Death Line (1972)

Director:

Gary Sherman

Writers:

Ceri Jones (screenplay)
Gary Sherman (story)

Release Date:

September 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Beneath Modern London Lives a Tribe of Once Humans. Neither Men Nor Women...They Are the Raw Meat Of The Human Race!

Plot:

There's something pretty grisly going on under London in the Tube tunnels between Holborn and Russell Square...

Plot Keywords:

Tunnel | Inspector | Bookstore | Rape | Rat

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Donald Pleasence	...	Inspector Calhoun
Norman Rossington	...	Detective Sergeant Rogers
David Ladd	...	Alex Campbell
Sharon Gurney	...	Patricia Wilson
Hugh Armstrong	...	The 'Man'
June Turner	...	The 'Woman'
Clive Swift	...	Inspector Richardson
James Cossins	...	James Manfred, OBE
Heather Stoney	...	W.P.C. Alice Marshall
Hugh Dickson	...	Dr. Bacon
Jack Woolgar	...	Platform Inspector
Ron Pember	...	Lift Operator
Colin McCormack	...	Police Constable 1
Gary Winkler	...	Police Constable 2
James Culliford	...	Publican
Suzanne Winkler	...	Prostitute
Gerry Crampton	...	Tunnel Worker
Terence Plummer	...	Tunnel Worker (as Terry Plummer)
Gordon Petrie	...	Tunnel Worker
Christopher Lee	...	Stratton-Villiers, MI5

Directed by
Gary Sherman

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Ceri Jones		screenplay
Gary Sherman		story

Produced by
Paul Maslansky	....	producer

Original Music by
Wil Malone
Jeremy Rose

Cinematography by
Alex Thomson

Film Editing by
Geoffrey Foot

Casting by
Mary Selway

Art Direction by
Dennis Gordon-Orr

Makeup Department
Harry Frampton	....	makeup artist
Peter Frampton	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Joyce Herlihy	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lewis More O'Ferrall	....	assistant director

Art Department
Tony Teiger	....	property master

Sound Department
Cyril Collick	....	sound
Peter Gilpin	....	dubbing recorder
John Hackney	....	sound editor

Camera and Electrical Department
David Cadwallader	....	key grip
Dave Clarke	....	chief electrician
Colin Corby	....	camera operator
John Golding	....	focus puller

Music Department
Wil Malone	....	musical director
Jeremy Rose	....	musical director

Other crew
Dustin Bernard	....	production assistant
Kay Rawlings	....	continuity

Production Companies

• Harbor Ventures
• K-L Productions

Distributors

• J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors (1972) (UK) (theatrical)
• American International Pictures (AIP) (1973) (USA) (theatrical)
• Astral Films (1973) (Canada) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Vestron Video International (1987) (Spain) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Lee Lighting  lighting

Also Known As:

Raw Meat (USA)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | UK:18 (video rating) (1989) (uncut) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | West Germany:18 | Spain:18 (video rating) | France:-12 | USA:R | USA:Unrated (DVD rating) | Canada:R

Filming Locations:

Aldwych Underground Station, Aldwych, Holborn, London, England, UK

Company:

Harbor Ventures

Trivia:

The original UK cinema and video versions were cut by the BBFC to heavily edit the broom impalement, a shot of a spade in a man's head, the cannibal biting off a rat's head, and his pursuit and attempted rape of Sharon Gurney. The full uncut version was finally passed by the BBFC for the DVD release in March 2006.

Quotes:

[repeated line]
The 'Man': Mind the doors!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "TCM Underground: Sugar Hill/Raw Meat (#1.41)" (2008)

Cult shocker boasts unique premise

DEATH LINE

(USA: Raw Meat)

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Sound format: Mono

Trapped by falling masonry during construction of the London Underground, a group of Victorian workers survive in the bowels of the earth for more than a century, breeding amongst themselves and cannibalizing the dead. A hundred years after their ordeal began, the last remaining descendant (Hugh Armstrong) finds his way back to the surface and begins to abduct people from station platforms in a desperate bid for food and companionship...

With its unique premise and uncompromising attention to grisly detail, Gary Sherman's directorial feature debut has gained something of a cult reputation over the years, and not without good reason. Dominated by Donald Pleasence's central performance as a cynical copper who treats everyone - innocent and guilty alike - with equal contempt, the film strikes a precarious balance between eccentricity and horror, reaching its emotional highpoint during scenes depicting Armstrong's ghoulish underground 'home', strewn with rotting corpses. Art direction (by Denis Gordon-Orr) and cinematography (by veteran Alex Thomson) are uniformly excellent, generating a vivid illusion of ancient decay, and the production benefits from atmospheric location work in abandoned train stations dating back to the Victorian era.

Juvenile leads David Ladd and Sharon Gurney are a dreary pair, and they're completely overshadowed by Pleasence's crowd-pleasing theatrics, but the film survives by virtue of its distinctive plot line and extraordinary setting, and there's at least ONE good scare that will lift viewers right out of their seats! Casual observers may find the opening scenes a little heavy-going, but Ceri Jones' admirable screenplay describes a fascinating narrative arc, and horror fans will be gripped throughout. Christopher Lee exchanges fruity insults with Pleasence during a brief cameo appearance, shot in a couple of hours and intended solely for marquee value.