HALLOWEEN HANGOVER: FRIGHTMARE (1975) ** ½

To avoid confusion with 1983's Frightmare (which starred Ferdy Mayne), Pete Walker’s Frightmare was retitled Frightmare 2 when it first hit video in the ‘80s, even though it had nothing to do with that film, not to mention the fact that it was made BEFORE it.  As someone who’s sat through plenty of Pete Walker movies in his time, I was prepared for the worst.  I’m happy to say that Frightmare might very well be his best, even if it isn’t really all that great.

A married couple are found guilty of cannibalism and are committed to an insane asylum.  Years later, the court releases them, and their daughter Jackie (Deborah Fairfax) makes secret frequent visits to their home in an effort to keep them sane.  Meanwhile, her younger sister (Kim Butcher) has no idea they’re still alive.  While she runs wild as part of her boyfriend’s biker gang, Jackie’s well-meaning (but doomed) boyfriend (Paul Greenwood) tries to help the family and winds up becoming a hot lunch.

Walker has a knack for taking the simplest of plots and making them more laborious than necessary.  Frightmare is no exception, but it’s made tolerable thanks to the solid performances.  Fairfax is especially great as the sister torn between condoning cannibalism and embracing a normal life.  It’s Sheila Keith who steals the movie though as the cannibalistic senior citizen.

Keith dispatches her victims in a variety of ways.  From power drill, to red-hot poker, to pitchfork.  It’s just a shame that Walker takes almost forever to get to the good stuff.  There are still a number of effective sequences here.  You just wish that Walker hadn’t been trying to be so damned proper and respectable.  If he was willing to let his hair down and allow things to get a little nasty, Walker might've had a minor classic on his hands.  As it is, Frightmare remains a moderately effective, if a bit staid chiller. 

AKA:  Cover Up.  AKA:  Once Upon a Frightmare.  AKA:  Frightmare 2.