The Flesh and Blood Show (1972)

Boobs, Butts and Blood - All Suffering Pier Pressure!

Pete Walker brings us a proto-slasher that's now as cornball as can be. Is it worthy of respect in the pantheon of horror? Yes, maybe.

This is a coastal town that they forgot to close down.

A group of actors and actresses have mysteriously been lured to an end of pier theatre to star in a play. Pretty soon they start being bumped off one by one.

So it be! There's plenty of nudity, actors siting around musing on the "biz" and its perils, while the matter of fact attitude to the disappearances is almost as ludicrous as someone opening the door in the middle of the night stark naked...

It's good fun in truth, especially for British film fans like me to see the likes of Robin Askwith and Jenny Hanley in this. The run down theatre setting is a good one, while the play they are rehearsing makes no sense and is quite surreal! 5/10

**_A murderer stalks an old pier theater on coastal England_**

This was inspired by Agatha Christie’s “Ten Little Indians” using the atmospheric backdrop of a creepy theater on a pier long past its halcyon days. With the BBFC lightening up on censorship in the previous six years, there’s quite a bit of nudity. It’s an early 70s’ meshing of sexploitation, slasher and whodunnit.

Winsome brunette Candace Glendenning stands out in the feminine department as Sarah. Too bad she doesn’t show up until a half hour in and her part is too small. Blondes Jenny Hanley, Penny Meredith and Luan Peters are also on hand.

It would influence two 80s’ slashers: Canada’s “Curtains” (1983) and Italy’s “StageFright,” aka “Aquarius” (1987). I give “StageFright” the edge, but they’re all of about the same entertainment quality. This one’s a little boring story-wise, yet you can’t beat the gloomy setting.

It runs 1h 36m and was shot in the spring of 1972 in Cromer on the east-central coast of England with focus on the Pavilion Theatre. However, the interiors were shot at Brighton Palace Pier, which is a 4-hour drive south in southeast England.

GRADE: B-/C+