French poster
The Flesh and the Fiends, John Gilling, UK, 1960, 97 mins.
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In a world dressed in long shadows, creeping fog and cobble stone roads, the ghouls own the night. John Gilling's "The Flesh and the Fiends" is a truly delectable piece of gothic horror that delivers on the broken promises made by other films that fail to live up to their lobby cards. Set in 19th century Scotland, the film opens in the fog steeped graveyard that gives way to a set of rusty chains dancing over a freshly unearthed grave. A body is removed and carried through the black soot stained streets of lower class Scotland to a Medical Academy into the waiting arms of Peter Cushing. He is the head professor of the school, worshipped by his students, reviled by his jealous contemporaries. Cushing's Dr. Knox pays top dollar for fresh corpses for study. The fresher the better. But without government support, where will the doctor get the corpses he is so in need of? Enter the pair of Donald Pleasence and George Rose. They are two working class stiffs who take it upon themselves to provide corpses for the good doctor, by any means necessary. Most films would gloss over these two characters and make them overly silly or simplified stereotypes. Here however, Pleasence in particular crafts a lingering evil that hides under the surface of british charm and kind tones. He conveys a warm shoulder of comfort all the while concealing the leering, smirking killer whose shadow grows large on the wall until it consumes the unsuspecting victim. The writing is a layered net of diabolic bliss that unveils incredible dastardly doings under the guise of casual detachment. Pleasence and Rose steal every scene they're in, which is saying a lot when you are playing opposite Peter Cushing. With one low slung eyelid and a biting sense of superiority, Cushing creates a monster who fully accepts his sins because they are necessary for the future of medicine. He knows where the corpses come from, he knows it is morally wrong, but for him it's far worse for him to deny what can be gained by these small moral lapses. One thing that I can't stand in the films of the 70 and 80s, specifically that era's horror and slasher films, is the role of the idiot and their unnecessary goofball antics. It's a really tired cliche that usually brings a movie to a stop. Here however, we have one murder scene where we see Pleasence about to do the typical 'sicko dance,' the kind usually reserved for these retards but here it is so fucking eery-- its the kind of odd perverse thing you might actually just do when watching your friend choke out and 80 year old woman and you are torn by the money you might get, the last shred of social mores you feel, and the hard on you feel churning in your loins. He jerks nervously across the room, clutching his mouth and nose as he watches the victims suffocate. After all that he feels no shame, no pity. But the sight of a small rat drops him into an almost catatonic shock as he screams and finally collapses against the wall in fear muttering," filthy, filthy thing." Great horror writing depends on tonal shifts. Taking an audience from one mood to another and stringing their emotions along like a needy, overly giving girl who you keep around for convenient ass until something better comes along. Gilling's film shifts beautifully from the macabre to dry biting comedy. This coupled with beautifully grotesque, fully fleshed out characters is what makes great horror. With a truly massive body of work behind him, Donald Pleasence for many will always be remembered for the Halloween series as the good Doctor Loomis. For me, I always think first of the myopic counterfeiter in "The Great Escape." From now on I will think of Donald Pleasence only as the Ghoul in "The Flesh and the Fiends." Few films leave me with a completely rewarding experience of being equally creeped out and fully satiated by a masterfully crafted story of compelling characters. This one is special. DVD is available through Image Ent.'s website at: - Reviewed by Chris Sacks |
