The Flesh and Blood Show

source: The Flesh and Blood Show

The Flesh and Blood Show

Pete Walker was right: his movies weren't as bad as he thought. Case in point is "The Flesh and Blood Show", among others. This one is a campy, entertaining spectacle, with surprising little violence but about as much nudity as could fit on the screen. It's also elevated above the silly proto-slasher formula it employs by the strength of its performances, and is in fact very well shot. The ending, featuring a stunning Shakespearean monologue from veteran British character actor Patrick Barr, even manages a surprising twist. It gets wrapped up a little too quickly and neatly to be truly effective, but what the hell, I enjoyed the ride.

Typical of Peter Walker's cynical is the scene where Jenny Hanley lights up in front of a sign reading 'Smoking Strictly Forbidden'. Graced with a good cast and actually nothing like as lurid as the title suggests, it's the former rather the latter that's most on display. And there's an ingenious twist at the conclusion.

This is really quite a pleasure if you happen to be a fan of giallo and slashers- though really more the former than the latter. The Flesh and Blood Show is an excellent film that far preceded the American slasher craze, and even just barely the giallo films of Italy. This film was made in England in 1972, and while it seems quite a rudimentary slasher in this day and age, at that time it was really quite innovative. Along with A Bay of Blood, this may have jumpstarted the slasher craze that began with Halloween and Friday the 13th (not to mention The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), but really had it's roots with early exploitation films like this. The Flesh and Blood Show has tons of atmosphere and a fairly engaging story, but rather skimps on the blood. Most of the murders take place off scene and the ending really begs for more but overall I really enjoyed this.

Pete Walker brings us a proto-slasher that's now as cornball as can be. Is it worthy of respect in the pantheon of horror? Yes, maybe. This is a coastal town that they forgot to close down. A group of actors and actresses have mysteriously been lured to an end of pier theatre to star in a play. Pretty soon they start being bumped off one by one. So it be! There's plenty of nudity, actors siting around musing on the "biz" and its perils, while the matter of fact attitude to the disappearances is almost as ludicrous as someone opening the door in the middle of the night stark naked... It's good fun in truth, especially for British film fans like me to see the likes of Robin Askwith and Jenny Hanley in this. The run down theatre setting is a good one, while the play they are rehearsing makes no sense and is quite surreal! 5/10

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!