The Creeping Flesh
Tags: murder

Plot synopsis:
Prof. Emmanuel Hildern (Peter Cushing), a Victorian era scientist is shown in what appears to be a laboratory meeting a young doctor. Hildern excitedly tells the doctor that he needs help because he has discovered a form of evil that is real, a living being, and that he has unwittingly unleashed the evil thousands of years too soon. Hildern then recounts how his discovery was made.
In a flashback, Hildern recounts his return in 1894 from an expedition to New Guinea where he has discovered an abnormally large humanoid skeleton. Paradoxically, the skeleton is far older than previously recovered specimens, but also much more advanced. Hildern hopes the discovery will earn him the prestigious Richter Prize. Hildern has little time to rejoice before receiving word that his wife, institutionalized for years, has finally died. This he learns from his brother James Hildern (Christopher Lee) who runs the asylum where Hildern’s wife had been held in secret. While visiting the asylum, James tells his brother that he made a psychiatric study of Hildern’s wife and plans to publish the findings in the hope of winning the Richter Prize. He also tells Hildern that he will no longer subsidize Hildern’s expeditions.
Returning home and to the skeleton, and with a new urgency to complete his research, Hildern discovers that the skeleton grows flesh when exposed to water. Hildern reviews myths of ancient peoples of the region where the skeleton was discovered, which tell of evil giants who will be roused by rain. Hildern theorizes that the skeleton is the remains of one of those evil beings, and would not have been discovered before for thousands of years of erosion revealed its resting place. By that time, the science of the region’s inhabitants would have grown sophisticated enough to deal with the evil. Hildern makes a further conclusion - if evil can live as an organism, then it can be biologically contained and eradicated like a disease. Using cells formed around the skeleton’s fleshy finger - which Hildern removes - he develops what he believes to be a serum against evil. Testing the serum on a monkey, Hildern notes positive results.
Meanwhile, Hildern’s daughter Penelope learns of her mother’s death. Having been told for years that her mother was dead, Penelope reacts with shock when learning that her mother had been alive and institutionalized all that time. Worried that Penelope's emotional outburst may be a sign that she has inherited her mother's insanity, Hildern injects her with the serum.
The next day Hildern is shocked to see that the monkey has gone berserk, having gained the strength to escape from its cage and wreak havoc in the lab. Penelope has also left the house and made her way to the city, where she assaults several men at a tavern and then, when chased by the other patrons, murders another man at a warehouse. Because the dead man was himself an escapee from James Hildern’s asylum, James has sent men to the city. There they apprehend Penelope and bring her to the asylum, where a blood test reveals the serum. James realizes that his brother has experimented on Penelope, which could unleash a scandal should it become known to others. Since James’s experiments have stalled - threatening his own chances of winning the Richter Prize - James decides to steal his brother’s research, including the skeleton.
James’s thief carries the skeleton out of the lab and unwittingly exposes it to rain. When the carriage taking the skeleton overturns, the skeleton - now coming alive - escapes. Hildern tries to follow the carriage, but turns back when he sees an ominous cloaked figure nearby. Returning home, Hildern finds that the skeleton’s fleshy finger has begun to move. Terrified, Hildern throws the finger into the fire. Soon, the creature, now encased in flesh but otherwise hollow, returns to Hildern’s house and terrorizes him, but spares his life.
Hildern finishes his account and the story returns to the lab seen at the beginning of the film, Hildern’s lab is revealed to be a cell in his "brother’s" asylum, and Hildern an apparent inmate there. The visiting physician consults with James who scoffs at Hildern’s claim to be related to James at all, or that Penelope - who is also being kept at the asylum, having gone completely insane - is his daughter. James finds it normal for his patients to want to identify with him, seeing that he’s an obvious authority figure. James tells the doctor that the man claiming to be his brother had arrived there about the time that James won the Richter Prize. The camera returns to Hildern’s cell, which no longer resembles a laboratory. A distraught Hildern pleads for someone to help him. The final shot is of Hildern’s left hand, which is now missing a finger matching the one that he had removed from the skeleton.
It is left for the viewer to decide if Hildern’s account was true or is merely the delusion of a madman.

Review: Throw in Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Hammer director Freddie Francis, a wonderful story about the found remains of a giant beast, gothic, Victorian sets and costumes, an eerie score, a wonderfully ironic and unexpected ending, and the philosophical question about the nature of evil...and you have The Creeping Flesh, and one HELL of a good film!
The cast is superb, and this is probably one Of Cushing's best roles in the 70s as a good-natured, yet-determined anthropologist seeking to rid humanity of evil through the aid of some giant skeletal remains found in New Guinea that fleshes out with water contact.
