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Raw Meat More at IMDbPro »Death Line (original title)

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67 reviews in total

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25 out of 29 people found the following review useful:
Genuinely disturbing, and done right, 16 June 2005

Author: GroovyDoom from Haddonfield, IL

"Raw Meat" (aka "Death Line") is a truly unsettling experience, a low budget effort that uses its own limitations to achieve a gritty effect. The aspects of filth and decay in this movie are absolutely unnerving, and while the story remains just this side of unbelievable, the very idea of it was enough to make me a little queasy.

As the film opens, the disappearance of a prominent British government official leads the local inspectors to deduce that there's something strange about a particular station of the London subway. They notice that several other recent disappearances have occurred in this same location, and their suspicions are shared by a young couple who happen to have seen the missing official before his vanishing act. Donald Pleasance is the inspector who inherits the case, and when he investigates the history of the tube station, he discovers that an attempt to extend the tunnel in the late 1800s had met with disaster: a cave-in that buried a group of male and female workers alive.

The truth is that the cave-in only trapped the people; they survived by eating their own dead and actually kept reproducing. They lived in a dank section of the collapsed tunnel, surrounded by filth and rats, inhabiting what used to be a work station on the dig. The 'disappearances' are the work of the last surviving descendant of these cannibals, who has been left to carry on after his female companion (who was pregnant) expires.

There are some truly startling images in this film, including an excruciating unbroken tracking shot that explores a room in the underground lair littered with the dismembered, rotting corpses of the cannibal's latest victims. But what's best about it is that the gore isn't the only thing that's unsettling; the filmmakers also make great use of sound effects and the motion of the camera. There's a weird performance by Hugh Armstrong, who plays the cannibal man, and it's atypical because he's portrayed as sympathetic as well as menacing. He's in terrible health, we find out he's carrying a plague, he's sad that his lady has died, and yet he's also likely to split your head open with a shovel.

Donald Pleasance turns in a bravura performance as the police inspector, although the accents were a little difficult to understand; you may want to turn on the subtitles. And what could be bad about a movie in which Christopher Lee turns up, even if it's only for one scene? There are a few inconsistencies in the plot, the most obvious of which is the fact that the cannibals can somehow exit the tunnel to snatch victims away, so we wonder why they wouldn't just escape. I also wondered where all the light in this collapsed tunnel was coming from; at one point we see a character finding his way with a flashlight, and his silhouette is starkly projected from the side along a wall. But don't think about that for too long.

Like the inbred cannibals of the story, "Raw Meat" has remained 'buried' for a number of years, only recently becoming readily available on DVD. It's definitely worth your time; it's easily become one of my favorite 70s horror flicks, and right up there with "Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)" as one of the most disturbing films in general.

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19 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
See it - to believe it..., 5 January 2002

Author: Steve Duffy (prince_lazy_i@yahoo.co.uk)

One every so often you come across a real, unclassifiable gem - one of those low-budget cult movies you see, late at night on TV, then spend years thereafter raving about to your puzzled, disbelieving friends. "See, there's this disused Tube tunnel, with a tribe of degenerate Victorian plague cannibals down there, and they pull people off the platform and eat them, only sometimes they try to mate with them... and Donald Pleasance gives possibly the most monumentally weird performance of his LIFE... and there's this really cheesy proto-electronic score... and... and... and..." As folks wander away from you, shaking their heads sadly, you do not mind. You smile. For you have seen Death Line.

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21 out of 27 people found the following review useful:
Repulsive and deeply moving, 29 March 2001
Author: simon-118 from London

One of the most affecting films I have ever seen, Death Line is one of the most intelligent and bold horror films ever made. The opening scenes of a wealthy and dour civil servant stalking clip joints in Soho sets the tone for a grim and seedy, but very accurate portrayal of life in 70s London. No-one talks to each other, on or off the underground, everyone is miserable, even the young student lovers have a fairly rocky relationship, the man being totally lacking in compassion. The use of the genuine ghost stations of the London Underground is an excellent idea, and even if the storyline is ludicrous, it is handled with far more depth trhan your average slasher movie. The killer is a tragic figure, and the scene where his beloved finally dies is shocking and heartbreaking. The special effects are nothing short of repulsive, with particular attention being paid to the sound. It revels in gore and depravity, unflinching but not exploitative. It runs like a modern day legend, working on so many levels. The only thing which spoils the film is Donald Pleaseace hamming it up shamelessly in a badly characterised role which tries to offer comic relief but is simply irritating and unpleaseant. Look out for a remarkable tracking shot in the creature's lair early on, and a lovely touch with the students enquiring about a book on Poltergeists, more a mood device than anything to do with the plot. Seeing this is a cinema would certainly put you off your popcorn!

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15 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
Cult shocker boasts unique premise, 24 January 2005

Author: Libretio

DEATH LINE

(USA: Raw Meat)

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Sound format: Mono

Trapped by falling masonry during construction of the London Underground, a group of Victorian workers survive in the bowels of the earth for more than a century, breeding amongst themselves and cannibalizing the dead. A hundred years after their ordeal began, the last remaining descendant (Hugh Armstrong) finds his way back to the surface and begins to abduct people from station platforms in a desperate bid for food and companionship...

