User reviews

One every so often you come across a real, unclassifiable gem - one of those low-budget cult movies you see, late at night on TV, then spend years thereafter raving about to your puzzled, disbelieving friends. "See, there's this disused Tube tunnel, with a tribe of degenerate Victorian plague cannibals down there, and they pull people off the platform and eat them, only sometimes they try to mate with them... and Donald Pleasance gives possibly the most monumentally weird performance of his LIFE... and there's this really cheesy proto-electronic score... and... and... and..." As folks wander away from you, shaking their heads sadly, you do not mind. You smile. For you have seen Death Line.

Raw Meat also titled Subhumans is a classic horror movie about terrible happenings occur at London underground. As a top civil servant disappears in the Tube tunnels , then Scotland Yard goes into action . As Police Inspector Donald Pleasence and his helper investigate the bizarre deeds. A young couple, witnesses of the weird events , David Ladd and Sharon Gudney, give some clues about the twisted case. But other murders and kidnapping take place and things go wrong.

This yarn is one of the highest earning horror movies of the seventies .Original terror movie, nowsadays considered to be a cult movie . There is primitive gore , suspense , thrills , chills and creepy scenes.The subhumans appearances are the highest points of the movie , the ghastly characters deliver the goods full of screams , shocks and tension. Interpretations are pretty well , particularly by Donald Pleasence as a sarcastically cynical Inspector, he is supported by a botcher sub-inspector and righ-hand well played Norman Rossington. Along with David Ladd, Alan Ladd's son who as a little boy performed some films with his daddy. David Ladd has made a decent career as a film producer. And , of course, a brief intervention by the great Christopher Lee in a suspect role as a meddlesome MI5 agent .The movie has an acceptable production design plenty of decrepit lairs, dark tunnels , eerie skeletons and excellent make-up with crusted , bruised faces . Adequate and evocative cinematograpjy filled with shades and lights by Alex Thomson. Thrilling and terrifyng musical score by Malone and Jeremy Rose.

The motion picture was well directed by Gary Sherman and it was reedited for American audiencies and released under the title Raw Meat. Gary Sherman is an expert on action genre as he proved in Wanted : dead or alive with Rutger Hauer , Vice Squad with Wing Hauser and being specialist on Terror films as Death Line , Poltergeist III , and "Dead and buried" that is deemed to be his best one . Rating 6.5/10 . Good ,acceptable and decent terror movie

A cannibal (Hugh Armstrong) is roaming the London subway system in 1973. Police inspector Donald Pleasence (having a LOT of fun with his role) wants to catch him--a young Britsh couple (Sharon Gunrey, David Ladd) try to help until she gets kidnapped by the cannibal...

Very low budget, rarely shown horror film. The low budget hurts, but the script is good, the idea original and there are some truly creepy scenes (such as the looooonngg tracking shot from the cannibals' lair). The movie is also quite gruesome at times--there's very little violence, but there are long shots of decaying or half-eaten bodies (and body parts). Look for the sequence where a supposedly dead body can be seen blinking his eyes quite a bit! Also there's a very disturbing near rape scene.

The most amazing thing about the film is that the cannibal comes across as a sympathetic character! He only kills for survival--not for evil purposes.

As for the acting--Pleasance is just great here--he attacks the role full force and is having a grand old time doing it--he really brings the film to life. Gurney is very good as the English girl but Ladd is truly horrible as her boyfriend. And those 70s hair and clothes! Armstrong is (as I said) very sympathetic and also vicious as the cannibal. Also Christopher Lee has an amusing short sequence in this.

So, it's gruesome but worth catching, but it's shown very rarely on cable so good luck!

I saw this film (very likely the cut version which BBC aired) in my very early teens, and all I remember was that it was foul, dark, gritty and... rather slow. But it did leave an impression that stayed with me all these years. Couldn't even pinpoint it, really...

