Creeping Flesh

Rating:
Summary: Peter Cushing discovers the source of all the world's evil
Review: "The Creeping Flesh" is certainly an interesting combination of horror and science fiction, which teams Hammer's two greatest starts, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, in thie 1972 film done for Tigon British/World Film Services. Set in the late Victorian period, Professor Emmanuel Hildern (Cushing) tells his tale of how he discovered that all the evil in the world has been caused by blood tainted from an Evil One known in New Guinenan lore as Shish Kang. Hildern uncovers what he believes to be the creature's skeleton and is amazed when water drops on a finger bone and grows new flesh. Hildern dedicates his life to making a vaccine that will free mankind from not only evil but insanity and sexual debauchery as well. Unfortunately, when he tests out his first batch on his daughter Penelope (Lorna Heilbron), she becomes, ah, rather uninhibited and probably insane. Meanwhile, the professor's brother, Dr. James Hildern (Lee), learns of this discovery and steal the skeleton for his research. Unfortunately, the doctor is caught in a rainstorm, which survives to revive the horrible Shish Kang.

On the one hand you have to admire any film that tries to deal with the true origin of all evil in the world, even if the answer is that evil is a contagious disease passed on from an extraterrestrial monster (the "Evil One" idea seems a nod of sorts to the writings of H. P. Lovecraft). Although Lee is billed above Cushing for one of the few times in their career, he has very little to do in "The Creeping Flesh." Cushing's role has considerably more depth, as is usually the case when they pair up. The film is certainly stylish and director Freddie Francis ("The Skull"), but the plot by Peter Spenceley and Jonathan Rumbold is as convoluted as any you will find in horror film history. The "ending" offers a couple of levels of ambiguity that allow you to reassess everything you think you have seen, if you are so inclined.

Rating:
Summary: Creeping Flesh
Review: "The Creeping Flesh" is certainly an interesting combination of horror and science fiction, which teams Hammer's two greatest starts, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, in thie 1972 film done for Tigon British/World Film Services. Set in the late Victorian period, Professor Emmanuel Hildern (Cushing) tells his tale of how he discovered that all the evil in the world has been caused by blood tainted from an Evil One known in New Guinenan lore as Shish Kang. Hildern uncovers what he believes to be the creature's skeleton and is amazed when water drops on a finger bone and grows new flesh. Hildern dedicates his life to making a vaccine that will free mankind from not only evil but insanity and sexual debauchery as well. Unfortunately, when he tests out his first batch on his daughter Penelope (Lorna Heilbron), she becomes, ah, rather uninhibited and probably insane. Meanwhile, the professor's brother, Dr. James Hildern (Lee), learns of this discovery and steal the skeleton for his research. Unfortunately, the doctor is caught in a rainstorm, which survives to revive the horrible Shish Kang.

On the one hand you have to admire any film that tries to deal with the true origin of all evil in the world, even if the answer is that evil is a contagious disease passed on from an extraterrestrial monster (the "Evil One" idea seems a nod of sorts to the writings of H. P. Lovecraft). Although Lee is billed above Cushing for one of the few times in their career, he has very little to do in "The Creeping Flesh." Cushing's role has considerably more depth, as is usually the case when they pair up. The film is certainly stylish and director Freddie Francis ("The Skull"), but the plot by Peter Spenceley and Jonathan Rumbold is as convoluted as any you will find in horror film history. The "ending" offers a couple of levels of ambiguity that allow you to reassess everything you think you have seen, if you are so inclined.

Rating:
Summary: Big Bad Bones...
Review: Emmanuel Hildern (Peter Cushing) returns from New Guinea with a giant skeleton-fossil with an incredibly huge cranium. While cleaning one of it's fingers, Hildern watches in astonishment as the water he's using causes new flesh to form on the long-dead digit. Hildern cuts the finger off and keeps it in a jar. Through experimentation, Hildern discovers a serum made from the creature's blood that he believes can cure evil in human beings. Meanwhile, his daughter, Penelope (Lorna Heilbron) has discovered a secret about her mother that Hildern has kept hidden from her for most of her life. She goes bananas as a result, making her a great candidate for daddy's serum. Unfortunately, it causes Penelope to go completely berserk! She goes to a saloon, slashes a sailor's throat with a broken bottle, and sends an escaped lunatic falling to his death, before being apprehended. James Hildern (Christopher Lee) runs the local insane asylum, so of course, Penelope winds up with him. James uses Penelope's situation to blackmail Emmanuel into giving him the skeleton. When Emmanuel refuses, James returns by night to steal the bony spicimen. A rainstorm hits and soaks the skeleton, causing it to "flesh out" so to speak. A hideous monster is reborn to seek vengeance and spread evil across the globe. A nice twisty ending adds punch to this gothic tingler. A great flick, the title alone (much like "I Eat Your Skin" or "The Head") is reason enough to have it on your shelf! Would make a perfect double feature w/ HORROR EXPRESS ...

