Raw Meat (deathline)

[Alfonso Casal]

Saw Raw Meat (Deathline) for the first time the other night, and I'd like to share some thoughts. . .

1. Donald Pleasence was superb! His curmugeonly character was nicely etched out; and the verbal sparring with Mr. Lee's MI5 man was a highlight of the film for me.

2. I really thought that the 'university student' couple detracted from the film and way too much time was spent on them -- particularly the American.

3. The cannibal was fully seen too early (and perhaps too sympathetically) to be horrific. In showing us this character too early on, I thought the film lost out on potential 'revelation/shock' value. Had the character and his nature been kept hidden until the end, the film might have been stronger overall.

4. After the film was over, I thought of a possible antecedent in the short story "Far Below" (published by WEIRD TALES during Lovecraft's day -- I forget the author); and a possible inspiration for Clive Barker's 1980s short story "Midnight Meat Wagon" (part of the BOOKS OF BLOOD series.)

and. . . of course,

5. MIND THE DOOR!

[Matt Gemmell]

I saw Deathline , as it's known over here , circa 1979 at my local fea pit .
At the time I was VERY impressed . For all it's cosy British urban trappings it came across as one of the nastiest and original horror films I had seen up to then .
Of course it pleased me no end to find Christopher Lee in a cameo role . I had been unaware of this until I saw the film .
I bought the DVD recently and was pleasantly surprised . All too often films I remember from my youth have aged badly . Not so here .
With the exception of the students ( Spot on Alfonso ....... that guy was a pain ) the film holds up pretty well .
The man is supposed to be a sympathetic and pathetic creation right from the start although it would have been interesting , as Alfonso suggested , to have revealed that later on .
Oh , and Donald Pleasance is spot on . That's one of the most realistic D.I's i've seen on the screen .

[Frederick Bergstrom]

there is a scene where the director pans along the mans dead family members that i thought was very well done. i forget exactly what scene it is and where in the film but i remember being impressed by the direction in that spot. If you just saw it you will probally know what scene i mean. I also want to add the opening musical score was awful and totally out of place IMO

[Alfonso Casal]

Originally posted by Fred B@Feb 25 2004, 12:45 AM
there is a scene where the director pans along the mans dead family members that i thought was very well done. i forget exactly what scene it is  and where in the film but i remember being impressed by the direction in that spot. If you just saw it you will probally know what scene i mean. I also want to add the opening musical score was awful and totally out of place IMO

I remember the scene you mention, but I think I mis-interpreted it. I didn't make the connection that the bodies were members of the Cannibal's family. Considering that he brought the corpse of his upper-class victim into the same chamber, I thought all the bodies were victims.

The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that certain scenes (such as that one) should have placed towards the end of the film. It would have given the movie's overall effect more "punch" and it might have given the story line more coherence.

Definitely in agreement about the opening score. But, then again, that kind of 'jazzy-rock' seems to have been almost de rigeur for early-mid '70s films -- on both sides of the Atlantic. Just compare the opening themes to this and, say Satanic Rites and The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three. Very similar.

[Charles Prepolec]

Ah, yes, once again the Raw Meat aka Deathline discussion. Rather than repeat myself, I'll draw your attention to this link to the existing discussion on this title here in the the CLW Forums from last summer.