Mishandled distribution can kill the chances
of an important genre offering even making a dent when really it should be
fulfilling its potential influential status as a prime innovator of a cinematic
movement. Not that British horror ‘Raw Meat’ (aka ‘Death line’ in my native homeland)
is an overall great movie as it suffers from inconsistences in its tone. This
uneven tone makes for a confusing viewing experience in what we the audience
should be feeling. We are up and down like Tower Bridge with our emotions, as
we are deeply disturbed at one time then laughing the next. The tone goes back
and forth. However,
it does employ many awe-inspiring elements for the enthusiastic film buff that
all just screams out cult classic. Unfortunately and criminally due to further
bad distributing of its home video releases ‘Raw Meat’ has not even achieved
that honour. This most under seen of under seen titles deserves to have a huge spotlight
shun upon it.
The elements on display here to please the average cinephile include directorial flair with ingenious creative touches that echo the word masterpiece supplemented by very nice cinematography, dark lighting and an unsettling score that all heightens its dreaded atmosphere when it actually comes to the horror. The cannibalistic antagonist here is savagely realistic with an equally so multi death sequence that contains a great deal of gore. The execution of this set-piece shows off slasher conventions predating ‘Black Christmas’ by one year and its blood-letting beats ‘Friday The 13th’ by a stonking seven years. It is possible that American writer and director Gary Sherman took his inspiration here from Mario Bava’s Italian giallo thriller ‘A Bay of Blood’ (1971) which is a prime influence of the slasher. ‘Raw Meat’ set in the modern day London of the time the movie was made nods to the then changing influence from America with Night of the Living Dead’s of this day approach to horror which dispelled of the previous gothic settings and themes that Britain’s very own Hammer film productions helped to make so iconic in popular culture.
Featured prominently is a knockout
performance by the late great genre veteran Donald Pleasance delivering highly
humorous dialogue in what makes for the movie’s comic relief. These scenes of
comedy could be an argument for just that relief of our fears until we are
jolted again by the terror. It is just that while I love humour in horror with
‘An American Werewolf in London’ (1982) being a prime example of that John
Landis’ film got the perfect balance of the two just right there. Landis skilfully
blended the two into a mix that at the same time does not corrupt each other they
do not cancel each other out, as the comedy does not spill over ruining the
horror and vice versa. The characters took the scary situations they were in
seriously but the director could still very cleverly find a way to make us laugh
simultaneously until the next shock tactic was enforced. Here it is one or the
other a sudden shift in tone that confuses us. At one point, we are laughing at
Pleasance’s overbearingly boorish tea loving London working class police
detective Inspector
Calhoun in a comedic police thriller where he distracts us from the seriousness
of the crimes treating even the talk of the grisly murders with jokey sarcasm. Spliced
together with these scenes we are mortified by the depictions of these
murders and cannibalism in the deep dark depths of an abandoned underground
tube station. We have two movies in one here.
Injected into these tunnel sequences are also
a distinct sadness melancholia portrayed through the grievance of the lone
survivor of a family of cannibals after his pregnant companion passes away.
Although highly effective these scenes contribute to awkward pacing but the
combination of seeing this and the extensively detailed gruesomeness of the
Cannibal's den of slaughtered corpses both fresh and rotting makes for an
extremely intense and interesting viewing experience for any fan of shocking
cinema. A brilliant long fluid camera panning lasting a near eight minutes sums
all this up perfectly including the murder of the taken important politician
James Manfred OBE that begins the story.
While the creature here is hideously
unsightly covered in sores, drooling and inbred the portrayal is ultimately
sympathetic despite his violent actions. His origins stem from being a victim
of Britain’s social failings. He is a decedent from a group of workers that
were tunnelling under the British museum to build a tube station way back in
1892. A tragic accident where a large section of the roof collapsed buried twelve
workers - eight men and four women. Due to this, the company they worked for
went bankrupt and could not afford to dig them out. However, most of the
workers survived because of air pockets in the tunnel, a supply of water and
feeding off each other when one would die. This monstrosity of a primitive like
savage is a creation of Britain’s own social ills. The poor working class are
ignored due to government and industry incompetence.
The social commentary on the class system is
also evident in a great stand out scene between Donald Pleasance’s working
class inspector Calhoun and the cinematic god like presence of the legendary
Christopher Lee making a non-phoned in cameo in a highly memorable appearance
as an upper class M.I.5 agent. Lee’s character attempts to put a stop to
Calhoun’s investigation into the disappearance of the OBE politician when their
paths cross while Calhoun and his partner are searching the said politician’s
luxurious house claiming that Calhoun is out of his jurisdiction. The M.1.5
operative’s concern is to cover up the missing member of the houses of
parliament’s sordid lifestyle in picking up prostitutes. This was something he
was doing when the cannibal abducted him. The exchange of dialogue between
Pleasance and Lee containing class jibes at each other is just priceless. Their
chemistry in just this one scene is immense. A negative aspect of this though
is that we would have liked to see more of Christopher Lee in a sub-plot trying
to sabotage the investigation in which this scene could have so easily set up.
The chemistry between the two young leads however is non-existent. Alex Campbell
(David Ladd) and Patricia Wilson (Sharon Gurney) are the ones who find the body
of the unconscious upper crust toff before he is taken by the creature. They
are two terribly stiff performances aided by blander than bland
characterization. Patricia becomes the object of the cannibal’s desire in
replacing his lost love in the film’s climax.
Overall, despite its shortcomings ‘Raw Meat’
is well worth your consideration. Director Sherman would go on to become something
of a cult genre figure thanks to this solid effort, the much loved by horror
fans zombie movie ‘Dead and Buried’ (1981) and the hugely entertaining
exploitation of the action thriller Vice Squad (1982). Unfortunately, he also
made one of the worst horror sequels ever with ‘Poltergeist III’ in 1988. Available
on DVD for some time now you should start giving this British gem its much
deserved cult following. Just make sure you “Mind the doors".
Dave J. Wilson
©2012 Cinematic Shocks, Dave J. Wilson - All work is the property of the credited author and may not be reprinted or reproduced elsewhere without permission.
*** out of ****
Dave J. Wilson
©2012 Cinematic Shocks, Dave J. Wilson - All work is the property of the credited author and may not be reprinted or reproduced elsewhere without permission.
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