Rating:
Summary: Creepy Flesh
Review: Emmanuel Hildern, played by Peter Cushing, returns from New Guinea with a large prehistoric skeleton. While cleaning one of the fingers of the skeleton with water, the finger starts to grow flesh. Hildern starts to reflect on the origin of "evil" and creates a serum that he believes will be an antidote for evil. He injects his daughter with the serum, because he believes she may be insane, since her mother was. The serum does not work and causes his daughter to go insane. James Hildern, played by Christopher Lee, is Emmanuel brother and after finding out about the skeleton and steals it. The skeleton is exposed to the rain and the "Creeping Flesh" comes to life.

Rating:
Summary: The creeping plot
Review: Many British horror films tended to dwell on very similiar themes. This one is somewhat different, but it could have been much better if they spent more time developing it. The film begins focusing on the skeleton of an ancient creature that could be the missing link. Peter Cushing begins studying it and we learn that water makes skin grow back on the skeleton in seconds. This is pretty interesting, but then they fly off on a sub-plot about Cushing daughter learning that her mo ther went insane and she begins to follow suit. This part tends to go on and on showing us the insides of a seedy pub (all British horror movies are required to show a pub, I think it's a rule over there) and a confrontation with an escaped criminal. Christopher Lee plays Cushing's half brother and rival and he wants the skeleton Cushing has. The middle of this film is slow, but when it starts to rain, the movie cuts loose. The last ten minutes of this film is great, both the story and the visuals. This is overall decent film, just don't give up on it in the middle because it will redeem itself.

Rating:
Summary: NOT a Hammer Film--But Good Creepy Fun Anyway
Review: Several reviewers have erroneously identified this as a film from the great Hammer Films. It's not--"The Creeping Flesh" is an Amicus production, from one of Hammer's British rivals. However, this has the great gothic horror atmosphere that was one of Hammer's trademarks. And it has Lee and Cushing, perennial Hammer stars, in wonderful performances. The plot is surprisingly complex, with some neat twists, and the creature, when it appears, is memorable. Recommended for all fans of horror who believe that plot, not f/x, matter.

Rating:
Summary: Classic English Horror
Review: So we have Christopher Lee (Dracula, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars Episode III) and Peter Cushing (Star Wars and Shock Waves) in this 1973 film about "a terrifying journey through the nightmare worlds of evil, insanity, and terrible revenge." The film is wonderfully directed by Freddie Francis of such infamy as "Tales From the Crypt," "Son of Dracula," The Ghoul," and "Legend of the Werewolf."

Plot: A paleontologist comes to believe that evil is a blood-borne illness and that the vehicle for said disease is the re-animated flesh of a skeletal specimen recently recovered from New Guinea. Convinced that his wife had contracted this evil prior to loosing her mind, he is driven to concoct an immunization in an attempt to save his daughter from a similar fate. As this is a horror movie, things don't quite go as planned.

I own the movie on VHS and so eagerly anticipate its DVD release.

Rating:
Summary: The World, the Flesh and a Devil in an unusual Amicus film.
Review: The best aspect of this film is perhaps during the opening credits, where we see various sections of a truly fascinating painted canvas ecompassing all the aspects of the plot you are about to witness conveyed in a series of panned shots. The colors of this prop are brilliant. The second is perhaps when evil approaches and you see only an ever growing shadow of a caped figure rising ever larger over the front of the house! The story is well written, with an unusual idea on the origin of evil and implies a "book of revelation" portent for the future. The musical score is haunting and the acting and sets are fair. Two banes of humanity, Insanity and Evil are the focus of what our two adventurers are trying to solve, mainly to get the 10,000 pound Richter prize and the fame that would follow. However, a series of tragic foul-ups by lab assistant "Egors" release a catastrophe on all mankind, or so we are led to believe! Not the best film that this dynamic duo of horror ever made but very different and well plotted with a lot of Edwardian laboratory mumbo jumbo thrown in for "atmosphere".

Rating:
Summary: The World, the Flesh and a Devil in an unusual Amicus film.
Review: The best aspect of this film is perhaps during the opening credits, where we see various sections of a truly fascinating painted canvas ecompassing all the aspects of the plot you are about to witness conveyed in a series of panned shots. The colors of this prop are brilliant. The second is perhaps when evil approaches and you see only an ever growing shadow of a caped figure rising ever larger over the front of the house! The story is well written, with an unusual idea on the origin of evil and implies a "book of revelation" portent for the future. The musical score is haunting and the acting and sets are fair. Two banes of humanity, Insanity and Evil are the focus of what our two adventurers are trying to solve, mainly to get the 10,000 pound Richter prize and the fame that would follow. However, a series of tragic foul-ups by lab assistant "Egors" release a catastrophe on all mankind, or so we are led to believe! Not the best film that this dynamic duo of horror ever made but very different and well plotted with a lot of Edwardian laboratory mumbo jumbo thrown in for "atmosphere".

