Skare

Movie number 4. I like going through lists of horror movies that I have not seen. I have watched 1000s of horror movies. So I have watched five of Mike Murphy's movies. Death Run, The Return of Alan Strange, Bloodstream and now Skare. As a movie maker Murphy just got better and better. His plots are always a lot of fun in a dark macabre way, The later movies have a lot of black humour in them.

Skare. A chap escapes from a mental asylum. He gets taken in by a kindly older woman. Something is up and there will be ghastly goings on and there are.

It is a very competently made movie. As with Alan Strange this movie feels like his most accomplished work.

A young man called Dan (Warren May in his acting debut), convicted of murder, escapes from a not-so secure mental asylum. As he is passing a large old country house a middle aged blonde woman, known locally as Mad Martha (Judith Holding) speaks to him. She realises that he is on the run but offers him accommodation in return for some physical labour. Martha runs the Country Club, her food has an excellent reputation but that's down to her dark secret ingredient. When a young woman selling cosmetics calls by she tells Martha that she is a vegetarian, Martha reacts by putting an axe in her head. A visiting preacher suffers a similar fate. I am slowly working my way through Indicator's wonderful box set of Michael J Murphy films, a British film maker who worked with micro budgets, and so far Skare has been my favourite. The movie was originally shot in 2001 but when the film was sent for processing it got lost, only a few clips remain (one has been incorporated here), so in 2007 Murphy re-shot the whole movie again, this time on video (and sadly it shows). But he still wasn't happy with it so made some changes for its 2009 release, the version that I have on blu-ray. Needless to say the acting is amateur, Warren May is pretty bad as a local policeman but Warren is good enough as Dan. However Judith Holding as Martha gives the standout performance, she really is a joy to watch. Seductive, attractive, cunning, clever and downright evil! We do see a great deal of muscular Dan with his clothes off, whether it be him working out, taking a shower or swimming, possibly some homo-erotic thing going on here by Murphy (?), didn't bother me in the slightest. We are treated to a few nasty killings plus the sight of humans being butchered for consumption, though as you would expect it looks cheap. There are also a few brief scenes of sex and nudity. The movie also has some humour, I found myself laughing a few times, thankfully this was intentional and not of the so bad it's funny variety. There is a subplot of a witch trial that took place at Martha's old house 400 years previously but it just feels like padding as it doesn't amount to anything. Skare is proof that good things can be made on a micro budget and I will certainly give this another watch in the future.

Michael J. Murphy serves us another piece of nano-budget British weirdness, and this is SO much more entertaining than some of his output that immediately preceded it. The Rite of Spring was pretty boring. This is a hoot.

Judith Holding ("Martha Tennant") gives it a good shot as the older woman who takes in a young mental patient named Dan. It's nice to see what is essentially enthusiastic amateurs go for it with a pulpy z-movie like this and give it 100%.

This vulnerable young man she takes in is muscular, good looking and in keeping with Michael J. Murphy's habit of casting and making scenes for young men who a) have their tops off and b) are muscular and up for a wrestle at some point.

Things take a turn, and a very amusing one. She's kind, and wants to give this young man a safe haven and some work. So she does, and tells him about her ownership of the local Country Club. She does well for herself, has a nice house and is a good cook. She harbours a bit of motherly love for Dan.

It goes so incredibly off the rails soon after. The Avon lady turns up (but it's Nova, Avon backwards) and the plot starts to thicken. As does the meat extract.

Highly recommend for fans of Michael J. Murphy. As I worked my way through the box set, I laughed at many points at the films - he made such entertaining fare, and I've developed a genuine affection for his work. This one gave me some of the most genuine laughs, not at the material but with it. Great fun.