The Flesh and Blood Show

"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.

Performers auditioning for a British "Grand Guignol" show are murdered in mysterious ways in this deranged horror directed by Pete Walker("Frightmare","Schizo","House of Whipcord").The film is pretty creepy and offers a nice amount of sleaze.There are decapitations,drownings,psychotic elderly tramps,naked women and some gruesome killings.The cinematography is pretty gloomy and the location sets are suitably eerie.A must-see if you're a fan of British horror!

"The Flesh and Blood Show" is about a bunch of young actors all willing to take part in a stage theatre that's situated in a small ocean town, and soon as they arrive strange things start to happen and people start disappearing and surprise, surprise they are being watched by an unknown strange figure.

To be honest when I came across this movie, I actually got it confused with "Blood and Black Lace" (which I still haven't seen), and being a keen fan of early slasher movies and especially British slasher movies, I was willing to give this one a go. To be honest I was kind of disappointed, for a start there is frankly not enough blood or horror or tension to fulfil any basic needs and there are too many false scares and could have done with a higher body count.

But there are some good points to this movie, including the night-times attack on one of the women, was nicely done and quite nerve racking and the whodunit angle was nicely done along with the lengthy explanation at the end was a nice touch.

All in all not a terrible entry but doesn't quite keep the viewer interested all the way through, but still better than half the crap that comes out these days.

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.

To me, Pete Walker is most famous for mature horror works such as House of Whipcord and House of Mortal Sin, but apparently he used to direct silly sex flicks and this was the film that was the stepping stone between those and the horror that he would go on to direct. The Flesh and Blood Show is a slasher at heart; but it deserves more respect than the average slasher flick because it came out before the big 'boom' in the eighties, and is therefore a precursor to the genre. As such, the film doesn't feature many of the over-used clichés of the genre - but I was disappointed as while Walker doesn't hold back with the nudity, he does with the blood - and that's not good in a film called 'The Flesh AND Blood Show'. Anyway, the plot focuses on a troupe of actors and a director that decide to go to an old abandoned theatre in a quiet town to rehearse their play and (hopefully) become big names on the London circuit. However, soon enough members of the troupe begin to vanish one by one, prompting an investigation into the theatre's unsavoury history.

Aside from Walker regular Patrick Barr, this film featured two recognisable actors for me, one for his looks and the other for the sound of his voice! Robin Askwith I recognised immediately as the star of the superb Michael Gough trash flick 'Horror Hospital', while Ray Brooks' voice sounded familiar. It didn't take me long to figure out that he sounded like the 'Joe' from Eastenders, and after looking on here - it's the same guy! The female stars I didn't recognise, despite the fact that most of them had appeared in various Hammer films; but they do their job well - that job being providing eye candy! I'm guessing that Pete Walker hadn't met Sheila Keith when The Flesh and Blood Show was made. The old theatre provides a good location for the horror; its ominous rooms and corridors help Walker to create the much needed atmosphere. The film does have a lot of good points; but unfortunately for me it all comes down to the lack of blood, and the fact that it's not always interesting. The ending didn't inspire me much either, although it's not the worst I've seen from a slasher flick.