Frightmare (1974) poster
1974 · cannibal · british · cult

Frightmare

Directed by Pete Walker1h 28m1974
ElsewhereIMDb6.23kTMDB6.472
  • heavy
  • intense
  • bleak
  • cold
Movie DNA

Heavy, steady, extreme cannibal / british, inventive in texture. Nihilistic, intimate, cold, hand-scored across twelve axes of taste.

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In 1957, Dorothy and Edmund Yates were committed to an institution for the criminally insane, she for acts of murder and cannibalism and he for covering up her crimes. Fifteen years later, they are pronounced fit for society and released. However, in Dorothy's case the doctors may have jumped the gun a bit. Edmund and eldest daughter, Jackie, try to discover just how far Mother's bloodlust has taken her. Meanwhile, youngest daughter Debbie begins to explore the crazy roots of her family tree as fully as possible.

Our read · Frightmare (1974) reads as a heavy, steady, inventive cannibal · british · cult entry — extreme in intensity, intimate in scope, cold in temperature, nihilistic in outlook. Hand-scored on twelve axes of taste — mood, pacing, weirdness, hope, stakes, humour, reality, density, warmth, auteur, intensity, and era — with a derived palette drawn from its dominant cinematography.

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The shape of Frightmare

Tonight, this looks like

What watching it is actually like.

You want nasty 70s British horror with cannibalism and psycho family.

ends unsettlingit leaves you shakensteady all the waygrips by minute 15attention 3/5earns its length
Date nightWith friendsSoloWith parentsKids around
Heads-upgoregraphic violence

Skip it tonightSkip if gore, cannibalism or grim 70s exploitation will disgust you.

DNA · twelve axes

The reading.

Each axis is hand-scored — not derived from votes or genre averages. The marker shows where this film sits; the gradient fill uses the film's own cinematography palette.

Mood · HeavyCosy
Pacing · Slow-burnKinetic
Intensity · GentleExtreme
Weirdness · ConventionalSurreal
Hope · NihilisticRedemptive
Stakes · IntimateEpic
Humour · NoneBroad
Reality · GroundedFantastical
Density · SparseTwisty
Warmth · ColdTender
Auteur · TransparentSignature
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