Corruption (1968)

A doctor goes to extreme lengths--even murder--to restore the badly burned face of his fiancée.

Director:

Robert Hartford-Davis

Writers:

Donald Ford (screenplay), Derek Ford (screenplay)

Stars:

Peter Cushing, Sue Lloyd, Noel Trevarthen

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Cushing	...	Sir John Rowan
Sue Lloyd	...	Lynn Nolan
Noel Trevarthen	...	Steve Harris
Kate O'Mara	...	Val Nolan
David Lodge	...	Groper
Anthony Booth	...	Mike Orme
Wendy Varnals	...	Terry
Billy Murray	...	Rik
Vanessa Howard	...	Kate
Marian Collins	...	Girl in the Flat (International version)
Jan Waters	...	Girl in the Flat (UK version)
Phillip Manikum	...	Georgie
Alexandra Dane	...	Sandy
Valerie Van Ost	...	Girl in the Train
Diana Ashley	...	Claire

Storyline

A surgeon discovers that he can restore the beauty to his girlfriend's scarred face by murdering other women and extracting fluids from their pituitary gland. However, the effects only last for a short time, so he has to kill more and more women. It is ultimately a killing spree which ends with considerable death and disaster.

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Plot Keywords:

pituitary gland | doctor | surgeon | fight | pushed off a cliff | 

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Taglines:

This is not a woman's picture! No women will be allowed in alone!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 July 1968 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Carnage

Filming Locations:

Seaford, East Sussex, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Oakshire Productions, Titan International Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Perfect)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Foreign versions of this film replaced Jan Waters in the role of the first victim with Marianne Morris, who played the murder scene topless.

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Connections

Referenced in The Cinema Snob: 42nd Street Forever, Volume 1 (2013)

User Reviews

A sleazy slice of insane surgical horror from the 60s.

Marketed with the ridiculously misogynistic tag-line 'This is not a woman's picture! No women will be allowed in alone!', Robert Hartford-Davis's Corruption is hugely enjoyable 60s horror trash which should prove to be of particular interest to fans of Peter Cushing, who gives an uncharacteristically manic performance as Sir John Rowan, an eminent surgeon who, after accidentally scarring his beautiful girlfriend, turns to murdering women to obtain the fresh pituitary glands necessary to repair the damage.

The normally reserved star of countless Hammer horrors slugs it out with an Austin Powers style photographer (played by Anthony Booth, ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair's father-in-law) at a swinging sixties party, decapitates a blonde babe before shoving her headless body under a seat in a railway carriage, and, on the uncut version of the film known as Laser Killer, even smears blood all over a dead prostitute's tits. And if that isn't enough to whet your appetite for this bonkers take on George Franju's classic Les Yeux Sans Visage, viewers are also treated to a gang of psycho Sgt. Pepper rejects (which includes Eastender's star Bill Murray, and Carry On regular David Lodge as the completely demented Groper), a penultimate scene that sees everyone killed by a malfunctioning laser, and an outrageously daft twist ending that makes a mockery of all that has gone before!

In addition to all of this sleaze and craziness, Corruption also benefits from surprisingly well defined lead characters: although it is the guilt-ridden Rowan who does the actual killing, the real villain of the piece is his narcissistic fiancé Lynn Nolan (Sue Lloyd), whose lascivious behaviour at the party causes the fight that results in her accident, and who ultimately drives Rowan to murder. The poor surgeon is merely her pawn: a middle-aged man so completely obsessed with the young woman he has fallen in love with that he will do anything to keep her happy.

Since it is currently unavailable as an official release, a good quality copy of Corruption is hard to find. However, hunting down the film is highly recommended, whatever the format or condition.