The Creeping Flesh (Region Zero/PAL version)
PLEASE NOTE: This is a DVD that can only be
operated on machines capable of playing back DVDs set for Region Zero and the
PAL format, and can be ordered from our friends at Xploited Cinema through
their website:
www.xploitedcinema.com
They have this and hundreds of other great, usually very
hard to get titles that are often long overdo to his the U.S. DVD market. Be sure to visit their site for more details
on that as well.
Picture: B-
Sound: C+ Extras: B- Film: B-
One of the more interesting Christopher Lee/Peter Cushing
pairings did not happen at Hammer Studios, but for LMG/Tigon Films. Freddie Francis, the legendary
cinematographer in another one of his always-interesting directorial outings,
bring them together for The Creeping Flesh (1973). This tale has Cushing as a doctor who talks
of his expedition that turns up a missing link with a larger skull than modern
man. Has he found a breakthrough?
Well, the fun part of this cycle of the genre is that the
characters use very dated science and technology to achieve the impossible,
which allows the viewer to suspend disbelief more than usual. It is also something lost in Horror Cinema
since the late 1970s, sadly. The point
is that you get good scary B-movie story-telling at its best and by people who
did it best. Lee shows up as a man who
wants to steal Cushing’s discovery and just having their characters going at it
alone is “worth the price of admission” as it were. There is a monster, and we always have to ask if either of them
are a monster. This must-see for true
Horror fans is worth a good look at for everyone else.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image is very solid
and holds up very well for an older film.
The print is in very good shape, and though the color is consistent, I
had to wonder if cinematographer Norman Warwick (or Francis by way of his great
camerawork in the field), B.S.C., intended the Rank Color to be this
muted. It looks really good otherwise,
and was supposed to be in browns and grays to some extent. DDF Video did a better job than expected
either way. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
is fine for its age, with a good music score by Paul Ferris. Whether the basic Columbia TriStar Home
Video DVD can compete with this is not likely considering PAL is usually
clearer than NTSC, especially when it looks this good. However, this version has extras, where that
U.S. version (like too many genre DVDs from Columbia’s catalog) have none or
next to none.
Extras include another winning, must-hear commentary by
Christopher Lee, hosted by Marcus Hearn.
Lee has so many tales to tell that hardly anyone can compete with him
when it comes to stars on commentary tracks.
You also get a stills section, a 1.33 X 1 trailer for this film, a
trailer for The Abominable Snowman Of The Himalayas (1957) letterboxed
for its scope aspect ratio, a 1.33 X 1 trailer for Captain Kronos – Vampire
Hunter, an anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 trailer for Frankenstein
& The Monster From Hell (reviewed elsewhere on this site), and a
terrific 24-page booklet with a long, outstanding essay by Hearn and Jonathan
Rigby that includes some excellent illustrations and all the cast and crew
information at the end. Even Criterion
does not do that enough.
- Nicholas Sheffo
