Salome (1973)

Director:

Clive Barker

Writers:

Clive Barker (writer)
Oscar Wilde (play)

Genre:

Short | Horror

Plot Keywords:

Salome | Remake | Based On Play

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Anne Taylor	...	Salome
Graham Bickley
Clive Barker
Doug Bradley	...	King Herod
Phil Rimmer
Lyn Darnell
Julia Blake

Runtime:

18 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Trivia:

Released as an extra on the bonus disc of the Region 2 Hellraiser box set from Anchor Bay.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Clive Barker: Raising Hell (2004) (V)

An Early Glimpse

Salome & The Forbidden are Clive Barker's first films from the 70's. They are black and white silent shorts. Eerie music and editing was later worked in for the release. I am reviewing these 2 together because they are similar in feel/outlook and are on the same DVD I have, which includes interviews with Clive, Doug & Peter Atkins after.

But unfortunately before the shorts, some stupid loser put in a recent 10 minute video of these vampire ladies with big fake breasts having a bloody orgy or something, but it was really stupid and I didn't care to see it so I fast forwarded it to Clive's movies. It looked like it was from the distribution company, probably inserted just to fill time, to make a longer DVD so more people would buy it, or to advertise their crappy company- who knows, but it really sucked and I just wanted to see Clive's work, and they were next, after a special written introduction to them.

Being a big fan of the Hellraiser series and having an interest to see early work from today's top directors, I saw these 2 odd films with great anticipation. They are not that great, but they (mainly The Forbidden) have a lot of sights and themes that you would see years later in Barker's big debut and best film to date, Hellraiser. I would have to say I liked The Forbidden more, cuz it's scarier and there's more going on! Salome & The Forbidden are very slow paced movies that seem much longer than they actually are. Salome is very dark and grainy, and I would say rather boring, I just wanted it to end. The Forbidden is more interesting and involved. But most of it was printed in the negative format, which make the scenes kind of hard to watch. These movies are not very watchable or comprehensible. But highly interesting to take a look at. I'm glad to have seen them & add them to my collection, they are quite unique.

Yes Clive Barker & Doug Bradley do appear in these (if you can make them out in the first place). But beware the butt-naked dancing Clive Barker in The Forbidden. You get a nice clear shot of his erect penis. He seemed proud of his manhood. You got to give this man a hand for baring it all.... and then releasing these films! Wow. He really has nothing to hide does he?

I recommend these 2 for hardcore fans only! Well who else is gonna see them?