The "he's dead! Oh no, he's just sleeping" plotline sounds like the cheapest, stupidest trick I've ever heard.
I once read a submitted children's book manuscript (from back when I did that for a living) about a family that had a bunch of baby ducks. One day the sister woke up and gasp! all the ducks were gone. But it turned out her other sister had woken up first and taken them out for a walk or whatever. The section ended "thus a day of tragedy ended as a day of joy."
And I thought "day of tragedy my ass! Nothing actually happened!"
The Flesh and Blood Show is the first of four classic British horror films from notable director Pete Walker that I will be tackling this year. (Alright fine, I've never heard of him either. Are you happy? Well, are you?)
What you're looking at here is an early slasher/whodunit prototype dealy. The mystery killer is a heavy breathing cloaked man whose motives are unclear. Perhaps they are related to the(tremendously boring) play that is being rehearsed by his victims? The setting is an abandoned pier. It's slightly more complicated than that but not quite interesting enough to elaborate on further.
I was rubbed the wrong way early on due to the heavy reliance on cheap thrills. In the very first scene a man stumbles into a room with a knife stuck in his stomach. After his two friends cry, scream and try to get help we find out that he's just merely a prankster showing off his acting chops. Hardy-f'in-har. A couple of minutes later the group discovers what appears to be a dead body sitting in a movie theater. No wait – he's just sleeping. Whew! I was so irritated by these ploys that by the time the real killing began I no longer cared. I am generally very forgiving when it comes to 70's Brit Horror but I can't think of any legitimate reason to recommend this sleeping pill.
posted by Johnny Sweatpants at 9:53 AM on Oct 9, 2008
"The Flesh and Blood Show"
4 Comments -
I hope the prankster got it in the end!
October 09, 2008 10:27 AM
I do too.
October 09, 2008 11:02 AM
Wouldn't it have been funny if the people who got pranked by the fake knife death got pissed and then really stabbed him?
October 09, 2008 1:39 PM
The "he's dead! Oh no, he's just sleeping" plotline sounds like the cheapest, stupidest trick I've ever heard.
I once read a submitted children's book manuscript (from back when I did that for a living) about a family that had a bunch of baby ducks. One day the sister woke up and gasp! all the ducks were gone. But it turned out her other sister had woken up first and taken them out for a walk or whatever. The section ended "thus a day of tragedy ended as a day of joy."
And I thought "day of tragedy my ass! Nothing actually happened!"
October 10, 2008 10:40 PM