Death Line (1972) Reviews

• See it - to believe it...

  prince_lazy_i2002-01-05

  One every so often you come across a real, unclassifiable gem - one of those low-budget cult movies you see, late at night on TV, then spend years thereafter raving about to your puzzled, disbelieving friends. "See, there's this disused Tube tunnel, with a tribe of degenerate Victorian plague cannibals down there, and they pull people off the platform and eat them, only sometimes they try to mate with them... and Donald Pleasance gives possibly the most monumentally weird performance of his LIFE... and there's this really cheesy proto-electronic score... and... and... and..." As folks wander away from you, shaking their heads sadly, you do not mind. You smile. For you have seen Death Line.

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• Cult shocker boasts unique premise

  Libretio2005-01-24

  DEATH LINE (USA: Raw Meat) Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 Sound format: Mono Trapped by falling masonry during construction of the London Underground, a group of Victorian workers survive in the bowels of the earth for more than a century, breeding amongst themselves and cannibalizing the dead. A hundred years after their ordeal began, the last remaining descendant (Hugh Armstrong) finds his way back to the surface and begins to abduct people from station platforms in a desperate bid for food and companionship... With its unique premise and uncompromising attention to grisly detail, Gary Sherman's directorial feature debut has gained something of a cult reputation over the years, and not without good reason. Dominated by Donald Pleasence's central performance as a cynical copper who treats everyone - innocent and guilty alike - with equal contempt, the film strikes a precarious balance between eccentricity and horror, reaching its emotional highpoint during scenes depicting Armstrong's ghoulish underground 'home', strewn with rotting corpses. Art direction (by Denis Gordon-Orr) and cinematography (by veteran Alex Thomson) are uniformly excellent, generating a vivid illusion of ancient decay, and the production benefits from atmospheric location work in abandoned train stations dating back to the Victorian era. Juvenile leads David Ladd and Sharon Gurney are a dreary pair, and they're completely overshadowed by Pleasence's crowd-pleasing theatrics, but the film survives by virtue of its distinctive plot line and extraordinary setting, and there's at least ONE good scare that will lift viewers right out of their seats! Casual observers may find the opening scenes a little heavy-going, but Ceri Jones' admirable screenplay describes a fascinating narrative arc, and horror fans will be gripped throughout. Christopher Lee exchanges fruity insults with Pleasence during a brief cameo appearance, shot in a couple of hours and intended solely for marquee value.

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• Pleasance is a Pleasure!

  BaronBl00d2000-09-09

  In 1892 eight men and four women were left for dead in a collapsed underground tunnel in London. These people lived on despite their situation through cannibalism. Finally, one man, having just seen his wife die with child, is left. Death Line is HIS story, such as stories go. And this is a sick story to boot. The man grabs people unawares in the subway tunnel and drags them back "home" for supper...only they are the meat du jour. The man has a huge wound on his head, he mumbles "mind the doors" incessantly, that is of course when he is not severing heads and drinking blood, splitting someone's head down the middle with a shovel, sticking a stake clear through someone's chest, biting the heads off of rats, and so on, and continually drools long strands of saliva as he menaces and kills. Now this is not a normal man to be sure. The budget for the film was obviously limited, but I think much was made with these limited resources. The director Sherman may have overdone the gore a bit, but his use of the old tunnels as setting is very effective. There are some wonderful and shocking/frightening scenes in this labyrinth of old, no longer used tunnels where some moments the only sound her is a continual drip. Despite the bizarre nature of the story, the plot inconsistencies, and the general lack of artistic appeal, the film does have some fine points to offer. As stated the sets contribute a very eerie and claustrophobic sense to the film. The acting is generally good all around. Donald Pleasance, however, makes the film a film worth seeing as he essays the role of a police inspector. Pleasance chews up every scene he is in and plays his role with obvious relish. He is a joy to behold. As for Christopher Lee...well he is good in his five plus minutes of work..his role is totally devoid of any importance to the storyline, however.

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• Terror story set in London Tube that involves a series of bizarre events and grisly killings

  ma-cortes2018-04-30

  Raw Meat also titled Subhumans is a classic horror movie about terrible happenings occur at London underground. As a top civil servant disappears in the Tube tunnels , then Scotland Yard goes into action . As Police Inspector Donald Pleasence and his helper investigate the bizarre deeds. A young couple, witnesses of the weird events , David Ladd and Sharon Gudney, give some clues about the twisted case. But other murders and kidnapping take place and things go wrong. This yarn is one of the highest earning horror movies of the seventies .Original terror movie, nowsadays considered to be a cult movie . There is primitive gore , suspense , thrills , chills and creepy scenes.The subhumans appearances are the highest points of the movie , the ghastly characters deliver the goods full of screams , shocks and tension. Interpretations are pretty well , particularly by Donald Pleasence as a sarcastically cynical Inspector, he is supported by a botcher sub-inspector and righ-hand well played Norman Rossington. Along with David Ladd, Alan Ladd's son who as a little boy performed some films with his daddy. David Ladd has made a decent career as a film producer. And , of course, a brief intervention by the great Christopher Lee in a suspect role as a meddlesome MI5 agent .The movie has an acceptable production design plenty of decrepit lairs, dark tunnels , eerie skeletons and excellent make-up with crusted , bruised faces . Adequate and evocative cinematograpjy filled with shades and lights by Alex Thomson. Thrilling and terrifyng musical score by Malone and Jeremy Rose. The motion picture was well directed by Gary Sherman and it was reedited for American audiencies and released under the title Raw Meat. Gary Sherman is an expert on action genre as he proved in Wanted : dead or alive with Rutger Hauer , Vice Squad with Wing Hauser and being specialist on Terror films as Death Line , Poltergeist III , and "Dead and buried" that is deemed to be his best one . Rating 6.5/10 . Good ,acceptable and decent terror movie

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• Magnificently underrated oddball horror

  eraser_head2002-08-16

  A truly original horror film. American director Gary Sherman somehow manages to capture the sight and sounds of '70s England, including a career-best performance by Donald Pleasence (as usual, playing a goodie rather than a baddie, despite popular opinion). Death Line somehow combines immense pathos, gruesome visceral horror, Carry On-style humour and claustrophobic terror into one package. While the perpetrators are indeed hideous, they are simply trying to survive; meanwhile, '70s London goes on about them as if they didn't exist. Christopher Lee's cameo is pointless, clearly a marketing exercise; it's Pleasence and co-star Norman Rossington who carry the film, grounding this plausible yet outrageous tale in reality. Death Line is an oddity, to be sure, but even now, in 2002, it remains horribly horrific yet strangely homely. For all its faults, this remains a masterpiece; see it, and you'll never forget it.

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