The Face of Darkness

The politician Langdon, played by Lennard Pearce ('Grandad' from 'Only Fools and Horses'), whose petulant face is well suited to the role, plans to commandeer a zombie, instruct it to bomb a school, manipulate the outrage, reinstate capital punishment and thus avenge his wife's murder. Perhaps not surprisingly, eldritch scenes ensue... Using an antique map and ancient text, Langdon locates and disinters the wooded unmarked grave of a medieval heretic. He then administers 'the kiss of life' to his subject in a very unsettling sequence. Later, his charge appears in Battersea, dapper in white polo neck and occult medallion, to perform a sinister and charming mime for the children...

The scenes during which David Allister (cast as 'The Undead') is psycho-analysed are a little too long, although not without humour. Some more time could have been taken with the editing, perhaps. The pure illogicality is very appealing.

Although this film is very far from being a run of the mill 'b movie', it came into the category of 'quota quickie' upon release mainly because of the running time, and was released as part of a double-bill with the Canadian film 'Death Weekend'.

Lovingly made in and around London,with vivid outdoor photography (maybe a necessity given the budget, but nonetheless beautiful), and a subtle, understated score by Martin Jacklin. This unusual and atmospheric film deserves to be made available.

It might clock in at less than an hour, but The Face of Darkness took me at least twice that long to finish watching because I had to take frequent breaks from the boredom. The film feels like the product of a pretentious film student: technically inept, turgid, pompous poppycock with atrocious acting.

Lennard Pearce (Grandad from Only Fool and Horses) plays a British politician who proposes a new draconian public order bill that would reintroduce capital punishment for crimes of terrorism. Realising that getting this bill through parliament might prove difficult, he puts into motion a somewhat unusual plan to drum up public support: he resurrects the body of a medieval man excommunicated by the church and gets him to carry out a terrorist attack, killing a schoolgirl by planting a bomb in a school playground.

While this unique plot sounds fairly intriguing, the reality is that The Face of Darkness is 58 minutes of complete and utter unmitigated toss that becomes more and more obtuse and mind-numbingly tedious as it progresses. It should come as no surprise to learn that this was the first and last film to be directed by Ian F. H. Lloyd, who presumably went on to explore pastures new, well away from the creative arts.

1/10. If you really want to watch Grandad Trotter snogging a centuries-old dead man or see what actress Gwyneth Powell did before playing Mrs McClusky in Grange Hill, then this is the film for you, but don't say I didn't warn you.