I just had to make a post about this. Currently on the 'Men and Motors' channel are repeats of the old TV series that I used to love as a kid (I was only nine when it first aired!!), Hammer House of Horror. It was a short-lived series but when has there ever been a long-running horror series on television? Anyway, last night I saw the 'Two Faces of Evil' episode which is one I did not recall ever seeing in my 'yoof' and good job too. Why? Well, because from the initial sight of the yellow sowesta-wearing hitch-hiker the whole episode was just eerie. I'm older now (duuh!), but it still had me a little creeped out.
So what happens? The hitcher is picked up by a family (husband, wife and ten year old son) who are travelling to a holdiay cottage somewhere in middle England. After making some strange gutteral noises, he attacks the husband and the car crashes. The wife wakes up in a strange hospital to find that, although her son is uninjured, her hubbie has had to undergo some surgery on his throat to remove some windshield glass. Did I say strange hospital? Yes I did. The unwholesome atmosphere continues as we meet the cold ward sister and the jolly, in a slightly insane way, doctor who is looking after them. There is something not quite right about the place, to be sure! To cut a long story short, and not to give away too many spoilers, they eventually get to their holiday cottage where, as the husband slowly recovers, the wife begins to suspect that he is not what he appears to be.This short is pretty much carried by the performance of the wife played by Anna Calder-Marshall. She gives a very convincing portrayal considering the slightly uneven plot. Also Alan Gibson's direction, espescially in the first half of the film, is very effective in creating the unsettling feel to the goings on. Okay, so it does end in a bit of hokey-horror fashion and leaves many things unanswered (the severed hand for example! Did I mention that? No? Good...) but it did enough in the hour to keep me glued to my gogglebox for the entirety.
Expect more posts about this series as and when I see them!
:D
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