Death Line (1972)

Director:

Gary Sherman

Writers:

Ceri Jones (screenplay)
Gary Sherman (story)

Release Date:

September 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Beneath Modern London Lives a Tribe of Once Humans. Neither Men Nor Women...They Are the Raw Meat Of The Human Race!

Plot:

There's something pretty grisly going on under London in the Tube tunnels between Holborn and Russell Square...

Plot Keywords:

Tunnel | Inspector | Bookstore | Rape | Rat

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Donald Pleasence	...	Inspector Calhoun
Norman Rossington	...	Detective Sergeant Rogers
David Ladd	...	Alex Campbell
Sharon Gurney	...	Patricia Wilson
Hugh Armstrong	...	The 'Man'
June Turner	...	The 'Woman'
Clive Swift	...	Inspector Richardson
James Cossins	...	James Manfred, OBE
Heather Stoney	...	W.P.C. Alice Marshall
Hugh Dickson	...	Dr. Bacon
Jack Woolgar	...	Platform Inspector
Ron Pember	...	Lift Operator
Colin McCormack	...	Police Constable 1
Gary Winkler	...	Police Constable 2
James Culliford	...	Publican

Also Known As:

Raw Meat (USA)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | UK:18 (video rating) (1989) (uncut) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | West Germany:18 | Spain:18 (video rating) | France:-12 | USA:R | USA:Unrated (DVD rating) | Canada:R

Filming Locations:

Aldwych Underground Station, Aldwych, Holborn, London, England, UK

Company:

Harbor Ventures

Trivia:

The film is set at an uncompleted London Underground station called "Museum", on a non-completed Underground line somewhere near the real Underground stations Russell Square and British Museum (the latter of which closed in 1933). No such line or station exists, but it is notable that this was partly filmed at Aldwych, which has become more famous as a film set since its closure in 1994 (and more profitable than during its life as a working tube station). Currently, Aldwych may reopen as part of the expansion of the Docklands Light Railway, which would reopen the most convenient station for the London office of High Commission of India.

Quotes:

Inspector Calhoun: A grocer from Kilburn is automatically a missing person...

Movie Connections:

Featured in "TCM Underground: Sugar Hill/Raw Meat (#1.41)" (2008)

70's British Horror Gem

I think that 'Death line' is one of the unsung classics of british horror films in the 70's.(I cant believe that it only rates 4.9 out of 10 here). Pleasence is on top from; he's like Oldman - complete screen prescence, always watchable. Even if he is O.T.T! The subterranian scenes in the Tube tunnels are great, including for me, one of the best tracking shots in any movie; the strung up victims and the dead in bunk-beds. It has dark humour and a lovely use of London. It is a 'London Film'. The opening credit sequence in Soho an example.