The Fiend (1972)

Simply A Masterpiece

People are voting emotionally.

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This is one of the more notable British horror films from the early 1970s, a stylish and generally accomplished mix of religion, psycho-drama, music and exploitation. The opening cross-cutting between a prayer meeting – accentuated by a powerful gospel song – and a vicious murder is so stunning that the rest of the film actually struggles to live up to it, though the ending – appropriately over-the-top – is worth waiting for. Thematically, the film anticipates Pete Walker's equally good HOUSE OF MORTAL SIN aka THE CONFESSIONAL (1975) – but here we get the added bonus of a typically intense performance from Patrick Magee as the religious group's fanatical leader. Ann Todd (the former Mrs. David Lean) is one of his closest collaborators – in fact, her house is a converted church! – but who has to keep her diabetic condition a secret because the intake of insulin is prohibited by her faith! Her son (Tony Beckley), a security guard and part-time swimming instructor and pamphlet distributor, is repressed and unbalanced – and soon revealed to be the serial killer of nubile girls terrorizing the neighborhood (he even records on tape the victims in the throes of death a' la PEEPING TOM [1960]!). Todd's new nurse happens to have a reporter sister (genre regular Suzanna Leigh) who, alerted to the inhabitants' conspicuous Puritanism, concludes that all is not well with the house and decides to investigate. Given the permissive era in which this was made, violence and gratuitous nudity (along with the standard prerequisites associated with such fare) contend for the running-time – and the audience's attention – with a moderately serious treatment of the subject at hand. The end result may not be surprising or even particularly insightful but nonetheless proves wholly absorbing, thanks also to its undeniable surface polish.

A truly dreadful film, seen during the night on BBC2, but glad I saw it! A fairly comprehensive anti-religion film... anyone who comes into contact with it becomes maniacs! Superb! Notable for yet another Patrick Magee scenery-chewing exercise, a host of unknown actors who remained unknown, and a truly jaw dropping series of appalling songs, sung by the "Shirley Bassey" Stars in their Eyes winner, Maxine Barrie (in her younger days!). Poor dear had to wait over 20 years for public recognition. If I were her, I'd buy all the prints and burn them! Definitely a B-movie for showing in a double bill with some cheapo Hammer concoction, but unintentionally funny in places.

The Fiend starts at a meeting of a strict religious cult known as the 'Christian Children Evangelical Crusade' whose sermons are performed by a nut-case minister (Patrick Magee) who is as fanatical & crazy as they come. One of the congregation is missing, that of Kenny Wemys (Tony Beckley) who happens to be a serial killer, his strict religious Mother Birdy (Ann Todd) has taught Kenny that sex is evil so Kenny becomes a messed up avenging angel type character as he stalks the streets & alleyways of London in search of morally corrupt girls like prostitutes who he then brutally murders. Kenny also likes to tape record his handiwork & listen to the tapes back home which is used as a base for his Mother's religious sect. District nurse Brigitte Lynch (Madeleine Hinde) pays regular visits to the Wemys house & becomes both concerned & suspicious about Kenny & his Mother so ask's her reporter sister Patricia (Suzannah Leigh) to do some investigating with the possibility of a big story for her, Patricia soon discovers the shocking truth but will she live long enough to tell anyone...This British production was produced & directed by Robert Hartford-Davis & is an OK watch I suppose but I didn't think it was brilliant or anything approaching it. First off I have to mention that a prostitute in The Fiend clearly says that she charges a mere £2 for a 'play-about' in the back of a truck, well all I can say is that you wouldn't get prices like that anymore, bleedin' hell that's as cheap as chips, that's inflation for you I guess. The script by Brian Comport takes itself very seriously & moves along at a fair pace, it has a pleasing amount of exploitation elements with it's fair share of dark alleyways, prostitutes, religious nut-jobs, murders & classic cockney dialogue but the story as a whole didn't quite grip or engage me enough, I never really cared about anything or anyone on screen & for the first hour or so The Fiend is all set-up with a few decent murders but then it's almost as if Comport knew he had to wrap things up quickly & introduced the female reporter to uncover the truth just so they had a convenient way to round the story off. The nut-case minister doesn't really feature until the end either when everything sort of comes together, oh & what happened to the CID inspector (David Lodge)? I mean the film starts off with him as the investigating officer dealing with the murders & then features him again in one more scene about half way through questioning a suspect after which he completely totally & utterly disappears from the rest of the film, as do the police as a whole. I suppose that The Fiend is trying to say something about religious fanatical-ism & the power it has over some people, unfortunately it means little as I think anyone watching The Fiend will be more interested in the murders, violence & nudity rather than any heavy handed moral message, I know I was. The Fiend is a decent exploitation film although I found it a bit dull & I couldn't really get into the somewhat erratic story or character's.Director Hartford-Davis does a good job & The Fiend has a really sleazy atmosphere to it, from the dirty alleyways & backstreet's of London, prostitution, murder, nudity as every victim is naked at some point or other & just the whole look & feel of the film which has to be put down to the grimy, oily, dirty, nasty, depressing, grey London location shooting, I live in the UK & things haven't improved that much... There's a fair amount of nudity but the violence isn't as strong as you may think, there's not much blood in it that's for sure. Some punches, a strangulation, a few dead bodies with one hanging up on a meat hook & that's about it actually.Technically The Fiend is solid British exploitation at it's best, it's well made & has a great sleazy feel to it. However, the gospel style songs that the congregation sing are cringe inducing. The acting isn't up to much, Magee lets his eyebrows & moustache do the acting, Beckley appeared in films such as The Italian Job (1969), Get Carter (1971) & Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978) while all the females in the cast are pretty cute.The Fiend is a film that I thought was OK, it kept me watching until the end but it didn't really grab me & as a result I wasn't that interested in it or where it was going. The sleaziness of it is worth checking out since they just don't make 'em like this anymore. Worth a watch but nothing spectacular.

Do you like horror? Yes? Good ... well, then I advise you to avoid this one and if you ever see it in the videostore, leave it peacefully on its shelf. Do you like splatter or gore? Avoid it, there's no single gory effect. Unless you consider amateuristic filmed murder scenes as splatter. Do you like horror with some laughs? Avoid it, because there's nothing to laugh about (no, more to cry about!) Do you like decent Amicus or Hammer productions, with charismatic actors like Cushing or Lee? Avoid it, because the story line is sooo boring, almost nothing happens and nobody can act. All the characters are very lame (annoying mother, annoying priest, annoying murderer) and I really had to keep myself awake and sit through this piece of crap. Even that other bad movie "The Beast From The Cellar" is better then this one. Ladies and gentlemen, AVOID this one. A movie that shows you how paint is drying, is much more exciting!