(1973)
Dir - Clive Barker
Overall: MEH
Made in Liverpool when he was a mere teenager, Clive Barker's Salome was an adaptation of Oscar Wilde's play of the same name in the loosest sense of the term. A textbook, experimental student art film in the vein of so many others, Salome plays out in intentionally super-grainy black and white without dialog and is brimful of bizarre images that young, energetic filmmakers would find profound. This is not anything to make fun of per se, in fact quite the contrary; Barker and his crew of friends, (which also includes future Pinhead Doug Bradley), get by a lot on their amateur charm here more than anything else. That said, it is certainly a very primitive effort that while managing to succeed with a few striking visuals, does not come off as anything remotely close to a masterpiece of avant-garde cinema. That is unfair to expect of it though and any horror connoisseur who would logically also be a Barker fan would be doing themselves a disservice by not seeking this and its similar follow-up The Forbidden both out.
(1973)
Dir - Jeff Grant
Overall: GOOD
This famous Public Information short commissioned by the UK's COI, (Central Office of Information), was played frequently during children's programing over a number of years and took a strikingly darker tone to such material which was usually more humorous and kid friendly. For whatever reason, they were more serious this time about scaring kids away from the dangers of playing near bodies of water. The Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water, (sometimes just referenced as Lonely Water), was narrated by none other than Donald Pleasence and shot outside in broad daylight over two days. Running less than two minutes in length, it still manages to come off as a very chilling bit of work due to the fittingly calm, creepy voice-over and the hooded, grim reaper-like black figure who slowly walks or stands still while children play carelessly around him. For a spooky little commercial, it gets the job done plenty.
(1973)
Dir - Sture Rydman
Overall: GOOD
There is little information out there on The Return, a thirty-minute long film that was presumably shown as a double feature in cinemas as opposed to being produced by the BBC or something. Sture Rydman only has two writer/director credits, (both of them shorts), and he is successfully joined here by Indiana Jones cinematographer Douglas Slocombe. The only two person cast consists of Rosalie Crutchley, (Mrs. Duddley in The Haunting), and Peter Vaughan, (lots of stuff), and the story is a conglomerate of two literary works, Nobody's House by AM Burrage and The Middle Toe of the Right Foot by Ambrose Bierce respectfully. The result is appropriately quite spooky and Slocombe shoots it in natural lighting where virtually any supernatural spectre can be lurking in any multitude of shadows at any time. A bit predictable yes, but it is still quite good in its simplicity, plus the short running time keeps it flowing at the best possible pace for such material.
(1977)
Dir - James Dearden
Overall: GOOD
The debut from screenwriter/filmmaker James Dearden, (who also wrote Fatal Attraction), was the theatrical-supporting feature The Contraption. Also on board is none other than The Rocky Horror Picture Show's Richard O'Brien in the lone, staring role as a very quite man who spends the entire seven-ish minute running time building something. That is really about it, but stay for the finale as it is quite a hoot. Clearly a black comedy, Dearden edited it as something more closely resembling an advertisement in style, though the tone remains effectively dark and of course mysterious. Without uttering a word, O'Brien is perfect as he seems genuinely pleased with his progress and even in such a short amount of time, cannot help but to come off as a bit menacing. Dearden would follow this up with the more straight-forward though equally solid Panic the following year.
(1978)
Dir - Clive Barker
Overall: MEH
Clive Barker's second independent, amateur film The Forbidden was his knowingly pretentious, avant-garde interpretation of the Faust legend. Nearly twice as long as the eighteen minute Salome short that proceeded it, Forbidden is equally bizarre as it is once again dialog-less and in black and white, though this time the print is shown almost entirely in negative. This gives Barker and his small art crew the chance to stage wonderfully creative visuals, painting the sets, costumes, and actors themselves in inventive ways while experimenting with the inverted images. From a technical and visually pleasing standpoint, it is nearly a triumph and a solid improvement over Barker's previous film, but the problems come in the movie's running time which is too prolonged for what it is. Scenes involving shadowy nails hammered into wooden squares, (a clear pre-curser to Pinhead there), a naked man dancing with a full-on erection, and another naked dude getting flayed as he lays heavily breathing on a slab; they all go on for far, far too long. Which is a shame as all of them are quite interesting from an optical standpoint and represent many of the hallmarks of Barker's creative works.
(1978)
Dir - James Dearden
Overall: GOOD
The second short feature from James Dearden was the seventeen-minute Panic, (literally "on the streets of London", sorry I could not resist), which would later be remade by Sean Ellis again as short in 2001 titled Left Turn. His to-date last short film, Dearden would follow this one up with his full-length debut Diversion which would likewise be remade as Fatal Attraction seven years later. Most likely based on an urban legend and utilizing the well-established and often effective premise of "picking up hitchhikers = scary", Panic cleverly has some misdirects as Dearden leads the viewer down one or two different roads, (pardon the slight pun), as to what creepy doings are indeed transpiring. That said, the final sequence is a bit foreseeable yet truth be told, it is also incredibly well done, bringing in more welcome and inconclusive supernatural elements that leave the viewer with a nice, creeped-out feeling. As is appropriate.
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