...up until now. After my re-watch, I can say that it's still those four things, but it's also a well-accomplished, genuine '70's shocker. And if you don't mind me saying so, Donald Pleasance does steal the show as the straight-forward, "be annoyed then if you don't like me - I don't care", obnoxiously funny, tea-devouring police inspector Calhoun. I had quite some chuckles with the way he delivered his lines. It's all rather subtle, mind you, as this movie is anything but a comedy.

If this film would have been made these days, it undoubtedly would be up there with the works of Christopher Smith, Michael J. Bassett and Neil Marshall. At least, that's how I feel about it.

For those days - and even up until this day, in my humble opinion - DEATH LINE is pretty damn good & solid. Straightforward story. Vintage shock-feel to it. Capable cast. A good ending that proves sometimes a movie doesn't even have to have a drum-rollin' climax to end it on the right note. And the most surprising thing was that the screenplay has a few moments where it takes the time to learn us a bit about the psychology and emotions of our cannibalistic brute. It tricks you into feeling sorry for him, but witnessing his brutal acts conflict severely with this emotion. A nice touch, that didn't even take up that much of the movie's running time. And the screenplay doesn't even forget that it did that (making you feel something for the villain), as near the end Sharon Gurney's character says one little thing that reminds you of all this. She understood it too.

Speaking of Ms. Gurney: For some reason I really liked her on the screen. What happened to her? As an actress, you cannot fail to notice that she's got what it takes. And then she stopped acting in 1974? Anybody have any info on that, perhaps?

I'm trying hard to look for things that I didn't like, possible big flaws or something, but I just can't find any... I agree that DEATH LINE isn't the world's greatest horror film ever made, but it sure must have hit the mark back in '72. One jump-scare still even worked on me! And the gory make-up effects were pretty darn excellent for that time. But there's only just enough of them in this movie, so don't expect a splatter-fest or anything. Christopher Lee has a fun cameo in it and Donald Pleasance just seems to love pulling his leg in that scene.

Thankfully, DEATH LINE has been restored and fully uncut released on DVD (as RAW MEAT in the US). It deserves a wider recognition, and I'm happy to see it's finally getting it.

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

When a top civil servant becomes the latest to disappear down there Scotland Yard start to take the matter seriously.

Helping them are a young couple who get nearer to the horrors underground than they would wish.

Very 70s, but not all that great. The problem is this is sort of a quasimodo frankenstein-ish movie and it takes itself seriously, but it's just not all that compelling.

Lots of long segments with the "monster" (for lack of a better term) wallowing in the dark wet space of the London tubes. But it wears thin when nothing happened for so long.

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.

On the poor side, Death Line suffers from a fairly plodding script and wooden acting, which belie its small budget origins. It's also low on scares, but 30 years can make most things look tamer than they first were. The plot itself is membrane thin, all exposition is spoon fed very early on.

While digging a tunnel in 1892, eight men and four women were buried alive under collapsed tunnel roofing. Bankruptcy forced the digging company to abandon the supposedly dead bodies, although some postulated that with pockets of air and enough water, survivors might be alright, as long as they ate each other when the food ran out - the film is also known as Raw Meat in the US.

It is, however, in this difference that Death Line finds its most idiosyncratic strength. Ceri Jones's script works hard to create tangible pity and sympathy for its flesh-eating monster. Known as The Man, Hugh Armstrong invests the character with a wailing anguish at being the only survivor left, grieving his partner's recent death and the blatant tragedy of his abandonment. The horror comes, not from The Man's freakish otherness, but the fact that he is recognizable, identifiable. That and the cannibalism and the long tracking shots of collective rotting corpses and body parts.

Sherman also experiments with minimal and atmospheric sound effects, isolating footstep echoes, dripping leaks and pounding heartbeats to cheap but mostly gritty use. Combined with Armstrong's embittered pre-lingual utterances, the film carries an undeniable visceral punch. It is not pure carnality that leads The Man to venture out to Holborn and Russell Street stations, but the voiceless rage at the confines of his predicament (which we know he had no choice over) and a deeper need to find another partner to be with and care for.

