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Customer Reviews of The Creeping Flesh

EVIL AWAKENS 3000 YEARS TOO SOON
If evil is indeed a disease, as many have at least metaphorically postulated, then can it be cured? And if so, at what cost? That's the premise of this minor but interesting horror film starring genre stalwarts Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Cushing plays a good-hearted but rather misguided scientist who discovers a bizarre skeleton in New Guinea and brings it back to his laboratory for further research. There he discovers the secret of evil incarnate--wickedness is a sickness, and therefore cureable. But his unscrupulous and envious half-brother, played by the always domineering Lee, hatches devious plans from the dubious asylum he commands like a castle, while Cushing's beloved but repressed daughter struggles with inner demons of her own. Tension mounts inevitably and one crisis spirals into the next, leading to a harrowing confrontation with pure evil unmasked. Though THE CREEPING FLESH is not a Hammer production, it could have been, as it shares many of the usual Hammer traits. Stylish and literate, THE CREEPING FLESH is particularly well-acted. That's to be expected anytime Lee and Cushing team up, but the unheralded Lorna Heilbron nearly steals the show away from her elders with a superbly realized performance as Cushing's benighted daughter. The haunted young woman's painful transformation from wilting violet to cursed vamp is flawlessly executed and her subplot is one of the film's real triumphs. But for all THE CREEPING FLESH has in its favor, there are some siginificant flaws. It is a rather slow vehicle, and at times the plot seems to get lost in itself, so that even at a relatively spartan 94 minutes the movie seems to take a full two hours. Moreover, you can see the finale coming a mile away, and however symmetrical the denoument may be it's nonetheless very unsatisfying and a dramatic flop. Finally, while special effects are not what this period piece is about, there is a climactic moment when the low-budget FX are a real let-down. Sometimes it's better NOT to show the monster head-on. Sharing some thematic features with HORROR EXPRESS (which also stars Lee and Cushing), THE CREEPING FLESH is not quite as good as its cousin, but is still worth a look. The highly-developed and intricate plot, together with the very Hammer-esque atmosphere and exceptional acting, make this a good choice for any fan of classic horror to rent for a rainy evening's entertainment, warts and all.

Lush Gothic Hammeresque Mystery/Horror with Lee & Cushing
Although "The Creeping Flesh" (1973) is not technically a Hammer film, it was made by a rival British company with Hammer alumni Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and director Freddie Francis. <
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>Lee and Cushing play two rival half-brothers; Lee runs a mental asylum and Cushing is a scientist trying to cure humanity of evil and insanity. Lee, it turns out, is also trying to find the same cure by experimenting on the lunatics in his asylum. <
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>Cushing is driven by the insanity and recent death of his wife. He is so paranoid about the "infection" of evil and madness that he overprotects his daughter. <
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>He discovers an 8-foot tall diabolical skeleton on one of his expeditions in New Guinea and becomes convinced that evil itself is somehow linked to this figure. He discovers that the skeleton strangely acquires flesh/blood when it gets wet. He subsequently develops a "vaccination" from the blood to supposedly give people immunization from evil and insanity, which he then administers to his daughter (!). <
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>As you can see, the plot is highly creative, if nothing else. Numerous issues are touched on in the storyline, including: <
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>The origin of evil and insanity. <
>Sibling rivalry. <
>The consequences of overprotection. <
>Is evil and madness a disease for which a person can be vaccinated? <
>The (lack of) ethics of "scientists." <
>An escaped lunatic running amok. <
>Having a carnal celebration after years of repression. <
>The 19th century English pub scene (alcohol, whores and brawls). <
>An 8-foot creeping horror. <
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>Some would contend that "The Creeping Flesh" bites off more than it can chew (especially at only 95 minutes). Yet, I would say that it addresses all of these items very well. I should also point out that it's not hard to follow, as another reviewer argues. <
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>Two parts of the film are very well done: First, when Cushing's daughter, Lorna Hailbron, finally escapes her father's overprotective clutches and attempts to "paint the town red" (naturally). Lorna does an exquisite job portraying the daughter in both her initial naive, modest state and, later, in her wild first-time-party-girl condition. <
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>Second, when the skeleton finally comes to life after acquiring all its flesh. You can see it lurking in the moonlight with a hood and cowl. This creepy image brought to memory artist depictions of the Flatwoods monster that supposedly appeared near that West Virginia village in September 1952. <
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>Interestingly, "The Creeping Flesh" has many similarities to "Horror Express," another Hammeresque film made the very same year. Each film stars Lee and Cushing; each features an ancient recently-discovered artifact that emanates evil (a skeleton and a frozen neanderthal respectively); each features numerous shots of people analyzing "evil" blood samples through a microscope. I like both films about equally, but give the slight edge to "The Creeping Flesh." <
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>Don't hesitate to check out "The Creeping Flesh" if this sounds like your cup of java. Depending on your tastes, this is definitely a 4 or 5 Star film. I liked it so much I watched it a again a couple of days later -- something I rarely do. My official rating is 4.5 Stars.