FREAKSHOW Death Line

Join us every Monday as we look at a cult movie. Our film of this week this time sees a deformed cannibal terrorising the London Underground

1972
Director: Gary Sherman
Cast: Donald Pleasence, Norman Rossington, David Ladd
Available on both region one (as Raw Meat) and region two DVD
Watch the trailer here

Nowadays, travelling on the Tube can be unsettling for reasons that are sadly, rooted in reality – it can turn into an edgy game of Spot The Rucksack. But back in the early ‘70s, if that journey down the escalators made you uncomfortable, Death Line (released under the title Raw Meat in the States) was probably responsible. This under-rated British horror has the ragged edge and grim tone of a film made two years later – The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

In 1892, a cave-in trapped a bunch of tunnelers – women amongst them. Presumed dead, they actually survived. Now, the last of their degraded, cannibalistic lineage stalks the abandoned passageways of the Underground, dragging victims down to his lair.

When a tracking shot moves slowly through the Beast’s lair, past corpses dangling from hooks, then down the corridor and up to the platform, you’re reminded how often unspeakable brutality exists, unseen, mere yards from the everyday grind of the nine-to-five.

Although savage and disgusting, the Beast is a surprisingly sympathetic character – early on, he howls with snot-nosed anguish as his mate dies. With his underground lair and desperate need for companionship, he’s like a rat-eating version of the Phantom Of The Opera. He’s also the source of some delicious black comedy: the only English phrase he can garble is “Mind the doors!”, which he both bellows furiously and whimpers plaintively in a desperate attempt to communicate.

Donald Pleasence plays the policeman on the case, and he’s an absolute treat; the sort of old-school plod who says “This is my manor!” and tells students to “Get yer ‘air cut!”, he’d feel right at home in Life On Mars.

If Death Line sounds familiar, it’s because another Brit-horror, Creep, recently half-inched the concept. While Creep is an improvement in some respects (it’s got a proper ending, for one thing), Death Line is a far more unsettling and idiosyncratic piece of filmmaking.

Ian Berriman, reviews editor of SFX and cult movie nut, has watched Rat Pfink A Boo Boo four or five times, but never seen On The Waterfront. The nutter.

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