Such prowling brings Sharon (of Jason King) Gurney's Patricia to his arms. She is a sensitive young student, girlfriend to David Ladd's trying-to-be hunky American. With their humble topside abode just as cramped, cluttered and personalized as The Man's inherited lair, the film is able to rustle up some interesting comparisons to modern living.

Finally, holding everything together above ground is the indomitable Donald Pleasance. With spades more gruff than Morse, his Inspector Calhoun is ever more intent on solving wots 'bin going on in iz manar! Pleasance is clearly revelling in the role and pushes his caustic and antagonistic copper as far as he can, his blase attitude to the crimes evolving as the film goes on and he gets more cups of tea. He brings narrative vim and a fair injection of humorous hubris to the proceedings, while Christopher Lee's cameo, as an intimidating MI5 agent, is entirely superfluous. He must have been doing the director a favor.

With "cult" written all over it, this could be a treat for discerning genre fans and is, in many ways, better than the CGI-elasto-plastered pulp that gets churned out every year.

Especially considering its potential, this could had been a way better movie. It showed a promising concept, with cannibals in the London underground and featured Donald Pleasence in the lead role. How could you go wrong with this?

Problem is that the story doesn't move along quick enough and the events in the movie all feel rather stretched out. Some sequences and dialog are go on for far too long. But even with those extended overlong sequences the movie is still only 87 minutes short. I think this says something about the original script that just doesn't seem to offer enough. Jokes get used multiple times and some dialog seem to repeat itself, over and over again. This also really takes away the pace out of the movie at times. It tries to bend its slowness in to their own advantage, by making it part of the horror/mystery build-up of the movie but it's even too slow for that. The movie simply misses the mark with that.

Nothing wrong with the atmosphere though. It has a typical '70's (fairly cheap looking) British movie making like style all over it. The cinematography of the movie was also really good. It featured some great and 'experimental' different sort of compositions and was dark in a good- and right required way.

It's not the sort of horror movie with lots of scary moments but fans will be able to appreciate the uncomfortable dark atmosphere of the movie. Also on top of that, the movie features some pretty gory moments.

Donald Pleasence of course was a great leading man for this movie. He always seemed to add a certain amount of humor into his roles, without ever loosing character credibility, with this movie also as an example of that. Also Christopher Lee makes a great enjoyable small cameo appearance. Too bad that the movie also decided to throw in some other less interesting characters, also played by some definite less capable actors.

Not the best example of British horror from the '70's but the genre fans will probably still be able to enjoy it.

5/10

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This horror film is typical of those produced in large numbers in early 1970's Britain. It has a tiny cast and budget, and stretches its limited resources far too thinly. It is very slowly paced, and could easily be compressed into 30 minutes. There is almost no plot development, and what there is is 100% telegraphed right from the start. It ticks such boxes as having a couple of star actors (Donald Pleasance would never turn a film down, however bad!), an irrelevantly American character to help get the film distributed Stateside, and a simple tagline and title designed to get the punters in. The plot is essentially the legend of Sawney Bean transplanted to the London Underground in 1973! This makes no sense at all! For all that it passes the time, and is perfectly watchable if your expectations are not too high.

This movie's story: in the bowels of the Earth below the streets of London, there exists an area that had been buried in the late 19th century by a cave-in. One might not think it possible, but the people who were sealed off managed to survive. Now, 80 years later, their last living descendant (Hugh Armstrong) is about to make his existence known to the outside world. People start disappearing, but the ball only really gets rolling when a prominent public servant (top character actor James Cossins) vanishes. The chief police inspector on the case, Calhoun (Donald Pleasence), realizes that he has his hands full, but vows to stick it out, despite the matter now being more in the domain of MI5.

