20 Cult British Films You Need To See Before You Die

18. Frightmare (1974)

Dorothy and Edmund Yates live in a lovely house in the country. Edmund's daughter Jackie looks after her younger, wilder sister Debbie (who is both Dorothy and Edmund's child) and delivers strange parcels to Dorothy. Lonely in the countryside, Dorothy lures young people to her house for Tarot cards and tea. She has spent time in an asylum for killing and partially cannibalising at least six people and, with her visitors, it seems as if she has slipped back into her old flesh munching habits. Daughter Debbie tracks down her parents, whom she has never seen, and proves to be a chip of the old block. Director Pete Walker, a man who was the very epitome of the 1970s British horror/exploitation movies, makes the list with Frightmare, a lurid tale of flesh munching and power drills to the head. Sheila Keith and Rupert Davies are marvellous in the roles of Dorothy and Edmund Yates. Edmund's tender devotion to his wife is touching. He pretended to be insane so he could go to the asylum with Dorothy and now he is trying desperately to cover up for her. Walker is helped immensely in the film by David McGillivray's script and the film is impossible to erase from the mind.