Beasts - The Complete Series [DVD] [1976]

I saw this series when it first came out and if there have been any re-runs I have missed them. There are only 6 episodes, plus an extra "Murrain" from another series. The first one, 'Baby' is the one I most remember and one particular image from this episode has stayed with me ever since. A vet and his pregnant wife move into a new home in the countryside. They find an old jar and inside it a strange mummified creature. The wife hears that the area has a history of animal miscarriages and this plays on her mind,soon she starts to see the rocking chair moving and hears strange noises. The suspense builds up brilliantly until the last scene when she goes to investigate a noise downstairs and sees.....well you just have to see it.
The second one is about a ghostly dolphin 'Buddyboy' and is more of a psychological horror. It stars Martin Shaw as the owner of an adult movie theatre, thus allowing a few brief breast flashes to be used.
"The Dummy" concerns a C list actor's descent into alcoholism over his wife, who has left him for another actor and his dependence on one role, that of a shrunken Godzilla "The Dummy" of the title. Is he pushed over the edge by his depression or is there something more sinister?
"Special Offer" is based in a supermarket where strange things are occurring. Could it be their mascot "Briteway Billy" is really alive or are the poltergeist like disturbances more do with the plain check-out girl's infatuation with her boss. A great character performance by Pauline Quirke.
"What Big Eyes" has a man who tries to become a werewolf by extracting blood from wolves and experimenting on himself. An RSPCA inspector checking on the wolves disappearances is on his trail.
"During Barty's Party" is a claustrophobic tale of an elderly couple whose home comes under attack from what they believe to be a horde of rats, once again nothing is seen. Their only hope appears to be contact via a radio phone-in show.
There is no closing music which neatly sets off the fact that the stories tend to end with a suggestion of the terror to come rather than complete disclosure, some may regard this as a weakness but at the time I remember it being very effective and creepy.
You also get a booklet on the making of the series and several PDF files of the scripts you can look at on your PC. Well done Network for getting this ATV gem on release, let's hope some more see the light of day soon.

Anyone who enjoyed the Quatermass series and the Stone Tape will appreciate these seven gems. Nigel Kneale was brimming over with original ideas and had an enormous talent for generating a tense atmosphere. In particular "Baby" where a young couple find a huge jar containing unrecognisable mummified remains in the wall of their new home; "During Barty's Party" where an older couple are besieged by unseen rodents scratching and chewing beneath the floor; "Murrain" where a young vet finds himself involved in a witch hunt in a remote rural village - are very taut and disturbing stories. These three are my favourites but I enjoyed all seven. The actors are excellent and some of the acting (of at least one actor in each film) is nicely over-the-top - adding to the feeling of people coming unhinged and losing control. In each case, the focus of the terror - the thing most feared - is suggested rather than shown. This generates a sense of unease that I find so much more real and intense than the computer generated horrors of recent films, that leave absolutely nothing to the imagination. Kneale understood that the human imagination is far more powerful than any film-maker's clever visual tricks. Films like these provide a chance for viewers to give their imagination a bit of a work out in a way that's quite rare with most modern films - and the imagination does need to be exercised from time to time, otherwise it can just atrophy.

I can remember watching this extremely creepy series as an 11 year old when it was first transmitted in the mid-70's, and the memories of it have stayed with me. I love the idea of animals suddenly deciding that they can do without man,also the theme of another classic, the also very creepy 'Long Weekend',If the idea of scary supernatural tales involving malevolent animals is your bag then buy this dvd.