This marked the debut fictional theatrical feature for the young American director Gary Sherman, who also came up with the story; he went on to direct such nifty 1980s pictures as "Dead & Buried" and "Vice Squad". He and his crew make excellent use of some *extremely* atmospheric locations. They're dark, they're filthy, and they're dripping with water. "Death Line" (a.k.a. "Raw Meat") can take credit for bringing horror to the London tubes almost a decade before "An American Werewolf in London". The makeup effects and gore are very well done, and this is additionally blessed with a highly offbeat music score composed by Wil Malone and Jeremy Rose. The camera-work is utterly fantastic - wait for the approximately 10 minute sequence from about 23 minutes in to 33 minutes in for a memorable tracking shot showcasing the monsters' lair.

It's well worth noting that our hideous killer is far from being malicious. He's really more pitiable than anything else, especially as he goes into mourning at one point, and tries to make a connection with lovely young Patricia Wilson (Sharon Gurney), uttering the only English words that he's ever managed to learn. You really feel his despair and sadness when it comes to his companion, the Woman (June Turner).

Donald Pleasence is an absolute delight in our lead role, playing the material with a heavy dose of humour. His Inspector Calhoun is hilariously surly, and witty. David Ladd (one of Alan Ladds' sons) does okay as American student Alex Campbell, but the character is pretty insensitive and hostile for a while, only earning our sympathy towards the end. Gurney is highly appealing as his girlfriend. Top notch supporting players include Norman Rossington, Clive Swift, Heather Stoney, Hugh Dickson, and Ron Pember. Sir Christopher Lee is great fun to watch, albeit kind of wasted in a cameo role as MI5 agent Stratton-Villiers.

Horror fans need to add this one to their watch list, if they haven't seen it already. It's too good to pass up.

Eight out of 10.

Cannibalism on the London underground in this repellent, dingy but imaginative horror movie, as the survivor of a cave-in preys on city commuters. Dark, funny script and an hilarious turn by Pleasance as a cynical cockney copper make this a must-see for those with strong stomachs. Claustrophobic and intense, with grubbily effective production design. Christopher Lee appears briefly as a secret service official.

This film will never be broadcast earlier than 2am, even on the really obscure cable channels - it's just that sort of movie. A slow start and plodding middle section are redeemed only by Pleasence, who does his best to enjoy himself as a hard-boiled detective inspector. The only interesting element of this otherwise unremarkable thriller is the 'humanisation' of the monster, a third-generation caveman living in squalor below Russell Square station. It's clear that he still has human emotions, though he can't articulate them. His degradation to a semi-savage is creepy, rather than scary, and the ending inspires none of the cathartic feelings of relief and triumph that horror films usually leave us with.

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

Donald Pleasance plays an inspector, which is pretty much the role he plays best (even in "Halloween" he comes off more as a detective than a shrink). He is especially combative here, scolding a witness for his shaggy hair and living with his girlfriend before marriage.

Christopher Lee plays an MI-5 man, which puts him at odds with Pleasance, who wants to keep the investigation local rather than federal. Pleasance versus Lee, what a match-up! I like Lee's mustache and hat, making him look more like he should be hanging out with Peter Sellers and John Cleese than conducting a federal investigation!

While today it is not unusual to think of cannibals in mountains (Appalachia, perhaps, or Eastern Europe), we do not generally think of England as a home for flesh-eating ghouls. Well, this film changes that view!

Slow, plodding and largely uneventful, worthy largely to genre enthusiasts of largely forgotten films. Acting is fine but the script needs work. For me it wasn't totally a waste of time, just tedious for much of its running time.

