This low budget, shot on video UK horror features lousy acting, some shockingly poor CGI and, at 2 hours, is about 30 minutes too long. That said, it is also bloody good fun and is a real treat for splatter fans, since nearly all of its budget seems to have been spent on (mostly very good) gore effects.
Four bloody tales of death and terror are loosely linked by a central tale in which a world-weary copper, Detective Neilson, tracks a supernatural killer, The Man, played by Dani Filth (lead singer of goth metal band Cradle of Filth). He is eventually led to suspect the involvement of psycho Satanist Kemper, who he locked up in a top security asylum years before. When his own son turns up dead, Detective Neilson seeks revenge...
The first of the four tales features very sexy Brit horror babe Emily Booth (here credited as Emily Bouffante) as a goth-rocker who, after going home with The Man, winds up bearing his devilish offspring. Be assured, the birth is anything but routine.
The second story tells of two women who break into a supposedly vacant flat to do a little thieving, only to be surprised to find the owner still at home and more than a little miffed to see his money being half-inched. Things rapidly go from bad to worse...
The third chapter is about a low life who has lost a leg in an accident. Desperate to be a 'whole man' again, he gets himself a new leg from an unwilling donor, but soon regrets his actions.
The final story is sick little tale about a man who becomes addicted to a 'snuff' website called The Sick Room. When he becomes unable to afford membership and continue his habit, he sets out to find the source of the site...
All of the stories work well enough, but to be honest, they are really no more than excuses for loads of extreme gore (and some topless babes). Cradle of Fear serves up blood by the bucket load and the range of effects that have been achieved is pretty astonishing, considering the obvious budgetary constraints: exploding heads, dismemberment, demonic creatures, gunshot wounds, hammer attacks, stabbings, and numerous other impressive effects. This is possibly the bloodiest movie to ever come out of Britain.
Director Alex Chandon obviously knew that the medium on which he was shooting was poor, and that the acting would be well below par, so he compensated by adding as much grue as he could possibly afford. And it works.
Had the movie been tighter in the editing department and shot on film, it would've got 8 out of 10 from me; as it stands, it gets a very respectable 7.
Four bloody tales of death and terror are loosely linked by a central tale in which a world-weary copper, Detective Neilson, tracks a supernatural killer, The Man, played by Dani Filth (lead singer of goth metal band Cradle of Filth). He is eventually led to suspect the involvement of psycho Satanist Kemper, who he locked up in a top security asylum years before. When his own son turns up dead, Detective Neilson seeks revenge...
The first of the four tales features very sexy Brit horror babe Emily Booth (here credited as Emily Bouffante) as a goth-rocker who, after going home with The Man, winds up bearing his devilish offspring. Be assured, the birth is anything but routine.
The second story tells of two women who break into a supposedly vacant flat to do a little thieving, only to be surprised to find the owner still at home and more than a little miffed to see his money being half-inched. Things rapidly go from bad to worse...
The third chapter is about a low life who has lost a leg in an accident. Desperate to be a 'whole man' again, he gets himself a new leg from an unwilling donor, but soon regrets his actions.
The final story is sick little tale about a man who becomes addicted to a 'snuff' website called The Sick Room. When he becomes unable to afford membership and continue his habit, he sets out to find the source of the site...
All of the stories work well enough, but to be honest, they are really no more than excuses for loads of extreme gore (and some topless babes). Cradle of Fear serves up blood by the bucket load and the range of effects that have been achieved is pretty astonishing, considering the obvious budgetary constraints: exploding heads, dismemberment, demonic creatures, gunshot wounds, hammer attacks, stabbings, and numerous other impressive effects. This is possibly the bloodiest movie to ever come out of Britain.
Director Alex Chandon obviously knew that the medium on which he was shooting was poor, and that the acting would be well below par, so he compensated by adding as much grue as he could possibly afford. And it works.
Had the movie been tighter in the editing department and shot on film, it would've got 8 out of 10 from me; as it stands, it gets a very respectable 7.