Death Line (Gary Sherman, 1972) (Merged)

[grant]

Who remebers this 1972 gem ?
A real spooky horror flick, and a refreshing change from the Urban Legend crap.
Right up Anchor Bay's street.
Sadly it's on current release from Carlton, on VHS.
No DVD version exsists anywhere.
It's US title was 'Raw Meat'
Donald Pleasance was excellent as the police inspector.
Synopsis ;
There's something pretty grisly going on under London in the Tube tunnels between Holborn and Russell Square. When a top civil servant becomes the latest to disappear down there Scotland Yard start to take the matter seriously. Helping them are a young couple who get nearer to the horrors underground than they would wish.

At the turn of the century, a group of diggers were lost during a cave-in of part of the London Underground tube-train network. They managed to live for a lifetime trapped in a crevice, but now there is only one family left. The half-human father heads to the Underground station to pick off lone passengers for food, while a London police detective investigates the mysterious disappearances.

[the13thman]

Classic soundtrack too - be a shame to have this come out as a fullscreener

[ForestFilmsUK]

i thought this was Donald Pleasance's best performance ever. The accent really made him seem different to in his other films, and he came across as being much more manic than usual.

I've got one of these on original rental VHS, a friend lent it to me, then emigrated to Canada, leaving me with it. Nice.

[Narshty]

I'd absolutely LOVE to see this and Gary Sherman's other classic horror sleeper DEAD AND BURIED.

[the13thman]

I've said it before but no harm in saying it again - Dead and Buried deserves a UK release, I don't want to have to get the German one.

[smashTV]

Hallo AB UK,


You should release more own titles!

It is so BORING to release films which are out as AB US.

Thanks

[jacksmith1983]

So Smash TV if AB UK were to release uncut special ed versions of the following AB US titles:

The Beyond
Zombie Flesh Eaters
Hitch-Hike
Cut And Run
The House By The Cemetary
City Of The Living Dead

etc, etc, etc

You would interprit that as boring? ... Not much of a horror fan then are you?

Not everyone has access to AB US DVD's, a great deal of people only have access to R2 titles. Please consider this when making such closed minded comments!

[the13thman]

Most of those are already out in fair-to-substandard versions thanks to VIPCO so not much chance of AB releasing them anyway but I'd like to see Cut and Run and Hitch-Hike get a release over here.

[jacksmith1983]

Hitch-Hike would suffer very heavy cuts if released here on video. Cut and Run might be an 18 uncut these days though.

[MarcMorris]

Has actually been passed uncut. However, Cut and Run would, I feel have problems. You seem to have things slightly twisted.

[smashTV]

Originally posted by jacksmith1983
... Not much of a horror fan then are you?

Not everyone has access to AB US DVD's, a great deal of people only have access to R2 titles. Please consider this when making such closed minded comments!

Sorry, it was not my Intension to attack Softy-Horror-fans !

I am so much Horror-fan, that I don't need re-releases, with
mostly little more bonus material (or nothing new at all),
when the movie is already out in good quality.

This is in my eyes ripping out freaks.

There are so much movies, which are not released in a english spoken version...see gore classics like FACELESS and many others.

Thanks a lot

PS: Horror fans should be old enough to make imports, shouldn't they kiddy?

[Shogunassassin7]

...have you been smoking crack?!?...

[jacksmith1983]

Originally posted by smashTV


Sorry, it was not my Intension to attack Softy-Horror-fans !

I am so much Horror-fan, that I don't need re-releases, with
mostly little more bonus material (or nothing new at all),
when the movie is already out in good quality.

This is in my eyes ripping out freaks.

There are so much movies, which are not released in a english spoken version...see gore classics like FACELESS and many others.

Thanks a lot

PS: Horror fans should be old enough to make imports, shouldn't they kiddy?

I do have access to imported DVD's. I was saying that many people in the UK do not. Besides your German... sorry if this sounds a bit off but what right therefore do you have to state what material a UK company should release for its domestic audience?

As good as films like FACELESS may or may not be the bottom line is, the movies of directors like Fulci and Argento are rated infinetely higher by fans and decent, uncut releases of these movies are always going to sell more units in the UK than more obscure "gore" movies.

[the13thman]

From the BBFC site...

"All previous video cuts waived.

This horror/zombie film has been passed at '18' as a video, without cuts. The original cinema version was passed uncut as an 'X' in 1981. An unclassified video version was, however, circulated which was prosecuted in 1984/5 under Section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act. Early cases resulted in guilty pleas or convictions, but the last 9 cases all resulted in acquittals. Nevertheless, when the video version was submitted to the BBFC in 1990, cuts were required to an early sequence in which a photographer is attacked and burned to death by a mob of zombies, and to a very brief shot of a plaster-covered patient being stabbed in the eye by a zombie nurse with a syringe."

All previous cuts were waived in 1999 and since Polygram has now gone the time is ripe to get this out. Can the rights be obtained? This may be an 'obscure' one but there are some familiar faces in there and Dan O' Bannon's involvement must count for something.

It would be a real coup if AB got this out, even if Dragon's master was licensed (as opposed to a nice new anamorphic version) I'd get it. I doubt any other company could do it justice.

[paramanjara]

'Death Line' under its dreadful American title of 'Raw Meat' has just been released on R1. The only extra being the trailer. This film deserves the Anchor Bay extras laden treatment. A retrospective 'making of' with interviews and location visits, etc...

This is one of the best Horror films ever made. Surely its time has come for the respect and reverence it so rightly deserves.

Oh and Horror Express, The Creeping Flesh and Biggles could do with being released in Widescreen and with extras too!

[CJ34]

Horror Express was given a fairly respectable widescreen DVD release Stateside by Image. It's not regionally-coded either, so you might want to try and find a copy of it.

[daviddunne]

I couldn't agree more - it's a very unique and bizarre film, as well as being an oddity in its own right too - very odd to see such odd goings on in our own tube! The soundtrack is also very very cool too. I'd love to see this get the AB treatment

[paramanjara]

A year or so ago I vivsted the Underground location from 'Death Line' and it had changed relatively little in the 30 years since the film was made. It was extremely eerie to be stood at the foot of the stairs where James Cossins is discovered by the young hero and heroine.

A retrospective Documentary would be amazing with footage shot on location. Perhaps Mark Kermode or someone would be interested in presenting? If not I'll do it.

[tigon]

I did the same thing myself and it has cnahged very little, but when i visted london back in march it was closed, a shame, but a wonderful location and creepy.

Yes it does deserve a release but i have an idea carlton may still have the rights, but this slice of grisly horror does deserve the full works and a good widescreen transfer as well.

Horror express form image is a good transfer, no extras but still it was cheap.

Wish someone would release the creeping flesh my video copy is about knackered.

As for biggles, well it was peter Cushings last film, and he does make the film.

[mark rollie]

DVDY Films released a Peter Cushing box set that is quite nice ... the films are BLOOD BEAST TERROR, THE CREEPING FLESH, ISLAND OF TERROR and DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS.

Quality is pretty mixed, with ISLAND looking the worst by far ... a really dark, murky print, looking like it came from a Super 8 film print.

THE CREEPING FLESH looks very nice, probably the nicest I've seen on video. Columbia released this on video in the US, and they aren't breaking any speed records in releasing their library of older films.

CF is in full-frame. Only BBT and DTHOH are widescreen. You can choose English audio, but have to sit through forced French subtitles, unless your player can disable them.

BBT looks good as well; DTHoH has a German title (replaced main credit), and the ending suddenly looks horrible, like a videotape was used!

The packaging for the films themselves is really nice; I wish as much overall care went into the discs of the actual films themselves.

mark