injury, the car is unusable, so they wander the woods looking for some form of civilisation. They happen upon a large manor house, in which a cheerful matron, Mrs. Ardoy (Diana Dors) looks after a large number of young children. After accepting an offer to stay the night, Tom is attacked in the woods by mysterious assailant, and on his return to the house - the pair hear the howls of a wolf.
Actually, that's just the first half of the story, I was pleasantly surprised by the mid-episode shift that sees them dismiss all of the above, only for it to return in typical dark fashion. Though the best known stars are in minor roles, that being Robert Urquhart's Harry and Dors' Mrs. Ardoy, it's Cazenove and Gregory that carry the whole episode. Gregory in particular has lots to do and though I thought the scenes when she's being menaced weren't particular convincing, the rest of the time she's an alluring presence. (Although, again, I think the edited version I saw might have made her a little more chaste than I would usual expect from Hammer).
Other than that, it was an OK episode. It's a little unfortunate that the title and pre-credits scene give the Werewolf game away so early, it might have improved the manor house scenes had we not known what was coming. It's nicely done, but not so well that I'd recommend hunting it down.