Donald Pleasance made his best films in the UK, before he went over to America to make a load of Halloween films and other dismal rubbish. While still on this side of the Atlantic, we got to treated great Donald Pleasance performances in films such as The Flesh and the Fiends, Cul-De-Sac and this film! Death Line is an odd film as it handles a theme not often seen in horror cinema. The closest film I can think of to this one in terms of theme was the recent thriller 'Creep' (which is pretty much the same), although that film doesn't have the nasty nature and fetid atmosphere of Death Line! The story is very original and also rather terrifying. It handles the idea of a bunch of subway workers getting trapped in the tunnel after part of it collapsed. Rather than suffocating to death, they were 'lucky' enough to find a pocket of air and survive for many years. The descendants ended up deformed (as you'd expect from a people exclusively living underground) and have taken to abducting, and eating, people unlucky enough to find themselves in the subway after dark. The last remaining descendant's life is shattered when his wife and unborn son die, leaving him with the task of finding a new mate.

Anyone who's ever been on the London Underground will know that it's generally very packed. I've never been down there during the night, but if this film is to be believed - it's likely to be a very frightening place! Director Gary Sherman (who went on to direct the imaginative Video Nasty 'Dead and Buried' in the early eighties) draws atmosphere from this fact, and manages to ensure that the film always feels very desolate; which bodes well with the festering corpses that the director so enjoys depicting. The film is very British in style and tone, and Donald Pleasance is the perfect leading man in this respect. He can become a little ridiculous at times, but in general his role as the cynical and sarcastic police chief fits the film very well, and usually manages to entertain. The film lays its cards with regards to the central plot theme on the table rather early; but it's obvious by then anyway, and the real surprise is nicely kept until the end. To criticise the film, it has to be said that the plotting is sometimes a little too relaxed. There's a lot of standout scenes, however - the grisly sequence that sees three men killed on the subway is the best of them - and the director manages to implement a lot of memorable images into the film. Overall, Death Line is a forgotten gem and well worth checking out!

Oh boy, oh boy... How can a movie with such a good premise turn out to be so boring and flat? When I was reading the synopsis I thought this stuff was right up my alley. No, I was wrong. Hell, even Creep (2004) was better. This movie seriously didn't know what it wanted to be. Quite frankly, there was nothing scary about this picture. They showed all too much of the 'caveman' since he's the one we're supposed to be scared of. And when the scary guy has more screen time in a horror movie than our good guys, he doesn't invoke fear in us, because we learn to know him so well. There's nothing mysterious about him. Nothing to be afraid of. Sure there's some gore but that's not enough to make a horror movie. I've got another concern too. The music is a major problem here. There's nothing atmospheric about it and we notice it straight away as the credits roll. I think it's jazz or something but it really doesn't fit here. Music is such an important element when you're creating fear. Now there's something good in here too. And it's a comedic thing. Yes, this worked better as a comedy. Watching Donald Pleasence as the detective was a blast. Great fun. That's about all I've got to say. Oh, and although he wasn't very successful here, Gary Sherman is a capable director. I've witnessed it my self when I saw Dead&Buried. Go see that Instead of this messy 70's horror.

I've always liked this. From my first viewings, cut on TV and with less than decent picture on video, to improved DVD image and now completely uncut bright, shining (almost indecently so!) Blu-ray. Some complain it is not fast enough for them but we have a great script and location shooting in an old London underground station to compensate and the big reveal is well worth the very modest wait. Plus, all the time there is Donald Pleasance having the time of his life, taking the pi** out of everybody, from the powers that be, his own superiors and the public he has the misfortune to have to work over, I mean work for. True the horror are a bit awful and the nastiness is more than those expecting a jump in the dark are probably up for but it maintains that dread factor whilst being funny and all the time showing us those super tube tunnels and trains and advertising hoardings. Mind the bores and let's up this pathetic IMDb score!

Artful camera shots have no place in what is supposed to be a horror movie. Nothing can kill interest faster than a tedious long camera pan over dimly lit, indistinguishable objects. Donald Pleasance and Christopher Lee do little more than cash a paycheck. For American audiences, subtitles "on" is mandatory to understand the dialect. Character development is not good, and the subhumans only grunt. There are plenty of scenes that do nothing to advance the plot, which is unbelievable to start with. Avoid at all costs, unless being bored to death with a movie that promises "unspeakable terror", is your cup of tea. - MERK