The Creeping Flesh, Battle of the Mad Scientists

Mad Scientists! Yes! Even better...the two mads in question are Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee as demented half-brothers. Throw in a nubile damsel who turns into a homicidal killer, and a huge monstrous creature bent on spreading evil. This 1973 film is not from Hammer, but the elements that make it up will be familiar to Hammer fans. Today we look at "The Creeping Flesh," directed by Freddie Francis.

Professor Emmanuel Hildren (Cushing) has made quite the discover in New Guinea. He brings home an eight foot skeleton of a monster creature that walked the Earth way before man did. His brother, James (Lee) runs a lunatic asylum for the criminally insane. Emmanuel's wife went completely mad and died as a patient of James'. Oh yes, the nubile Penelope (Lorna Heilbron) was never told about her mom's insanity. Back to the creature...er skeleton. Emmanuel finds out that if water is poured on the thing, flesh will grow back on the bones. He stops it, for now...though you can imagine what's coming. Uh oh again, Penelope begins to go mad, just like her mom did. She becomes quite the slut and goes on a murderous rampage through London's seediest parts.

James' is doing experiments to figure out what causes mental disorders. Good luck! Emmanuel is trying to figure out what to do with a skeleton that wants to become a monster. Penelope is slicing through London brutes like crap through a goose. Yep...rain storms are coming and the three subplots are on a collision course. Of course, the skeleton will get soaked and now an eight foot grotesque fiend is also on the prowl...but with an ambitious purpose.

What does the huge fiend desire and how will that play into James, Emmanuel, and Penelope's fates? Will James be able to capture, study, and experiment on the sultry homicidal nutsoid? Will Emmanuel ever get a clue and do something even remotely useful to stop the spread of evil throughout the world? This is a neat horror story with a far reaching conclusion. For some great interaction between a couple of horror legends, a horrific monster, and a nubile damsel/murderess...see "The Creeping Flesh."