Frightmare
This entry in British horror from journeyman director Pete Walker (often compared inexplicably to Texas Chainsaw Massacre), concerns a deranged tarot card reader who âsuffersâ from a mental illness that drives her to resort to cannibalism, usually killing and eating those who come to her for readings, which led to her and her husband being locked up in a mental institution (though why her husband, who was clearly NOT mentally ill himself, but instead helped cover up his wifeâs activities, was also committed is a question the film leaves unanswered). Years later they are released into society, living under assumed names, while their older daughter (a makeup artist for horror movies) is fully aware of their whereabouts and past crimes and yet brings her mother bloody animal parts from the butcherâs shop to quell her unnatural instincts. There is also the younger teenage daughter, a rebellious juvenile delinquent, who appears to be following in her motherâs footsteps. As usual, what could make for a great no-holds-barred horror flick is hampered by the stiff British style of filmmaking, with imposing accents and implied perversions mainly being the stand-in for true scares, even if we do get a good number of gory âaftermathâ shots of the unlucky victims. Sheila Keith does as a good job as the twisted Dorothy, ominously foretelling her clientsâ impending doom, but any attempt at real subtext is lost due to the basic absurdity of the story and the fact that it takes seemingly half the movie to get into the true details of what she is all about. The two actresses playing the daughters are undoubtedly cute, though why Jackie (the older one) continuously bothers to assist her parents given their ghoulish past despite trying to carry on a ânormalâ life is beyond me. Her bespectacled psychiatrist boyfriend who decides to snoop into her familyâs background is boring and uninteresting and later practically commits suicide by attempting to âinfiltrateâ the parentsâ lair. The fact is, despite the castâs best efforts, the best that the director can make of this material is merely that of bloody, though uninspired cheeseâŚ
5/10