Death Line

source: Death Line

Trailer—Death Line

Death Line

There's something pretty grisly going on under London in the Tube tunnels between Holborn and Russell Square. When a top civil servant becomes the latest to disappear down there Scotland Yard start to take the matter seriously. Helping them are a young couple who get nearer to the horrors underground than they would wish. Very 70s, but not all that great. The problem is this is sort of a quasimodo frankenstein-ish movie and it takes itself seriously, but it's just not all that compelling. Lots of long segments with the "monster" (for lack of a better term) wallowing in the dark wet space of the London tubes. But it wears thin when nothing happened for so long.

DEATH LINE is a grim and ghastly slice of British horror that's only suitable for acquired tastes. By that I mean that it's a slow-moving affair, almost ponderous at times, that nonetheless offers up some moments of stark, graphic horror that are among the strongest you'll find in 1970s cinema; think Pete Walker, think the video nasties boom, and you'll be there; it's no surprise that this was heavily censored when first released on video. It's the first of the small sub-genre of horror films set beneath the city streets, with C.H.U.D. a notable follow up and CREEP a pure rip-off of this. The nasty ghastliness is offset by a delightful double act consisting of Donald Pleasence and Norman Rossington, who supply laughs aplenty. The film's slow pacing is bolstered by tons of atmosphere and creepy scenes shot in real-life abandoned locations; the end result is unsettling in the extreme.

is the reason to watch this film. The flabbergasting and versatile displays of sarcasm shown by Donald Pleasence's copper Calhoun are simply breathtaking. The British policeman, as is well known, has about 52 forms of sarcasm at his disposal, to make up for his not carrying a sidearm, and Pleasence uses them ALL, shifting from one to another with lightning speed. Observe a master at work. Pleasence and Rossington apparently ad-libbed many of their best lines, resulting in free and easy and extremely funny series of scenes between the two. "And very nice too."

The premise for this film is brilliant. The underground setting is brilliantly used, with striking photography and visual story-telling. The film's last line is something like, "Did they really live like this?", seeing the squalor of the underground lair. Sequences are fantastically gruesome, in documentary style. Not only is the film well shot, it has some points to make about oppression. See this film if you get the chance, it deserves a much higher IMDb rating.

A truly original horror film. American director Gary Sherman somehow manages to capture the sight and sounds of '70s England, including a career-best performance by Donald Pleasence (as usual, playing a goodie rather than a baddie, despite popular opinion). Death Line somehow combines immense pathos, gruesome visceral horror, Carry On-style humour and claustrophobic terror into one package. While the perpetrators are indeed hideous, they are simply trying to survive; meanwhile, '70s London goes on about them as if they didn't exist. Christopher Lee's cameo is pointless, clearly a marketing exercise; it's Pleasence and co-star Norman Rossington who carry the film, grounding this plausible yet outrageous tale in reality. Death Line is an oddity, to be sure, but even now, in 2002, it remains horribly horrific yet strangely homely. For all its faults, this remains a masterpiece; see it, and you'll never forget it.

One every so often you come across a real, unclassifiable gem - one of those low-budget cult movies you see, late at night on TV, then spend years thereafter raving about to your puzzled, disbelieving friends. "See, there's this disused Tube tunnel, with a tribe of degenerate Victorian plague cannibals down there, and they pull people off the platform and eat them, only sometimes they try to mate with them... and Donald Pleasance gives possibly the most monumentally weird performance of his LIFE... and there's this really cheesy proto-electronic score... and... and... and..." As folks wander away from you, shaking their heads sadly, you do not mind. You smile. For you have seen Death Line.

I've always liked this. From my first viewings, cut on TV and with less than decent picture on video, to improved DVD image and now completely uncut bright, shining (almost indecently so!) Blu-ray. Some complain it is not fast enough for them but we have a great script and location shooting in an old London underground station to compensate and the big reveal is well worth the very modest wait. Plus, all the time there is Donald Pleasance having the time of his life, taking the pi** out of everybody, from the powers that be, his own superiors and the public he has the misfortune to have to work over, I mean work for. True the horror are a bit awful and the nastiness is more than those expecting a jump in the dark are probably up for but it maintains that dread factor whilst being funny and all the time showing us those super tube tunnels and trains and advertising hoardings. Mind the bores and let's up this pathetic IMDb score!