With its unique premise and uncompromising attention to grisly detail, Gary Sherman's directorial feature debut has gained something of a cult reputation over the years, and not without good reason. Dominated by Donald Pleasence's central performance as a cynical copper who treats everyone - innocent and guilty alike - with equal contempt, the film strikes a precarious balance between eccentricity and horror, reaching its emotional highpoint during scenes depicting Armstrong's ghoulish underground 'home', strewn with rotting corpses. Art direction (by Denis Gordon-Orr) and cinematography (by veteran Alex Thomson) are uniformly excellent, generating a vivid illusion of ancient decay, and the production benefits from atmospheric location work in abandoned train stations dating back to the Victorian era.

Juvenile leads David Ladd and Sharon Gurney are a dreary pair, and they're completely overshadowed by Pleasence's crowd-pleasing theatrics, but the film survives by virtue of its distinctive plot line and extraordinary setting, and there's at least ONE good scare that will lift viewers right out of their seats! Casual observers may find the opening scenes a little heavy-going, but Ceri Jones' admirable screenplay describes a fascinating narrative arc, and horror fans will be gripped throughout. Christopher Lee exchanges fruity insults with Pleasence during a brief cameo appearance, shot in a couple of hours and intended solely for marquee value.

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14 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
Magnificently underrated oddball horror, 16 August 2002

Author: eraser_head from England, UK

A truly original horror film. American director Gary Sherman somehow manages to capture the sight and sounds of '70s England, including a career-best performance by Donald Pleasence (as usual, playing a goodie rather than a baddie, despite popular opinion).

Death Line somehow combines immense pathos, gruesome visceral horror, Carry On-style humour and claustrophobic terror into one package. While the perpetrators are indeed hideous, they are simply trying to survive; meanwhile, '70s London goes on about them as if they didn't exist.

Christopher Lee's cameo is pointless, clearly a marketing exercise; it's Pleasence and co-star Norman Rossington who carry the film, grounding this plausible yet outrageous tale in reality. Death Line is an oddity, to be sure, but even now, in 2002, it remains horribly horrific yet strangely homely. For all its faults, this remains a masterpiece; see it, and you'll never forget it.

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10 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
Sarcasm, 29 November 2002
Author: cairnsdavid from Edinburgh, Scotland

- is the reason to watch this film. The flabbergasting and versatile displays of sarcasm shown by Donald Pleasence's copper Calhoun are simply breathtaking. The British policeman, as is well known, has about 52 forms of sarcasm at his disposal, to make up for his not carrying a sidearm, and Pleasence uses them ALL, shifting from one to another with lightning speed. Observe a master at work. Pleasence and Rossington apparently ad-libbed many of their best lines, resulting in free and easy and extremely funny series of scenes between the two. "And very nice too."

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10 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
Forgotten horror film, 22 February 2002

Author: Wayne Malin (wwaayynnee51@hotmail.com) from United States

A cannibal (Hugh Armstrong) is roaming the London subway system in 1973. Police inspector Donald Pleasence (having a LOT of fun with his role) wants to catch him--a young Britsh couple (Sharon Gunrey, David Ladd) try to help until she gets kidnapped by the cannibal...

Very low budget, rarely shown horror film. The low budget hurts, but the script is good, the idea original and there are some truly creepy scenes (such as the looooonngg tracking shot from the cannibals' lair). The movie is also quite gruesome at times--there's very little violence, but there are long shots of decaying or half-eaten bodies (and body parts). Look for the sequence where a supposedly dead body can be seen blinking his eyes quite a bit! Also there's a very disturbing near rape scene.

The most amazing thing about the film is that the cannibal comes across as a sympathetic character! He only kills for survival--not for evil purposes.

As for the acting--Pleasance is just great here--he attacks the role full force and is having a grand old time doing it--he really brings the film to life. Gurney is very good as the English girl but Ladd is truly horrible as her boyfriend. And those 70s hair and clothes! Armstrong is (as I said) very sympathetic and also vicious as the cannibal. Also Christopher Lee has an amusing short sequence in this.

So, it's gruesome but worth catching, but it's shown very rarely on cable so good luck!

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7 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Frankenstein reborn, 26 May 2002

Author: Bradley Carr (bradley.carr@bigpond.com) from Australia

In the early 70s, Hammer Production's star was fading fast, yet the UK was able to churn out this little gem. Based on an intriguing story concerning the underground-dwelling descendants of turn-of-the-century caved-in miners, it however starts off as a typical murder mystery. Donald Pleasance does a pretty good Eastend accent as a working-class, pug copper investigating the disapearance of a man of some importance in his district. Christopher Lee is wasted in little more than a cameo role whose character's intentions remain clouded and obtuse. The film borrows heavily from the 1931 version of Frankenstein with 'The Man', originally seen as the monster, is the most empathetic character in the movie, who does not understand the cruel world around him, whilst society as a whole, including those few 'humans' who get involved are cold, aloof, and far more monsterous. A film works better when the apparent villain is given three dimensions and isn't just a parody, as is the case here. A real sleeper.

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5 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
70's British Horror Gem, 14 December 2001

Author: mark webb (markwebby@hotmail.com) from London, England

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.

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6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
under rated, 14 January 2002

Author: Neilesh from London

The premise for this film is brilliant. The underground setting is brilliantly used, with striking photography and visual story-telling. The film's last line is something like, "Did they really live like this?", seeing the squalor of the underground lair. Sequences are fantastically gruesome, in documentary style. Not only is the film well shot, it has some points to make about oppression. See this film if you get the chance, it deserves a much higher IMDb rating.

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