The Creeping Flesh (1973)

Horror superstars Sir Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing play half brothers in this Victorian era shocker. Cushing is an eminent scientist, Emmanuel Hildern, who has put forth the idea that insanity is a disease that *can* possibly be cured. His discovery of a most unusual pile of bones in Papua New Guinea would seem to lend credence to his theories of evolution. Lorna Heilbron is Emmanuels' troubled daughter Penelope, who's distraught over not knowing very much about her late mother. And Lee is James Hildern, operator of a lunatic asylum who also has a daffy idea that he aims to prove.All the ingredients are here for what turns out to be a pretty solid, if imperfect, feature. Cushing and Lee are simply wonderful, especially in their scenes together. And they're directed by renowned cinematographer / filmmaker Freddie Francis, who also guided the two of them in "The Skull" from 1965. The amusing, interesting screenplay is by Peter Spenceley and Jonathan Rumbold, who create a few subplots and mix them together with decent results. One of the through lines is Emmanuels' accidental discovery that his newly acquired skeleton can be restored to life!A company named Tigon made this one, and it's good enough to compare favorably with a lot of the period horrors cranked out by the more famous Hammer Studios and Amicus productions. The period detail is respectable, the lighting by Norman Warwick is just right, and the music by Paul Ferris is excellent. Makeup artist Roy Ashton does typically fine work. The film is also somewhat gory, but it won't be too hard to take for more squeamish viewers.Gorgeous Heilbron delivers a transfixing performance as the daughter. The exemplary supporting cast also includes George Benson, Kenneth J. Warren, Duncan Lamont, Harry Locke, Michael Ripper (whose role is much too brief), Catherine Finn, and Jenny Runacre.It's all worth it just for the delicious twist ending, which does help to smooth over any holes there might be in the story.Seven out of 10.

How can you go wrong with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in the same film? They appeared in movies together twenty two times; I don't know if that's a record or not, but it sounds pretty prolific to me. They're cast as half brothers in this flick, both on a course of determining the true nature of evil from slightly different angles, with Emmanuel (Cushing) seeking a cure for evil as a disease. This sounded to me a little like putting terrorists on trial as lawbreakers, with a lot of the same drawbacks.Hey, how about that escaped lunatic Lenny from the Hildern Institute for Mental Disorders. The actor, Kenneth J. Warren looked like he could have portrayed Russian dictator Nikita Khrushchev given the chance, or if you prefer, a reasonably whacky George 'The Animal' Steele. He just had the perfect look for those kinds of roles, and he fit right in here.Told in a flashback from the perspective of Professor Emmanuel Hildern, we don't know it when the movie opens that he's already become a patient of his brother James (Lee) three years earlier when the events of the story took place. If he had to do it again, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have injected daughter Penelope (Lorna Heilbron) with that anti-evil serum he concocted from the giant skeleton discovered in New Guinea. What was he thinking? And by the way, anyone else think that the head on that skeleton resembled the Predator that came along about a decade later? First thing I thought of.Well, with Penelope taking on her own mother's persona and the skeleton coming to life after the Sky God weeped, it was just a matter of time before the good doctor's plans for wiping out evil in the world came to an abrupt end. Produced by Tigon Pictures, this English film bears the hallmarks of it's competitor Hammer Films, right down to the principals and the Gothic feel of the sets and characters. One element the story could have done a better job of though, was explaining how the resurrected skeleton came by his Riding Hood gear.

THE CREEPING FLESH is one of those alleged Fright Films that has a LOT going for it- not the least of which are two of the foremost Superstars of the Supernatural, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Unfortunately, the storyline is so mired in sub-plots that it gets hard to tell who's at bat at any given time: we have Peter Cushing as a mad scientist who's unearthed the skeleton of a creature whose very blood is "the essence of Evil." He also has a daughter, begat with a mother who was mad (in the Mentally Unhinged sense), who may or may not be succumbing to madness herself. It doesn't help when daddy injects her with a sample of the "essence of Evil" blood taken from the reformed middle finger of the left hand of the aforementioned prehistoric skeleton (magically reformed when said digit came into contact with water). Meanwhile, a murderous inmate escapes from the asylum being run by Christopher Lee (who, upon investigating the escape, is forced to gun down ANOTHER inmate who makes a break for it). Thoroughly confused? If not, you WILL be before all is said and done. Given that the filmmakers had two of the Greats heading up the cast, one can't help but wonder why they didn't simply focus on Lee and Cushing...

Freddie Francis finds himself working for Tigon on the ambitious, albeit flawed, horror opus The Creeping Flesh. It's always fun to see Cushing and Lee working together and this is no exception, although it's fair to say that they don't get enough shared screen time in this particular film. Nevertheless, The Creeping Flesh is an extremely interesting and well-made offering. Ultimately it bites off more than it can chew, but there's still plenty of enjoyment to be had from a viewing of it.Victorian scientist Emmanuel Hildern (Cushing) returns from New Guinea with the skeletal remains of a humanoid creature. His excitement about the creature is tempered somewhat when he discovers his wife has died while he has been away. Not that their relationship was a normal one anyway – Mrs Hildern had been put into a lunatic asylum run by Emmanuel's brother, James (Christopher Lee), on account of her unquenchable sexual appetite. Furthermore, Emmanuel's daughter, Penelope (Lorna Heilbron), has no idea that her mother has been locked away, believing that she died years ago. Whilst examining the skeleton, Emmanuel discovers if it comes into contact with water its flesh and blood cells are able to regenerate. In other words, the skeleton can regrow flesh when wet. Believing the creature may be the 'Evil One' mentioned in the ancient prophecies of the tribes of New Guinea, Emmanuel decides to investigate further. He discovers strange cells in the creature's biological make-up and concludes they may be a germ-like form of evil, suggesting that evil itself is a virus like any other, as easy to 'catch' as a common cold. Emmanuel attempts to use the cells to create a vaccine against evil. He tests it on his daughter, believing that she may need to be protected in order to prevent her from turning out like her mother. Alas, his tests have the opposite effect and soon Penelope becomes a dangerous murderess intent on luring others to their death. Meanwhile, James plots to steal the New Guinean skeleton for himself… but makes the mistake of attempting to spirit it away during a rainstorm.As one can see, there's an awful lot going on in The Creeping Flesh considering that it is merely a 94 minute horror film. We have brotherly rivalry and betrayal; messed-up family politics; tribal prophecies; a flesh-growing monster; and the radical concept of evil as a contagious illness rather than an immoral mind-set. Where The Creeping Flesh comes undone somewhat is in its doomed effort to tie so many disparate components together into a coherent whole.Fortunately, the good points outweigh the flaws, resulting in a film that is worth watching in spite of any weaknesses. Flawed it may well be, but The Creeping Flesh still has much to admire. It takes a while to click into gear, biding its time in setting up the main 'evil-on-the-loose' story thread. However, once the consequences of Emmanuel's experimentations become clear - with Penelope going on a murderous rampage - things become exciting and compelling. Plus, of course, running alongside this thread we have the scheme hatched by Lee's character to steal the creature, not realising the potentially catastrophic result of taking it outside in the rain. With its steady but intriguing build-up, disturbing apocalyptic ending and plenty of atmospheric chills in between, The Creeping Flesh is a film that undeniably rewards patient viewing.