FRIGHTMARE

UK, 1974, 88 minutes, Colour.
Sheila Keith, Kim Butcher, Rupert Davies, Deborah Fairfax.
Directed by Pete Walker

Frightmare is a film by Pete Walker, director of such British horror films as House of Whipcord and House of Mortal Sin. His co-writer is film critic David Mc Gillivray.

The films were made on a small budget, didn’t pull any punches, seem somewhat amateurish in part but were also intended to be shockers.

This is a film about a respectable-seeming couple who are considered insane and sent to an institution. After fifteen years they are considered to be cured – are released and set up business in London, he as a chauffeur, she as a Tarot card reader. They attract a lonely clientele – with dire and deadly results.

The film is as expected – but interesting for horror film buffs to see the world of Pete Walker.

1. A successful horror film? The significance and play on words in the title? The value of this kind of horror story - presentation of madness, murder, gore? Was it exploitive? Satisfying? The grim ending?

2. The presentation of madness within the horror film context? The origins of madness, manifestations? The traditional presentation of murderous violent madness on the screen? The horrible horror of the cannibal variation - in theme, visually? The repercussions of madness - people helping, heredity? The place of asylums and certification of sanity? How pessimistic a view did the film take of insanity? Did it exploit it in any way?

3. The mood of the prologue and its setting in the past, use of monochrome? The build-up to the man arriving at the caravan, his death, the sudden gore? The court trial and the condemnation and the harsh comments of the judge? The focus on husband and wife holding each other's hand in the court?

4. The transition to the contemporary scene and the relationship between Debbie and Jackie? how convincing was the friction between them? The audience connecting them with Mr and Mrs Yates? The initial picture of Debbie's violence, her goading her friends on to violence? Her insolence towards Jackie? The contrast with Jackie's sophistication, the meal and discussion with Graham and her friends? Her secret and going out to her parents? How well did the film present the clues about the girl's identities, when did the audience realize the truth?

5. The vividness of the sequences with Debbie and her bikie friends, their malevolent attitude towards the bartender, Debbie's malice in telling lies and urging on to violence, the bashing and Debbie's killing the barman? The horror of the later discovery of his body in the boot of the car and the, implications for Debbie? Her seemingly rational behaviour at home even though clashing with Jackie, the discussion with Graham etc.?

6. The contrast with Jackie an a person, attractive, seeing her at work at the B.B.C., her friendship with Merle? Meeting Graham at the meal, their outings and discussions? Her father continually making demands and her leaving Graham at the theatre? Graham and his curiosity roused, the visit to Debbie, the inquiry and the discovery of the truth, his discussion with the specialists, his decision to help, the foolhardiness of his visiting Mrs Yates and pretending to be interested in the tarot cards, the ugliness of his death? Was it inevitable?

7. The introduction to Mr and Mrs Yates? The glimpse of Mr Yates - was he sane or not? His worrying about his wife and his love for her, whispering so that she wouldn't be offended, his love for Jackie, the contrivance of the parcels? The continued love and helping his wife even when he discovered that she was killing again, helping her to bury the victims? His believing Debbie instead of Jacki at the end and contributing to her death? The contract with Mrs Yates and her tough presence blended with mellow sweetness? Her illness, her madness, the blood-stained parcels? The tarot cards and her interviews, enticing lonely and sorrowful people and then killing them? The ugly violence of the deaths especially with the burning poker? the pitch-fork death of Merle? Burying her victims and the ugliness of the smell? Debbie's arrival and the bond between the two? Mrs Yates' shrewdness in the encounter with Graham and the cards, unmasking him? The horror of her banding with Debbie to murder Jackie at the end? How convincing was Sheila Keith's performance as the psychopathic Mrs Yates? The strengths and skill of her performance?

8. The visual presentation of violence - appropriate, exploitive, what effect on the audience? The picture of the half-eaten heads? The use of the drill, the pitch-fork, the burning poker? Violence and madness together?

9. How satisfactory was the explanation of the illness? The importance of the sequence with the specialist, the
discussion about certification and recovery of health?

10. The film had a great deal of verve. How much did this contribute to its success and its being horrifying? What were audiences left with at the end of the film? A disturbing experience of madness and violence in contemporary society?