Corruption (1968)
Directed by Robert Hartford-Davis

Film Review

Robert Hartford-Davis was just one of numerous minor filmmakers to jump on the bandwagon that Georges Franju had set rolling with his gruesome little chiller Les Yeux sans visage (1960).  His own offering in the 'mad surgeon' line is an odd concoction of sixties kitsch and cheap exploitation thrills going by the enigmatic title Corruption.  It is one in a swathe of low budget horror flicks that bombarded cinema audiences in the late 60s, early 70s, and which failed individually to make much of an impact.  The film could so easily have been lost in the mists of time were it not for the presence of Peter Cushing, a king amongst horror icons.  We all know Cushing from his dapper portrayals in Hammer's series of Gothic horror films but Corruption shows us a very different side to the actor - totally convincing, utterly terrifying as a man who doesn't so much slide as tumble head-first into psychopathic insanity as he tries to preserve his girlfriend's beauty.

Hartford-Davis's frenetic style of direction gives his film an unsettling mix of modern day realism and dreamlike frenzy.  Things start out innocently enough, with Cushing failing not to look ill-at-ease at a typically lively mid-sixties rave (the kind which looks as if it may turn into a wild orgy at any moment).  The first shock comes early in the film, with Sue Lloyd (later to find fame as Barbara Hunter in the long-running TV soap Crossroads) colliding with a flood lamp, with predictably nasty result.  Rather than do the obvious thing, which is to hire a good plastic surgeon, the enterprising Mr Cushing embarks on a D.I.Y. job, stealing the bits he needs from a corpse and then a streetwalker.  If only he hadn't watched that damn Franju film...

Things go from bad to worse in sleepy Seaford, the one place in the UK where nothing ever happens.  As her homemade skin treatment fails for a second time, Miss Lloyd turns into a mix of Lucrezia Borgia and Lady Macbeth, manipulating the nice Mr Cushing into taking up murder and decapitation as a fulltime hobby.  Just when you think it couldn't get any weirder, a gang of groovy beatniks invade the couple's cottage for a spot of robbery and get more than they bargained for when they look in the fridge.  This is the point at which demented fantasy takes over and the entire dramatis personae begin hurtling towards a sadistic denouement like mice in a meat-grinder.  And they say nothing ever happens in Seaford.

Corruption isn't, and probably doesn't deserve to be, one of the more illustrious entries in Peter Cushing's filmography but it is an interesting departure for an actor who, despite his long association with horror, is universally considered the consummate English gentleman.  Here he is given an opportunity to flex his dramatic muscles and offer a far more colourful and disturbing character portrayal, through a performance that is easily one of his most compelling.  Sue Lloyd is also pretty impressive as the principal victim/villain and should be credited for bringing a sliver of humanity to her grotesquely unsympathetic character.  Looking stunning in her first film role, Kate O'Mara clearly looks set for better things.  It may not be a classic of British horror but, with such a strong cast on board, Corruption can hardly fail to entertain with its avalanche of cheap thrills and manic lunges into grand guignol absurdity.  Can I be the only one who wishes the film had been titled The Terror of Seaford or, better still, Horror on the London to Brighton Line?

Film Synopsis

In the swinging sixties, Sir John Rowan is one of London's leading surgeons.  At a party, he gets into a fight with a photographer which results in a lamp crashing onto his girlfriend, Lynn Nolan, totally disfiguring half of her face.  Determined to restore his beloved's looks so that she can resume her busy modelling career, Rowan explores ancient skin restoration techniques.  He finally comes up with a solution to avoid lengthy and painful skin grafting, but this involves creating a serum from fluid contained in the pituitary gland.  Rowan's first attempt, using the gland taken from a corpse, is only temporarily successful.  Lynn's scars soon return and Rowan realises he needs a living donor.  One dead prostitute later, Rowan restores his girlfriend's looks a second time and the couple decide to take a break at their seaside cottage in Seaford.  Already, Lynn's restored skin shows signs of deterioration and the model persuades Rowan that he must kill again...