Essência da Maldade

Peter Cushing gives an effective, sympathetic performance as a slightly loony but basically well-intentioned scientist, and he shares some (too few!) amusing screen moments with another horror icon, Christopher Lee. Unfortunately, this beautifully produced and promising horror film is otherwise disappointing, undermined by a severe lack of scares (until the final 5 minutes, the most intense scene is a rape attempt) and a disconnected, rambling script. After reading all the positive reviews, I expected a lot more out of this film. (**)

How can this image possibly be bad? Peter Cushing (star and protagonist of an endless list of horror classics) as a dedicated scientist on the verge of unraveling an entirely new evolution theory in which the existence of evil plays a crucial role. And Christopher Lee (once again, star and protagonist of an endless list of horror classics) as the over-ambitious president of an asylum, trying to steel Cushing's ideas to add them to his book about ‘the origin of insanity'. These actors, along with their character's vicious professions pretty much guarantee a dazzling horror premise already. If you then add a tight gothic atmosphere, overall decent special effects and loads of emotional intrigues, you've got yourself an authentic British horror highlight! And The Creeping Flesh isn't even a Hammer production! Responsible for this film is Tigon Productions, who also brought us overlooked milestones such as `The Witchfinder General' and `Blood on Satan's Claw'. Cushing's character (Dr. Hildern) is the discoverer of an ancient skeleton that might carry the secret of evil! When exposed to water, flesh immediately grows on the creature. Hildern develops an anti-evil vaccine, but has to use this same antidote on his lovely daughter Penelope when she finds out her beloved mother spend years in an asylum when she thought she was actually deceased already. Asylum keeper Lee – who's also Dr. Hildern's half brother – takes notice of the bizarre events going on in the Dr.'s mansion and hires somebody to steal the skeleton to increase his own success as an authority in the field of mental illnesses.

The only negative comment you could give on this film is that it actually contains TOO much ideas and horrific aspects. Regretfully, this sometimes results in underdeveloped plot-twists and a lack of continuity. There are enough horror-elements in The Creeping Flesh to fill 3 movies, really! But, despite these little flaws, this is one of the purest and most entertaining Cushing/Lee collaborations, brilliantly directed by the talented Freddie Francis (`Torture Garden', `Tales from the Crypt…) The main actors, as well as the stunning Lorna Heilbron, are a joy to observe and the film is pretty darn suspenseful, too. All in one, a must see for the true horror fans.

Throw in Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Hammer director Freddie Francis, a wonderful story about the found remains of a giant beast, gothic, Victorian sets and costumes, an eerie score, a wonderfully ironic and unexpected ending, and the philosophical question about the nature of evil...and you have The Creeping Flesh, and one HELL of a good film! The cast is superb, and this is probably one Of Cushing's best roles in the 70s as a good-natured, yet-determined anthropologist seeking to rid humanity of evil through the aid of some giant skeletal remains found in New Guinea that fleshes out with water contact. The plot is interesting...and complex...and a bit like Swiss Cheese...yet it is great fun in the hands of Francis(underrated as a director in my humble opinion!) Lee is as ever cold and austere and a joy to behold. The rest of the cast is quite good. The sets are lavish and the costumes very Victorian. The skeleton itself is most impressive! A wonderful way to spend the evening and a wonderful ending for the viewer unawares!

"The Creeping Flesh" is a neat idea for a movie: a doctor brings home a skeleton that grows flesh when exposed to water. That probably could have been the plot of a 1950s B movie. Unfortunately, this movie meanders way too much. A large portion of it focuses on the daughter's descent into madness, and we have to wait a really long time before the skeleton does its stuff. Maybe one has to see it more than once to appreciate the movie as a whole sufficiently.

Other than that, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee are great in their roles (as can be expected). Even so, I prefer Freddie Francis's movies that stick entirely to their plots. As it was, the end of this one reminded me of the end of Philip Kaufman's "Quills".

This film's idea of a reviving ancient flesh when in contact with water is truly original, its sordid atmosphere is very well achieved and Peter Cushing and Cristopher Lee's presence give it a sort of category in the genre. In fact, when Cushing arrives back in England with a strange scary huge skeleton from New Guinea and you learn that water could bring it back to life you have the feeling you'll watch a most interesting horror picture focused mainly in that strange fact.

But then other story appears about Cushing's insane wife's death and their daughter's obsession with her mother that turns into a parallel plot. And that's when "The Creeping Flesh" looses quality and sense -in its genre of course- and things start to mix up badly; there is also a mad killer at large (not frightening at all). What I mean is that so many different topics -unrelated between them- is too much for just one film, and the final outcome is not a good product. Besides, the special effects of the Papuan monster came to life are poor, even for 1973.

Perhaps a better product would have come out if the film had stayed with just the archaelogical evil creature, but it seems the writers couldn't find a way to develop the subject and make a full script out of it.

The picture has some good moments, but in my opinion it is just for Cushing and Lee's fans and no more than that.