It is also far from the all to common American moralizing horror movies which tend to focus on the perils on pre-marital sex, e.g., "Friday the 13th".For those of you who are a bit unsure about the horror genre I would say that this is a great introduction for it is a) a very good movie b) a nice intellectual exercise (!) and c) it stars Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in one of their best performances.
But, despite these little flaws, this is one of the purest and most entertaining Cushing/Lee collaborations, brilliantly directed by the talented Freddie Francis (`Torture Garden', `Tales from the Crypt) The main actors, as well as the stunning Lorna Heilbron, are a joy to observe and the film is pretty darn suspenseful, too.
Although "The Creeping Flesh" (1973) is not technically a Hammer film, it was made by a rival British company with Hammer alumni Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and director Freddie Francis.Lee and Cushing play two rival half-brothers; Lee runs a mental asylum and Cushing is a scientist trying to cure humanity of evil and insanity.
Pretty good Tigon terror film with the two greatest horror stars : Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. A scientific, Peter Cushing, decides he can cure evil by injecting with a serum derived from the blood of an ancient corpse that he got from a discovery in Papua New Guinea .
Meanwhile, Cushing has a skeleton in the cupboard, as his insane wife is interned at a mental institute run by the stiff mad doctor Christopher Lee. Some truly eerie and chilling moments will get you flesh creeping.
I especially loved LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF...but I am partial to werewolves.All in all, THE CREEPING FLESH is a good movie worth watching, especially if you are a Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing fan (or a fan of Hammer films even though this is not a Hammer production).
Determined to win a prestigious science award for his discovery, he fails to give ample time to his daughter Penelope (Lorna Heilbron) who wants to know more about the mother she has never known.Cushing isn't alone in this picture; he gets support from fellow horror icon Christopher Lee. Lee plays Cushing's half brother who operates an asylum--the very asylum Cushing had his whore of a wife sent to when Penelope was just a child.
With a superb performance by both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, this chilling film by Freddie Francis is absolutely a must see by harcore horror fans.
Then, an accident with a bowl of water has an extraordinary regenerative effect on the skeleton in Cushing's laboratory, with devastating consequences...Always a better cinematographer than director, Freddie Francis arranges the material in his usual flat-but-efficient manner, though the film is bolstered by a terrific script (co-written by Peter Spenceley and Jonathan Rumbold) in which several disparate story lines dovetail nicely during the course of the narrative.
At a time when Brit Gothic was forced to ring the changes on a tired formula, THE CREEPING FLESH is a little too quaint and genteel to be entirely successful, but the film provides another welcome pairing of Cushing and Lee, and is further distinguished by Heilbron's eye-opening performance as a strait-laced waif who doesn't so much inherit her mother's insanity as have it foisted upon her by Cushing's thoughtless (but well-meaning) actions; her descent into nymphomania and homicide is all the more potent since most UK horror movies of the period weren't noted for their complex female characters.
In fact, when Cushing arrives back in England with a strange scary huge skeleton from New Guinea and you learn that water could bring it back to life you have the feeling you'll watch a most interesting horror picture focused mainly in that strange fact.But then other story appears about Cushing's insane wife's death and their daughter's obsession with her mother that turns into a parallel plot.
Besides, the special effects of the Papuan monster came to life are poor, even for 1973.Perhaps a better product would have come out if the film had stayed with just the archaelogical evil creature, but it seems the writers couldn't find a way to develop the subject and make a full script out of it.The picture has some good moments, but in my opinion it is just for Cushing and Lee's fans and no more than that..
Peter Cushing gives an effective, sympathetic performance as a slightly loony but basically well-intentioned scientist, and he shares some (too few!) amusing screen moments with another horror icon, Christopher Lee. Unfortunately, this beautifully produced and promising horror film is otherwise disappointing, undermined by a severe lack of scares (until the final 5 minutes, the most intense scene is a rape attempt) and a disconnected, rambling script.
Here is a surprisingly restrained horror offering from Tigon productions, a studio that attempted to rival Hammer pictures with films known for their violence ("Witchfinder General") and sleaze ("Virgin Witch").For "The Creeping Flesh", Tigon also cribbed a few Hammer actors: Cushing, Lee, and Michael Ripper.
He promptly injects it into his daughter Penelope (Lorna Heilbron), hoping she will not become mentally ill like his wife who recently died in a sanitarium run by his brother James (Christophe Lee).
If the film has a fault, its that is follows too many of these ideas and ideals and that the rather unique creature only turns up very late on, still though its one of Francis's better pictures, Cushing is as always in his element as the befuddled mad scientist who fails to see the errors of his ways, Lee is cool too, as the obnoxious and calculating James Hildern who has his sights set on stealing the Richter Prize away from his brother by any means possible, there's also a nice twist that will have you guessing whether or not all you have seen actually happened at all..
