Despite displaying what would today be considered very mediocre special effects, Frightmare is a creepy British classic.
Imagine you are a single father and you fall madly in love with a woman, who then becomes your wife. Only to find out that she is a serial killing cannibal who uses tarot readings to lure in unsuspecting victims. You love her so much, though, that when the sh*t hits the fan...you get yourself institutionalized in an asylum just to be closer to her...leaving your daughters as wards of the state.
Fast forward 15 years later: your wife is deemed cured and fit for release (a credit to the ego of psychiatrists...toward which the film takes an oppositional slant). Together- even though your insanity was questioned from the beginning- you are sent back out into the world, to live freely.
The release of such a couple, has led to an identity crisis for their daughters, who now find themselves leading dual realities. Jackie is left attempting to con her still cannibalistic mother into eating hog brain, so that she can prevent any other innocent people from being murdered. While subsequently trying to hide the very existence of their parents from her sister Debbie- who was born in the asylum and raised in a convent style orphanage by a group of nuns. However Debbie has some secrets of her own...
It becomes evidently clear early on- after she instigates a bar fight, before killing and dismembering the target victim- that Debbie has, at the very least, inherited the murder gene from her violently disturbed mother.
Her mother, on the other hand, is an incredibly manipulative psychopath who simply cannot stop murdering and eating people. And she has a particular taste for brain.
She has gotten her entire family trapped within her world. They are all either trying to cover-up for her, or actively helping her kill.
Too bad for the young and upcoming, local, psychiatrist- who thinks he's the wondermaker that can work out all their mental issues. As you might suspect, things don't go so well for him. Inevitably leading to the conclusion of the film.
In my opinion, The Yates Family are, alongside the Texas Chainsaw Massacre crew and those backwoods hicks from Deliverance, among the creepiest horror families that have ever plagued the cinematic screen. While the special effects are quite budget- with a general lack of gore- the film more than makes up for this with it's tension and collection of creepy characters driven by dubious motives. I really enjoyed this disturbing classic. Recommended.
6.5 out of 10
Imagine you are a single father and you fall madly in love with a woman, who then becomes your wife. Only to find out that she is a serial killing cannibal who uses tarot readings to lure in unsuspecting victims. You love her so much, though, that when the sh*t hits the fan...you get yourself institutionalized in an asylum just to be closer to her...leaving your daughters as wards of the state.
Fast forward 15 years later: your wife is deemed cured and fit for release (a credit to the ego of psychiatrists...toward which the film takes an oppositional slant). Together- even though your insanity was questioned from the beginning- you are sent back out into the world, to live freely.
The release of such a couple, has led to an identity crisis for their daughters, who now find themselves leading dual realities. Jackie is left attempting to con her still cannibalistic mother into eating hog brain, so that she can prevent any other innocent people from being murdered. While subsequently trying to hide the very existence of their parents from her sister Debbie- who was born in the asylum and raised in a convent style orphanage by a group of nuns. However Debbie has some secrets of her own...
It becomes evidently clear early on- after she instigates a bar fight, before killing and dismembering the target victim- that Debbie has, at the very least, inherited the murder gene from her violently disturbed mother.
Her mother, on the other hand, is an incredibly manipulative psychopath who simply cannot stop murdering and eating people. And she has a particular taste for brain.
She has gotten her entire family trapped within her world. They are all either trying to cover-up for her, or actively helping her kill.
Too bad for the young and upcoming, local, psychiatrist- who thinks he's the wondermaker that can work out all their mental issues. As you might suspect, things don't go so well for him. Inevitably leading to the conclusion of the film.
In my opinion, The Yates Family are, alongside the Texas Chainsaw Massacre crew and those backwoods hicks from Deliverance, among the creepiest horror families that have ever plagued the cinematic screen. While the special effects are quite budget- with a general lack of gore- the film more than makes up for this with it's tension and collection of creepy characters driven by dubious motives. I really enjoyed this disturbing classic. Recommended.
6.5 out of 10