Scanialara
You won't be disappointed!
Kien Navarro
Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
Erica Derrick
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Scott LeBrun
One of Pete Walkers' crowning achievements in horror & exploitation (the other being "House of Whipcord"), the unrelentingly sinister "Frightmare" is ultimately a depressing tale of madness crossing generations. It's extremely well acted, particularly by Walkers' favourite actress, the late, great Sheila Keith. A palpable atmosphere hangs over many scenes; this is one film that's certain to creep out some viewers. Of course, like many films, it's always had its detractors. It was excoriated during its release, which only added to its legendary status among some fans of British horror. Even today, there's not much of it that dates. It still has the power to chill.Keith stars as Dorothy Yates, convicted of murder, declared insane and sent to a mental hospital for 15 years. Finally, she and her husband Edmund (Rupert Davies) are released, having convinced authorities that they have regained their sanity. The truth, however, is that nothing has changed. Edmunds' daughter Jackie (Deborah Fairfax) has tried to shield the truth from the now teenaged girl, Debbie (Kim Butcher) that Edmund and Dorothy had together. But things start unravelling when Dorothy's psychoses can no longer be hidden - for one thing, she suffers from "pathological cannibalism" - and young Debbie shows signs of a psychotic nature.Keith has a powerful presence. One can't help but keep their eyes on her in this film, and she's the main reason to watch it. However, that's not to diminish the work by Davies as the loving husband who stands by his wife's side no matter what she does. The gorgeous Fairfax and pretty Butcher lead a strong supporting cast that also includes Paul Greenwood as Graham, Jackie's boyfriend, and special guest stars Leo Genn as Dr. Lytell and Gerald Flood as Matthew Laurence. Peter Jessop's lighting is very good throughout at setting the mood and keeping the viewer on edge. Stanley Myers' music score is likewise full of foreboding and dread. As part of the plot (screenplay by Walkers' frequent collaborator David McGillivray, based on a story idea by Walker) revolves around Dorothy working as a fortune teller, you can't help but get the chills when that death card keeps being selected, and want to scream at any and all potential victims to get the hell out of there.All in all, "Frightmare" is well worth your time if you have an interest in cult horror titles from decades past.Eight out of 10.
acidburn-10
I must say that "Frightmare" is yet another highlight in Pete Walker's directing career, and this is the third movie of his I have viewed and enjoyed. With yet again another interesting storyline and upon seeing the trailer, well I just had to seek this little gem out.From the beginning we see Dorothy Yates (played brilliantly by Sheila Keith) give out a Tarot reading to an unsuspecting victim and then kill them and feed on their brains. Her husband Edmund covers up her nasty deeds, but then they are found out and then sent to an insane asylum. Flash forward 15 years later and they are seemingly cured, or are they.As I have already said that "Frightmare" is highly enjoyable and given it's time must have been pretty gruesome, although nowhere near as gory as today's standards, but none the less this movie still packs one hell of a punch. There are some scenes where we do get too see some blood and brains and they do look pretty realistic and cool, and despite the pretty low body count, they are in no way tame at all. The farmhouse is also a very good setting, very eerie and unsettling which is perfect for the tone of this movie. Sheila Keith of course steals the show as nutty Dorothy Yates as she is spine chillingly convincing, as she comes across all sweet natured and kind, and then wide eyed and psychotic at the drop of a hat, she really gives it her all especially in the murder scenes, where she does send shivers down your spine. Rupert Davis gives a very sympathetic performance as the husband, so very tragic but his loyalty to her is very admirable. Deborah Fairfax was also very good at being bad and gets better during the final scenes. Kim Butcher is pretty good as the good daughter Jackie but given the situation she just doesn't give her character the intense or emotional as she should be.All in all "Frightmare" is yet another prime example that the British can do great horror, with a great cast, creepy setting "Frightmare" is a must see for every horror collectors collection.
Red-Barracuda
You've got to hand it to Pete Walker; he was one of the few British exploitation horror directors to make any impact back in the 70's. The ridiculously stringent censorship climate in the U.K. back in those days most probably put other film-makers off taking a chance in pushing the envelope. But Walker seemed to get his films out anyway, not only this but they do seem to have a bit of quality about them. Both Frightmare and House of Whipcord are good examples of well made exploitation movies with some originality and good acting.In 1957 Edmund and Dorothy Yates are tried and convicted of murder and sent to an asylum. They are released 'cured' several years later but Dorothy soon starts luring unsuspecting folks to her remote farmhouse for tarot readings that end rather grimly.Frightmare really feels like a British variant on The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. It seems pretty likely that their similarities are something of a coincidence seeing as they were released at the same time but they are both quite specifically about cannibalism and the family. Walker's film may not have as iconic a character as Leatherface but it does have Dorothy Yates. And it does have to be said that she is a seriously inspired creation. Sheila Keith portrays her perfectly in an awesome performance. Keith is one of the truly under-rated horror performers and this must surely be her pinnacle. To be fair though, there are other fine performances, most notably from Rupert Davies as the loyal husband Edmund and Kim Butcher is feisty as their tearaway teenage daughter.There is an impressively bleak atmosphere maintained throughout. This is continued right up to the nihilistic ending. Walker's films seem to share this. They also unusually often share a penchant for elderly villains. In this one they literally eat the younger generation. I have also read Walker also say that he was somewhat conservative when it came to nudity and preferred not to include it – a film like House of Whipcord, for example, would have played up its sexploitation angle much more in other hands. With Frightmare he finally had a chance to not include any sleaze at all, which pleased the director. What he could not avoid though was the mind-blowingly awful British fashion sense of the 70's. In some respects the clothing on display is much more frightening than death by power drill or pitchfork. No, but seriously, this is an excellent movie and one of the best British horror films from the 70's.
BA_Harrison
By the 70s, British horror audiences were growing tired of creaky old Gothic horror—bad news for Hammer, whose stock-in-trade was vampires and man-made monsters, but good news for Pete Walker, whose more exploitative brand of horror featured homicidal maniacs that more than satisfied the viewers' blood-lust.Frightmare (1974) is one such film, a demented tale of a crazy married couple, Edmund and Dorothy Yates (Rupert Davies and Sheila Keith), committed to an asylum for murder and cannibalism, but released fifteen years later, supposedly rehabilitated. Of course, doctors are known to get things wrong from time to time, and dotty Dorothy turns out to be not quite as sane as she had led people to believe.Dorothy's stepdaughter Jackie (Deborah Fairfax) is convinced that she has matters under control, feeding her stepmother brains bought from a butcher's shop, but she hasn't counted on the involvement of her delinquent 15-year-old half-sister Debbie (the aptly named Kim Butcher), who turns out to be a chop off the old block.With a drilling, a pitch-forking, a hot poker impalement, and a dead guy with an eye missing from the socket, Frightmare certainly delivers gruesome entertainment by the bucket-load, yet also features stylish direction and some winning performances, particularly from Keith who is genuinely frightening as nutso Dorothy, and jail-bait Butcher, who is equally as scary but also adds a little titillation by prancing around the kitchen in her scanties 7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.