Cushing's half-brother, Lee, who runs an insane asylum, steals the skeleton to further his own researches, which leads to (in the words of Beaver Cleaver) "all kinds of trouble." There are also some interesting subplots regarding an escaped madman, as well as what happens to Cushing's daughter (wonderfully played by the actress Lorna Heilbron) after she receives an injection of blood taken from said skeleton.
This is probably the best of Peter Cushing & Christopher Lee's film collaborations outside of Hammer - a moody, atmospheric, well-sustained and ingeniously plotted movie about a scientist who thinks, following the discovery of a Neanderthal skeleton, that evil is a disease that can be cured.Freddie Francis skilfully handles the actors and the cameras, as Peter Cushing (looking very gaunt)in a sympathetic role as the scientist and Christopher Lee as the more vindictive half-brother, magnificently portray the conflict between them.There are plenty of ghoulish goings-ons which add to the tension (an escaped convict, a straying woman who has been injected with an "evil" serum, a skeleton that recomposes its tissue and comes back to life etc.).It is all done with sufficient vigour and purpose and rates very highly with me as a fan of science-fiction and horror films.
The presence of English horror icons Lee and Cushing cannot save The Creeping Flesh from being one of Tigon Productions least effective horror efforts, the film's major weakness being its silly, plodding Gothic plot—a creaky, cliché-ridden mess that clumsily handles its theology versus science central theme, regularly defying logic and positing numerous preposterous theories as it progresses.Cushing plays scientist Emmanuel Hildern, who returns from his three year expedition in New Guinea with the skeleton of a giant humanoid creature that predates the earliest known examples of man.
When blood tests on Penelope yield some unusual results, James becomes very intrigued about his brother's experiments, and eventually attempts to steal his scientific specimen, unwisely choosing a stormy night to do so and unleashing pure evil on Earth in the process!Director Freddie Francis admirably handles this nonsense without taking the easy tongue-in-cheek option and even manages to conjure up quite a chilling atmosphere, but the pacing of his film is dreadfully slow and with the 'creeping terror' itself only making a fleeting appearance towards the very end, genuine scares are in short supply.
The script, too, was over-ambitious perhaps as it wove together three rather disparate strands of plot: Cushing's discovery of an ancient skeleton which may or may not be the personification of Evil; the mental deterioration of Cushing's daughter (inherited from her 'artistic' mother); and the scenes with the progressive-thinking yet scheming Lee involving psychological (but obviously painful) experiments on the asylum inmates in his charge, one of whom - a brutish mute - eventually escapes and creates havoc in town.The three leading performances are excellent, however: Cushing and Lee, often thrown together in a film merely for marquee value (notably SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN [1969] but also, to a lesser extent, NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT [1967]) have some of their best scenes here.
Francis' direction is certainly competent and this remains perhaps his best film; the 1890s sets (from Cushing's house and laboratory to Lee's white-walled asylum and the crowded tavern) are equally effective, as is the score by the always reliable Paul Ferris (most renowned for his work on the original U.K. version of WITCHFINDER GENERAL [1968]).The film's special effects are mostly restricted to the recomposed body of the creature; some were let down by it, but I found the hulking and almost alien-looking figure (of which Francis can't resist a POV shot a' la THE SKULL [1965], an earlier collaboration between the director and the two horror greats) quite impressive, and by simply fitting it with a cape - not unlike the Dr. Schreck of DR.
Having mentioned the influences from Francis' own work, the script borrowed elements from various other films: a similarly massive and intellectually superior creature was unearthed in another fine Peter Cushing/Christopher Lee teaming, HORROR EXPRESS (1972; released only a few months prior to THE CREEPING FLESH!); the schizophrenia which afflicts the Lorna Heilbron character, Cushing's daughter, is obviously redolent of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (the main theme of Stevesnon's novella, that of the separation of Good and Evil in Man, is also an integral part of Cushing and Lee's divergent lines of experimentation here); while the final twist (which could be seen as a cop-out) is straight out of THE CABINET OF DR.
Meanwhile, he injects his daughter Penelope with its blood, mixed with blood he considers good, on the theory that it will destroy the evil: he is proved to be wrong, as Penelope goes on the same road to ruin that led to his own wife being put in an insane asylum, run by his brother(played by Christopher Lee).Contrived and cynical film about the battle between good and evil never amounts to much, even with two horror legends in the leads.
Set in the late 19th-century, this Gothic British horror tale centers on an obsessed scientist(Peter Cushing) who believes that he has developed a serum that can cure evil.
It's the sort of film that cries out for a proper Blu ray restoration.It's hard to go wrong with the dream-team threesome of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in the lead roles (playing brothers, no less!) and Freddie Francis working as director.
The plot is a little reminiscent of HORROR EXPRESS at first, with Cushing retrieving an ancient skeleton from New Guinea, but when the regeneration storyline kicks in (with more than a nod to CARRY ON SCREAMING) the film really gets going.Much of the running time consists of a lengthy sub-plot involving psychiatry and a condemnation of common practice at the time; this gives Lee one of his most subtlety villainous performances.