Rating:
Summary: The naughty finger...
Review: The Creeping Flesh (1973), originally produced by Tigon Pictures and directed by Freddie Francis, a man fairly well known to fans of films from Hammer Studios and Amicus Productions (The Studio That Dripped Blood), brings together two screen legends in Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee (they appeared in a total of 22 films together over the years) in a slightly fantastic tale of things evil and nasty.

Peter Cushing stars as Emmanuel Hilden, a 19th century scientist, involved in the study of human evolution, recently returning from an expedition to New Guinea with what he believes to be a find of epic proportions in that of a rather grotesque looking skeleton, humanoid in appearance, but much larger than any man. Emmanuel sees innumerable opportunities associated with this find, and believes it's his ticket to recognition and lucrative scientific grant monies. On arriving home to England with his boney buddy, we meet Emmanuel's comely daughter, Penelope, played by Lorna Heilbron. Seems she's been holding down the fort, and things have been pretty tight, money-wise, as she's had to let go of two of the three or four servants employed at the house (talk about being in dire straits). Oh yes, Emmanuel's wife and Penelope's mother, Marguerite, has long since passed, or, at least that's what we're lead to believe.

Emmanuel's half-brother, James Hilden (Christopher Lee), who runs a mental asylum, sends word that Emmanuel's wife, who was an inmate, has just died, to which Emmanuel goes to the asylum to collect her personal papers and such, and we learn that James, who has been financing his half-brother's expeditions, is cutting Emmanuel off, and that James is on the verge of a scientific breakthrough dealing with curing insanity or some such thing. One can't help notice there seems to be a bit of jealously in the relationship, coming from James towards Emmanuel.

Anyway, Emmanuel returns home, and begins studying his find. In cleaning part of the skeleton with water (its' finger bone), he notices the part he cleaned with water begins growing flesh...ew...in examining a blood sample (it differs slightly from humans) and reading some dusty tomes, Emmanuel concludes he's found the source of evil, and that evil is not so much a concept but a disease, a plague, and something that one can be inoculated against. He seems to prove this by testing his newly developed serum on a monkey, and fearing that his daughter may suffer the same fate as her mother, possibly madness passed in the genes, he gives the serum to his daughter. Well, we see that the initial success with the monkey didn't last long, and Emmanuel's assistant comments that thankfully they didn't test the serum out on a human test subject (he didn't know about Emmanuel's injecting Penelope). So what happens? The madness overtakes Penelope, brought on by the effects of the injection from her father, and she runs away, only to end up in James' asylum after she commits various crimes involving murder. Obviously James recognizes her, and brings her back to Emmanuel's home, discovers Emmanuel's notes on his recent experiments, and sees the possibilities of incorporating Emmanuel's work into his own, which Emmanuel strongly declines, so James decides to make arrangements to steal his half-brother's work. Unsure of how the skeleton comes into play, but knowing it's a crucial element, he steals it, riding away with it in his carriage. Emmanuel realizes what happens, and begins pursuit. Oh yeah, it also starts raining. Do you think the skeleton, the one that reacted to the water when Emmanuel tried to clean it, will get wet? Count on it...what happens next? You'll just have to watch...

I thought the concept of evil being a disease, something which may be curable, to be a pretty original notion within the film. Cushing was great as the scientist swept up with visions of ridding society of evil, allowing for a, in his words, a new paradise on Earth. His character certainly falls into the category of the scientist with the best intentions, not foreseeing the dangers until it's too late. Lee was also wonderful as the greedy, resentful half-brother, living in the shadow of Emmanuel's achievements, capitalizing on an opportunity when it presents itself, not fully realizing the implications but seeing only the chance for personal gain. Some of the elements of the story seemed a bit slipshod, kind of like they were assembled of ill-fitting pieces, specifically designed to move the plot along. And I was hoping to see more of the creature, but, from what little we do see, it was probably for the best as it was kind of funky, probably due to budgetary constraints. The scenes with the creature's flesh covered severed finger were suitably disgusting, but I'll be darned if that appendage didn't look like some sort of battery-powered martial aid. (Keep in mind the creature was like seven or eight feet tall, and had proportionally sized fingers.) While the movie wasn't particularly scary, it was definitely creepy, and kept my interest all the way through the end. One thing that annoyed me a little was habit of hearing spoken dialog played again later on as a character would recall it within their mind. Seeing as how we were there the first time the dialog was spoken aloud, I didn't see the need to remind us of the pertinent information relayed through a character's inner dialog, as if to aid us, the viewer, in following along. It seemed a bit patronizing, and unnecessary. I did love the ending, despite the huge loose plot thread left dangling with regards to the creature. Maybe it was meant to be that way, left to our speculation.

Columbia Tristar Home Video provides a very nice looking wide screen print here. The audio seemed a bit soft at times, but there are English subtitles, which I made use of...the only thing in regards to extras available is an original theatrical trailer.

Cookieman108