The Norman Warren Collection [DVD]

Norman Warren, along with Pete Walker, was the last great auteur of British 70's horror cinema. Both directors had a background in the sleazier end of British sexploitation cinema, and both took a very different approach to the genre than Hammer films and in their best films adopt a more gritty contemporary and downbeat milieu than Hammer were able to achieve.

This is an excellent collection of what are probably Norman Warren's best 4 films. "Satan's Slave" (the best of the bunch) is a tale of contemporary witchcraft enlivened by a great performance by horror veteran Michael Gough as a not so kindly Uncle. "Prey" is a genuinely unsettling and intelligent tale of alien invasion that relies (until the very end) on strong character development and mood rather than violence to achieve its effect (the theme not only echoes D.H. Lawrence's novella "The Fox", but also anticipates Michel Faber's haunting novel "Under the Skin" published over twenty years later); it has a particularly startling and effective performance from Sally Faulkner (well known to British horror fans from her appearance in José Larraz' "Vampyres").

The other two (lesser, in my opinion) films are "Terror" which is Norman Warren's personal homage to Dario Argento's "Deep Red", and "Inseminoid" which is a cheerfully over-the-top British low budget "Alien" clone.

Presentation of all four films is excellent (although Prey looks like it just might have been cropped a bit), and includes a booklet with a short essay on the director and a bonus disk containing some interesting documentary material. The packaging leaves something to be desired, Anchor Bay having chosen to repeat their "coffin box" presentation that was used for the Amicus collection which is neither aesthetically very pleasing nor particularly good at storing the discs in a safe manner.

The biggest highlight of the collection are the audio commentaries supplied by Norman Warren and screenwriter David McGillivray for "Satan's Slave" and "Terror"; the contrast between the still enthusiastic Warren and the wonderfully dry, acerbic wit of McGillivray is extremely entertaining. Sad to say that McGillivray did not provide any of the audio commentary for the Pete Walker DVD set released shortly thereafter.

Overall a very good presentation that lovingly and respectfully pays tribute to one of Britain's (largely unsung) most notable horror talents.

A distinctly average collection of films in my opinion. The first film 'Satan's Slave' and the best by a country mile in this box-set is good in its own right and worth consideration as a stand alone purchase. A young woman who experiences a traumatic event in which her parents are killed is taken in by her Uncle in a story of satanism, brutal slayings, betrayal and intrigue! It does feature probably the worst executed stabbing I've ever seen, within the opening couple of minutes, the standard improves after this but why such a staggeringly bad portrayal made it into the final cut is mistifying. Satan's Slave is otherwise quite effective, creepy and a good example of a 70's British 'exploitation' horror film.
It is unfortunately all down hill from here. Prey is about an alien who comes to earth and shacks up with a couple of lesbians in the countryside until he sussess us out. For me there were too many implausable set pieces allied with poor special effects and questionable acting. The chap who is the alien is like an automoton, no personality, unnatural behaviour and responses but the two women despite their widely viewed apprehensions regarding this stranger have little hesitation in initially inviting him back for tea, then to stay the night and then to just seemingly live there. They talk continuously in private about how weird he is whilst all he does is stand staring menancingly in silence at their budgie in its cage but don't ever stop to ponder why a complete stranger and a bizarre one at that, is now inexplicably a housemate of theirs. On occasion the alien transforms when he gets the urge but just looks a bit daft as he has a kind of a rubber pigs snout and pointy teeth. He also reports back regularly to his spaceship in a 'Mork from Ork' way. The women are too 'shrieky' for me and don't be seduced by the 'beautiful lesbians' tag, they are not. It has a nice sinister ending though.
Inseminoid is next. Filmed at Chiselhurst caves doubling for an alien landscape, not altogether unsuccessfully. Judy Geeson is the space crew member who has been inseminated by a bug eyed piece of rubber with a 2 metre perspex appendage. She spends the rest of the film either crying or attacking the other crew members whose strategies for survival revolve around them splitting up and individually leaving the safety of the control room at the vaguest whim. I don't like the kind of films that are so-called 'so bad they're good' but there are a couple of laugh out loud slapstick bits. No stunt people were used so the actors are doing all their own fight scenes etc. Judy trying to pretend she is banging someones head off the sink in that really 'slow right down when the head is 3 inches away and then stop hoping it'll look ok if the camera angle is right' way and the comical armpit body slam the last male gives Judy in a marvellous piece of improv, aware that he is attacking a vicious alien on film but a small blonde girl in real life. I watched the interview on disc with Judy Geeson after, she never watched Inseminoid after making it and hardly referred to it in the interview. She was mortified to learn she was naked in it and was adament it wasn't her as she wouldn't have agreed to that. She has clearly erased Inseminoid from her memory and put it down to an embarrassing mistake and who can blame her.
Lastly 'Terror' which is a witch's curse poor effort. I hate films where characters act indifferently to extraordinary events such as in 'Terror' when the lead character witnesses someone being killed on a film set (due to sabotage) the directors way of conveying to the audience that he might be the killer - look at how indifferent he acts to these shocking events. Lazy and contrived. There are some more scenes of poorly presented stabbings in this and little else.
There is a whole disc of extras including 'making of...' documentaries of all these films. I haven't watched them as I just didn't rate most of the films. This box-set is only for real fans of NJW and is incomparable to Pete Walkers films which make these efforts look crass and amateurish in comparison.

This box set consists of four diverse films from one of British Horrors true auteur directors Norman J. Warren. Both he and Pete Walker made important strides in changing the style and content of the horror film that was being made in the U.K in the 1970's. Whilst Hammer made some brilliant films around this time, they basically followed the same pattern, ending with good usually triumphing over evil, Dracula disintergrating, and cue the end credits. I know thats a terrible generalization, and I love both the gothic horrors of Hammer, and Amicus's more modern morality tales, but both Warren and Walker brought a far murkier, downbeat aspect to British horror films.
Take the four films in this box set. The best is Prey, a quite extraordinary film. A twisted mixture of The Beguiled and Not Of This Earth, the story concerns a carniverous, shape changing alien, who having landed on Earth, assumes human form, and finds refuge in the house where a lesbian couple enjoy a seemingly idyllic life. A fox is killed, the trio celebrate with Cake and booze and play party games. The ending is brutal, but works well. You will not see anything quite like it.
Terror is another fine film, a modern day tale of reincarnation and witchcraft, where film makers accidentally invoke a witches curse, with bloody results. Very enjoyable. Satan's Slave, like Terror is modern day witches and necromancy, as a young woman is drawn into the macchinations of her devious relatives. Slow paced, but very unsettling at times, with a wonderful musical score.
Finally, the one sour jewel is Inseminoid, a gory Alien rip off, where a group of archaeologists in space accidentially awaken a vicious,sexually active alien from its slumber, leading to great danger for all of them. It looks like an episode of Space 1999, with added gore, but is undoubtably great fun.
So four unique films that have carved their individual little niche in the history of British horror. Directors like Warren need to be celebrated and valued, as they are part of a genre that is often over generalised and scoffed at. Buy this now, and show your support