The Cult Films of Pete Walker

[Vienna]

As a fan of these controversial independent films from the Seventies I thought I'd start a thread about them...





During the 1970s, after starting out on mainly 'adult movies', English writer, producer and director Pete Walker moved into horror and exploitation films, attempting partly to wind-up religious and moral campaigners of the time. The films were often heavily criticised and given poor reviews, but they did reasonably well at the box office and have since gained a cult following.

Despite not being a particular fan of the genre - he often refers to his pictures as 'terror films' - Walker saw the potential in exploring themes like the abuse of authority by respected figures, such as priests judges etc., who in the films often sadistically punish young people - usually girls - for their so-called lax moral standards. Writer David McGillivray wrote several of the scripts, with the late Sheila Keith appearing in several of the movies, playing a sadistic character.

His three most famous from the time probably are: 'House of Whipcord' (1973), a film about a corrective women's prison that tortures its inmates; Frightmare (1974), a film about a couple released from a mental institution who lure people to their farm to murder them; 'The House of Mortal Sin' (1975), a film about a young girl terrorised by a sadistic Catholic priest.

Anybody seen any of these or others from Pete Walker?

[Arthur Pringle]

I'm a fan too. The first Pete Walker film I saw was 'The Comeback' on ITV in the late 80's. I remember reading the review by Alan Frank on Oracle ( ITV's teletext ) which I think described it as a 'lurid shocker'. Much later I got the coffin shaped dvd box set, the release of which made his films more widely appreciated. Walker himself is an outspoken character as the dvd commentaries attest to & according to the writer of several of his films David McGillivray, was 'stinking rich with a mansion in Esher' when they first met in the early 70's. Sounds like Walker had a career dealing in property alongside making films.
His films are generally well made as he always had an accomplished crew of technicians working for him, as well as some good acting talent, I think 'House Of Mortal Sin' is probably his best effort.
Most of his films are available on blu ray & he's had a retrospective of his films at the BFI, something I'm sure he never imagined would happen all those years ago when he was making films.
Here's a Q&A with Walker from the BFI season of his films-

[Vienna]

I thought you might be a fan, Arthur. Thanks for posting the youtube clip

Pete Walker is very outspoken as you say. Jonathan Rigby is also on the DVD commentary for 'House of Mortal Sin', and, of course, has written a fascinating book on British Horror Cinema called English Gothic - a must read for British horror film fans!

Vie

[Arthur Pringle]

Yes like you I'm a fan of British horror & would look forward to staying up & watching/taping the horror films that were a regular fixture on ITV before it went down the toilet. Those were the days!

[Del Boy]

Feb 14, 2016 18:13:08 GMT Arthur Pringle said:

Yes like you I'm a fan of British horror & would look forward to staying up & watching/taping the horror films that were a regular fixture on ITV before it went down the toilet. Those were the days!

ITV going down the toilet ?
Let me guess that was when the regional companies had to suddenly reapply for their franchise and ITV Night time came in. I think this was the late 80's

[Arthur Pringle]

Feb 15, 2016 16:25:54 GMT Del Boy said:

Feb 14, 2016 18:13:08 GMT Arthur Pringle said:

Yes like you I'm a fan of British horror & would look forward to staying up & watching/taping the horror films that were a regular fixture on ITV before it went down the toilet. Those were the days!

ITV going down the toilet ?
Let me guess that was when the regional companies had to suddenly reapply for their franchise and ITV Night time came in. I think this was the late 80's

Right Del Boy, though I did find night time tv quite exciting to begin with ( well, the idea of it, not the crappy bargain basement shows they had on ), but when regional tv started to lose its identity it was the beginning of the end, though I don't think anyone expected tv to become quite as bad as it now is.
In the 80s & early 90s ITV would show films from the 70s at night regularly, something they haven't done for years. Of course you can now watch films in ways that were impossible back then, but there's still something about the tv channels showing them. With all the choice we've now got a lot of the charm of watching tv shows & films has gone.
I used to love hearing the announcer say what horror film was going to be on next week over the end credits, then if it was a film you'd always wanted to see or had heard about you'd look forward to it all week...or at least saddoes like me did!
Still, on the positive side you can now see stuff you never thought you'd see in HD, so the 'progress' isn't all bad.

[Del Boy]

Right Arthur. I loved Night time ITV when it came in, it was all new and exciting. The announcer would tell what film was on next week to give you seven days to work out how to set the Video up to record. They used to be a right royal pain before Videoplus came out.

[Arthur Pringle]

I was watching a film from 1971, 'Cold Eyes Of Fear', a few days ago & amongst some atmospheric shots of Soho at night you can see Pete Walker's 'Cool It Carol' is showing at the Windmill Cinema.

[Arthur Pringle]

Watched 'Loving Arms' last night, here's Regan & Carter in the same spot in Soho, this time 'Let's Get Laid' is showing at the Windmill Theatre. At first I assumed that this was the film starring Robin Askwith from 'Cool It Carol' but it didn't come out till 1978 ( Loving Arms was filmed in 1976 ) so this must be the play on which the film is based which apparently began at the Windmill in 1974 & featured John Inman.

[Del Boy]

Great spot Arthur.
There's so much to find from 70s London by
looking beyond the main action.