After the Michael Reeves' masterpiece "Witchfinder General" (1968) starring the fellow Horror-deity Vincent Price, and Piers Haggard's "Blood on Satan's Claw" (1971), "The Creeping Flesh" is probably Tigon's third-best production.The ambitious but good-natured scientist Emannuel Hildern (Peter Cushing) discovers the skeleton of a supposed primate in New Guinea.
Overall, "The Creeping Flesh" is an exquisitely entertaining and very creepy addition to the filmography of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, and no lover of British Gothic Horror should miss it.
This supremely scary movie stars horror greats Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee as brothers competing for ancient skeleton that grows human flesh and comes to life when it comes in contact with water.
Any Gothic horror film is better when Peter Cushing and/or Christopher Lee are in the cast.
The Creeping Flesh is set in the 19th Century in Victorian England as scientist Emmanuel Hildern (Peter Cushing) returns home after a three year absence in New Guinea looking for evidence of primitive man.
While trying to clean one of the skeleton's fingers with water the creatures living flesh starts to grow back which disturbs Emmanuel, after doing some research he finds out that in ancient prophecy the New Guinea natives called it 'the evil one' & that one day it would again walk the earth spreading it's evil wherever it goes...This British production was directed Freddie Francis who apparently took over from Don Sharp at short notice & was produced by Tigon Pictures & is an OK effort but in the end it doesn't quite work.
There are other various sub plots to confuse things even further like the death of Emmanuel's wife, the effect it has on his daughter, his half brother trying to steal the skeleton for himself & an escaped lunatic from an asylum who has no relevance to the story at all.
The acting is good from a great cast including the always watchable Peter Cushing & Christopher Lee are worth the price of admission alone.The Creeping Flesh in my opinion is not a classic British horror & it's a touch slow going at times but it's something different yet still retaining that 70's Gothic Anglo horror feel & look, it's not always a total success at what it tries to do but it's watchable enough..
SPOILERS:BETTER TO READ IT AFTER SEEING THE FILMTwo of the greatest English actors of all time are in this film which makes it already watchable.Both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee star in this rather strange horror piece by veteran director Freddie Francis (The Evil of Frankenstein,The Ghoul).It is a very weird tale about an idealistic professor called Emmanuel (who else to play that role than Peter Cushing)who comes back from New Guinea with a huge skeleton of a primeval human being.Emmanuel believes that this majestic creature is the key to world peace(?!?)cause it comes alive through water(?!?!).The movie goes on about this weird fact and ends of course with the creature coming to life.The coda is very interesting since it doesn't give a clear answer.Is Emmanuel making this whole story up or is it a true event,The movie doesn't give a clear answer although my believes are that Emmanuel is making it up but I'm not sure.Lee by the way plays Emmanuel's brother,a sinister doctor(Again good casting).The film itself isn't that spectacular,the sub stories tend to slow the pace but it was necessary to fill 90 minutes I guess.The appearance of the creature is a bit of an anti climax since it looks terribly cheap,but that's also the charm.
I mean, can you really go wrong with a 70s horror/sci-fi flick by a veteran Hammer director starring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, and some kind of huge, undead creature that is the embodiment of evil?
The more complex battle of Professor Hildern wanting to keep the truth about his wife from his daughter, Penelope (Lorna Heilbron), seemingly for her own good.Christopher Lee, naturally, brilliantly plays the cloaked half-brother who runs the asylum, and Peter Cushing is fantastic per usual.The very Gothic settings, camera work, and even some of the special effects are pretty great.
Compared to other movies that paired up Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, "The Creeping Flesh" is a bit more obscure than some other offerings.
Meanwhile, James plots to steal the New Guinean skeleton for himself but makes the mistake of attempting to spirit it away during a rainstorm.As one can see, there's an awful lot going on in The Creeping Flesh considering that it is merely a 94 minute horror film.
Here we have a wonderful little Hammer style horror film from director/cinematographer Freddie Francis, starring the late great Peter Cushing as Emmanuel Hildern and Christopher Lee as his half brother, James Hildern.
A Victorian scientist called Emmanuel Hildern (Peter Cushing) discovers a skeleton of an evil Neanderthal man in Borneo.
Meanwhile, Emmanuel's half-brother James Hildern (Christopher Lee), the director of the local asylum is also conducting his own experiments into good and evil blood cells.
Christopher Lee's character is unlikable but he does a great job here as he is one of my favorite actors as is Peter Cushing it was great to see them both in a horror movie again even if it was only for a little bit Lorna Heilbron is spell binding in her role she is absolutely gorgeous and a pretty good actress i enjoyed every moment she was on screen so overall a decent flick but it could have been better **1/2 out of 5