User Reviews

In the 1970's maverick indie British horror filmmaker Pete Walker purposefully made a handful of bold and uncompromising take-no-prisoners movies with the deliberate intention of breaking taboos and winding people up. Walker reveals that his father was a comedian and his mother was a chorus line dancer as well as that he started out as a comic prior to becoming a filmmaker. Moreover, Walker thought Susan George was miscast in the lead in "Die Screaming Marianne" and notes that the cast didn't get along. ("Die Screaming Marianne" also helped George get cast in Sam Peckinpah's "Straw Dogs.") Screenwriter David McGillivray points out that "House of Whipcord" has a plot structure that's similar to "Psycho" and talks about the small parts he played in a few of Walker's films. In addition, McGillivray admits that he got the idea for "Frightmare" from the infamous Andes air crash incident and that the role of the mother was specifically written for Sheila Keith to play. Walker and McGillivray confess that they had a lot of fun coming up with gross new ways to kill people in "House of Mortal Sin." Walker also discusses how he meant the latter picture to be controversial and that Peter Cushing was originally offered the lead role. Actress Susan Penhaligon remembers Walker as a fun and affable fellow while actor Paul Greenwood relates an amusing story about the painful makeup he had to endure for "Frightmare." There's also a neat segment on cinematographer Peter Jessop, who Walker praises for his exceptional efficiency shooting movies that often required thirty-five set-ups in a single day. Recommended viewing for Pete Walker fans.