A London couple are imprisoned after committing a string of cannibalistic murders in 1957. Years later, they are freed, but the wife is not quite as reformed as one may think. The couple's now-adult daughters, one of whom was raised without them, come to realize their mother's murderous impulses and hunger for flesh are ever-present.
This twisted horror tale is as demented as it is absurd; companions to "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" are inevitable given they were released within weeks of each other, but they share little in common aside from a cannibal subplot; where "Chainsaw" was a venture into a living nightmare, "Frightmare" is more of a macabre family drama with a slasher underpinning; in some ways, it's more of a psycho-family drama than it is a horror film.
This is not to say the film is not grotesque or disturbing-there are some great special effects and shockingly violent murder scenes, one of which entails a hot firepoker that is particularly difficult to stomach (no pun intended). For every few minutes of these primal terror sequences though, there is about fifteen minutes of wordy dialogue that floods the film to the point of weighing down the tension. This is mitigated somewhat by the fact that the performances are quite good; Sheila Keith is appropriately unhinged, while Rupert Davies makes a strangely likable counterpart who covers up her crimes. Deborah Fairfax and Kim Butcher also play the couple's adult daughters very nicely.
Overall, "Frightmare" is a patently demented horror film with a macabre concept and stand-out performances, but is somewhat weighed down by its own loquaciousness and extended family drama hi jinx. Still, there are moments to be had in the film that are truly immediate and disturbing, which make it worth a watch for genre fan, and its downbeat ending packs a punch. 6/10.
This twisted horror tale is as demented as it is absurd; companions to "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" are inevitable given they were released within weeks of each other, but they share little in common aside from a cannibal subplot; where "Chainsaw" was a venture into a living nightmare, "Frightmare" is more of a macabre family drama with a slasher underpinning; in some ways, it's more of a psycho-family drama than it is a horror film.
This is not to say the film is not grotesque or disturbing-there are some great special effects and shockingly violent murder scenes, one of which entails a hot firepoker that is particularly difficult to stomach (no pun intended). For every few minutes of these primal terror sequences though, there is about fifteen minutes of wordy dialogue that floods the film to the point of weighing down the tension. This is mitigated somewhat by the fact that the performances are quite good; Sheila Keith is appropriately unhinged, while Rupert Davies makes a strangely likable counterpart who covers up her crimes. Deborah Fairfax and Kim Butcher also play the couple's adult daughters very nicely.
Overall, "Frightmare" is a patently demented horror film with a macabre concept and stand-out performances, but is somewhat weighed down by its own loquaciousness and extended family drama hi jinx. Still, there are moments to be had in the film that are truly immediate and disturbing, which make it worth a watch for genre fan, and its downbeat ending packs a punch. 6/10.