The Thirteenth Reunion

THE THIRTEENTH REUNION is an odd little episode of HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR because I think it's the only story which isn't supernatural. The storyline concerns a female reporter whose new story is a new-fangled diet club where the participants are subjected to ruthless condemnation by their diet coaches. Soon enough the reporter discovers something more sinister is going on when people start turning up dead and a local funeral home is involved...

I wanted to like this a lot, but I'm afraid the suspense just wasn't there for me, despite the presence of Hammer veteran Peter Sasdy as director. The mystery is never particularly mysterious and the storyline feels a bit bloated despite the short running time, and it doesn't help that the lead characters are rather unsympathetic. Still, there are early roles for James Cosmo (GAME OF THRONES) and Warren Clarke, and the scene in which Cosmo has a go at a dieting woman is unintentionally hilarious.

The second episode in the series is directed by a veteran (albeit a latter-day recruit) of Hammer Films. Again, while hardly outstanding, this is a more than adequate effort – even if, for the most part, the narrative follows a mystery-thriller pattern rather than outright horror. Then again, the studio has had its fair share of films in this style and, in any case, the final revelation is horrific (if not exactly unpredictable) – truth be told, it's more 'shocking' than most of their now rather quaint films! The casting is modest but nonetheless effective: Julia Foster overacts somewhat (particularly when supposed to show bewilderment) as the reporter heroine covering the goings-on at a newly-established diet clinic, Dinah Sheridan (best-known for her role in GENEVIEVE [1953]) is her newspaper editor, Gerard Kelly the young funeral attendant who alerts Foster to his employers' extra-curricular activities (which she discovers have a connection with the clinic), and Warren Clarke (Dim from A CLOCKWORK ORANGE [1971]) gets a nice role as an ill-fated patient who befriends Foster but ends up getting the wrong sort of raw deal!

Journalist Ruth is sent undercover to a clinic for weight loss, where strange goings on are occuring, and not just revolutionary weight loss.

If I had to pick a favourite episode from the series it would probably have to be this one. It is a wonderful mix of macabre, gory and just plain weird. The story is unique, the revelation comes as a big surprise.

It had some wonderfully memorable scenes, Warren Clarke's car chase is very creepy and sinister, I remember feeling unnerved that first time I watched it, however it's the ending that really does make this one stand out.

I think Julia Foster is great as Ruth, the inquisitive and brave journalist. Kevin Stoney is suitably sinister as always.

My favourite in the series, 9/10.

A female journalist who works on the 'woman's section' of a magazine is sent on an assignment to check out a new diet club which uses controversial methods. A man she befriends there winds up dying soon afterwards in an accident. Before long she discovers that there is a strange arrangement between the funeral house where his body has been sent and the health farm she is investigating.

The Thirteenth Reunion is the second episode in the 'Hammer House of Horror' series and is a definite improvement on the opener, Witching Hour. It was directed by Peter Sasdy who helmed earlier Hammer feature films, such as the impressive Countess Dracula. This one works mostly due to its mystery/thriller set-up which ensures that the plot is quite intriguing throughout. A sinister atmosphere is maintained quite well as we get nearer and nearer to the truth of what dark secrets underlie the strange arrangement. I think the very fact that the script incorporates a weight watching organisation into the plot of a horror story makes it fairly distinctive as it's hardly the norm. Towards the end we discover that the macabre events all stem from a high profile plane crash, the fallout of which is somewhat disturbing. And it all ends on an agreeably dark note. Once again, Hammer have assembled a decent cast, with James (Trainspotting) Cosmo as a particularly nasty diet coach who berates a poor overweight woman in a memorably uncomfortable scene, Warren (A Clockwork Orange) Clarke is underused as the early victim and Gerard (Extras) Kelly is a young suspicious funeral house worker who initially raises questions about the strange events unfolding.

Ruth is a journalist for a female magazine and gets hold of a new miracle diet from an organisation calling itself Think Thin . After the death of a friend called Ben in a car crash one of the funeral directors Andrew who buried Ben visits Ruth and tells her there's something amiss at work and also something that ties in with the Think Thin organisation

This is a fairly efficient episode of THE HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR . It's not exactly ground breaking but in its defence it doesn't contain any supernatural elements which makes it fairly credible . Okay it's not realistic drama but as a standard mystery thriller it just about works . The main problem is that once you know what is at the centre of the mystery involving the funeral directors and Think Thin the cat is let out of the bag and the impact is gone on repeat viewings . It also might work better if there's a fashionable diet in the news . The 13th Reunion was broadcast a few years before the F plan diet and if the cult of dieting had been in the news perhaps this episode might have been better remembered

One interesting aspect is the casting of a couple of Scottish actors in pivotal roles . One is James Cosmo who made a career playing ginger haired Scottish hard men and it's amusing seeing him reducing a dieter to tears " Have ya looked in the mirror recently ? No wonder your husband is working late " . The other actor is Gerard Kelly who would find fame in Scotland playing Willie Melvin in the long running Scottish sit com CITY LIGHTS and he gives a very understated performance here