Fresh and Exciting

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This is really quite a pleasure if you happen to be a fan of giallo and slashers- though really more the former than the latter. The Flesh and Blood Show is an excellent film that far preceded the American slasher craze, and even just barely the giallo films of Italy. This film was made in England in 1972, and while it seems quite a rudimentary slasher in this day and age, at that time it was really quite innovative. Along with A Bay of Blood, this may have jumpstarted the slasher craze that began with Halloween and Friday the 13th (not to mention The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), but really had it's roots with early exploitation films like this. The Flesh and Blood Show has tons of atmosphere and a fairly engaging story, but rather skimps on the blood. Most of the murders take place off scene and the ending really begs for more but overall I really enjoyed this.

This murky offering from infamous British horror director Pete Walker isn't really a bad film, it's just not great. The first half of the movie is by far the weakest of the two, a slow-paced bit of to-ing and fro-ing which is so poorly-lit that you actually have to sit about two inches away from your television screen with the brightness turned up to full to make out anything that's going on. The straightforward plot is that of a slasher movie, although bear in mind that this film was released about six years before the slasher film boom so any similarities are purely coincidental. Walker livens up the fairly dismal proceedings with lashings of gratuitous nudity from most of the well-proportioned female cast members as one would expect from a director who previously made THE FOUR DIMENSIONS OF GRETA; indeed the film's opening sequence sees an appealing blonde-haired girl answering the door to her house in the nude! Quite why she would do this is anyone's guess...For a while it's fun to play spot the familiar face, the cast being full of fresh-faced young actors and actresses mainly notable for their television roles in the '70s. Ray Brooks (the voice of Mr Benn) is the would-be producer of the group. Jenny Hanley (SCARS OF Dracula) is a "proper" actress who comes looking for a bit of stage work and finds only death and mystery, whilst Luan Peters, Candace Glendenning, Judy Matheson, and Penny Meredith fill out the rest of the performers who seemingly spend more time in bed with male cast members and technicians than actually rehearsing. Finally, there's David Howey as John, the bleedingly obvious red herring, and cheeky chappie Robin Askwith who gets some ripe dialogue in what amounts to a rather minor part. Patrick Barr is simply excellent in his part as Major Bell, a retired war veteran who lives alone with his dog and gets excited about the prospect of a theatre group inhabiting the long-abandoned pier.Although Walker is heavy on the nudity, gore fans should seek their dirty thrills elsewhere as what (very) minor gore there is on offer here is almost completely obscured by darkness. Not that the film needs it, mind you: weird characters, bizarre actions, and a mildly creepy atmosphere propel this one along nicely until a fairly major plot revelation about an hour in. Then, surprisingly, things pick up towards the end, incorporating an excellent black-and-white flashback sequence (originally 3D) which plays as a nice little mini-film in itself, and a clever, well-acted finale which shares more than a few similarities with the following year's THEATRE OF BLOOD.My only complaint with THE FLESH AND BLOOD SHOW is that Walker should have worked harder to make the final revelation a little bit more surprising as some of it is easy to guess. The film isn't really scary (but then, not many British horror films are, to be honest) and is far from the disturbing, graphic masterpieces like FRIGHTMARE that Walker became famous for later on in his career. But as a somewhat enjoyable, mildly effective proto-slasher yarn with an appealing cast, it deserves a look.

"The Flesh and Blood Show" is about a bunch of young actors all willing to take part in a stage theatre that's situated in a small ocean town, and soon as they arrive strange things start to happen and people start disappearing and surprise, surprise they are being watched by an unknown strange figure.To be honest when I came across this movie, I actually got it confused with "Blood and Black Lace" (which I still haven't seen), and being a keen fan of early slasher movies and especially British slasher movies, I was willing to give this one a go. To be honest I was kind of disappointed, for a start there is frankly not enough blood or horror or tension to fulfil any basic needs and there are too many false scares and could have done with a higher body count.But there are some good points to this movie, including the night-times attack on one of the women, was nicely done and quite nerve racking and the whodunit angle was nicely done along with the lengthy explanation at the end was a nice touch.All in all not a terrible entry but doesn't quite keep the viewer interested all the way through, but still better than half the crap that comes out these days.

Pete Walker was one of the most remarkable directors in the British horror industry and most of his efforts (especially those of the mid-70's period) ought to be considered as quintessential viewing for genre admirers. Even this forgotten and sadly obscure gem, which obviously suffers from terribly poor production values, is actually a very important horror film for two specific reasons. First of all, "The Flesh and Blood Show" represents Pete Walker's transition from banal sex comedies into mature and rudimentary horror. "Die Screaming Marianne", released one year before, already contained some admirable horror aspects, but Walker only managed to truly capture the horrific themes of murder and insanity in this film. The second and even more important reason to establish the essence of this film is that it's actually a pioneer of slasher-movies! Alongside Mario Bava's "Bay of Blood" and perhaps a few notable other titles, "The Flesh and Blood Show" was one of the first film to introduce a maniacal killer amidst a group of defenseless victims. The film is, in fact, pretty similar to "Bay of Blood" and it easily could have been named "Pier of Blood". A group of ambitious young actors and their director gather in an abandoned theater, located in an even more abandoned seaside village, to rehearse a play that'll hopefully launch them at prominent theaters in London. Shortly after their arrival, it becomes clear that the old theater and its dark catacombs also homes a sardonic killer and the players begin to vanish one by one. To reveal the killer's identity, the remaining survivors will have to dig up the theaters' dubious history... The search for the killer is very compelling and, thanks to the dark & ominous setting, the film simply oozes with suspense. The script features some very effective red herrings and the denouement is satisfying and even plausible! The murders are regretfully tame and unclear but, as said before, this is merely due to the inferior production values. No worries, as Walker will largely make up for the lack of carnage in his later films. His past career as a sleaze filmmaker, however, is more than obviously detectable here! There's tons of nudity in "The Flesh and Blood Show" and, albeit completely irrelevant to the plot, all the ladies have impressively ravishing curves! Decent movie, well worth adding to your horror collection.