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"It's as much fun to scare as to be scared." --- Vincent Price

Horrorphile - June 2007

Raw Meat

June 7th 2007 02:45
Raw Meat DVD cover art
English horror flick made in 1972 which is by no means a Hammer horror. In fact it’s more gruesome than a dozen Hammers with intensely atmospheric cinematography, bordering on under-lit! Death Line, as it was first called in Britain, is years ahead of that deep trash known as C.H.U.D. (1984); cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers, or that very average straight to video release Creep (2006), or even The Descent (2005).

Known more commonly under its American title Raw Meat, it was known in other countries (in the local tongue) as Tunnel of the Living Corpses (West Germany), It Did Not Take The Subway (Italy), The Subway of the Dead (France), and in Finland as Dead Policy.

Donald Pleasance in Raw Meat
Bloody 'ell, where's my cuppa tea?
It seems something dark and sinister is dwelling in the London Underground. In 1892 a group of diggers (men and women) became trapped by a cave-in. They survived in a crevice and lived off the flesh of victims they abducted from the surrounding Tube train stations. Only a couple are left, and after watching his pregnant wife die, anemic Plague-riddled “The Man” (Hugh Armstrong), now at the end of his ghastly tether, goes berserk.

Hugh Armstrong in Raw Meat
Mmmm! Rat's head! Tasty! But not as good as human flesh!
Meanwhile an eccentric Scotland Yard detective, Inspector Calhoun (who else but Donald Pleasance), decides to get to the bottom of it all (pun intended), after a top ranking MI5 official goes missing from the Underground. And then there’s Alex (an inept David Ladd) and Patricia (a rather contemporary-looking Sharon Gurney), a couple who inevitably end up doing their own investigations, and before you can say gobble-gobble, glub-glub, munch, munch, munch, Patricia becomes preyed upon as “love interest” to the lonely “The Man”.

Raw Meat
Another bad English complexion!
Raw Meat is a rare oddity, a strangely slight comedy dressed ostensibly as a horror movie, but with an unusual amount of pathos. There’s a tiny cameo from Christopher Lee as an MI5 officer, obviously cast to sell movie, although Pleasance does the job in spades. The production values are high, with great special effects make-up (the subterranean lair is littered with partially eaten corpses, while “The Man” oozes decay and pestilence.

Christopher Lee in Raw Meat
I say, 'bout time for a cuppa?
Director Gary Sherman, who ten years later would direct another horror curio, Dead & Buried (1981), holds the picture tight, occasionally drifting off into unnecessary comedic exposition. Renowned cinematographer Alex Thomson has given the movie a genuinely creepy look, with the Underground bathed in the orange and brick hues of rust and congealed blood. There’s some sensational camera work as well, especially in a very long tracking shot which reveals the lair.

Hugh Armstrong and Sharon Gurney in Raw Meat
Soft female flesh, much better than rat's head!
The dialogue is frequently ripe with cockney vernacular and the characters are thick in British tradition (ie bowler hats and frequent cups of tea). And despite a virtually non-existent plot, the movie rambles along, clinking and clunking effectively enough to maintain a morbid interest in what will happen to “The Man”. He’s a stalker'n'slasher, yet one feels his sense of human despair, despite his inhumane behaviour.

Hugh Armstrong in Raw Meat
Not much light shed on this Underground caper
Apparently Raw Meat is going to be remade, directed by Gary Sherman once again, although re-set to the Chicago subways, with less emphasis on the police interest, and centred around a female singer and her band whom discover the dark, dank, grisly, cannibalistic low down. It might work. It might very well not. Raw Meat is a somewhat acquired taste, a carnivorous delicacy, perhaps a wee bit on the gamey side, but full of horror protein and some crispy bits.

“Mind the doors! …. Mind the doors! …. Mind the doors! ….”

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews
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7 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by KylieW

June 7th 2007 04:12


Celebrity Obsession
and before you can say gobble-gobble, glub-glub, munch, munch, munch,

You just don't get the opportunity to say gobble-gobble, glub-glub, munch, munch, munch anymore!!

Looks an interesting little flick. Even the pictures used in the post look very British don't they. Will be interesting to see if the remake is good.

Comment by Damo

June 7th 2007 06:53


For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
You had me at Donald Pleasance

I can't believe I have never seen this.

Comment by Bryn

June 7th 2007 08:16


Horrorphile
Kylie ... For some reason I quite fancy the idea of this being remade ... but with conviction.

Damo ... yeah, go the Pleasance pleasure.

Comment by Cibbuano

June 7th 2007 22:17


20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
ha, this looks fantastic... I didn't enjoy The Descent too much...

Comment by JohnDoe

June 8th 2007 02:01


Film & TV on DVD
What really surprised me about the filmw as just how influential it has been...with each new scene you saw teh shape of things to come...

Those uncut dolly shots were amazing.


"Mind the Doors", so thats what he was saying..

Another fun evening

Comment by Bryn

June 8th 2007 04:05


Horrorphile
Cibby, I'll lend you the DVD if you like ...

Armenta, sign away!

JD, yeah, the visual narrative was compelling indeed ... and the cinematography was so densely rich!

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