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Mental Minor 
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TITLE |
Creeping Flesh, The (1973) |
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DISABILITY |
Mental
Illness Mad scientist |
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NOTES |
The film is
set around the Hildern Institute for Mental Disorders run by James
Hildern (Christopher Lee). He has a half-brother Emmanuel whose wife
has just died in the institute. This news he hides from his
daughter, Penelope, because he believes the mother's insanity is
hereditary. Emmanuel's profession is investigating the origins of
evolution and he is doing work on bones he has brought back from
Papua New Guinea. One strand of the film follows his (pseudo)
scientific pursuit in that usual madcap way of horror films. Another
strand is Penelope's discovery about her mother's past and her
potential decline into insanity. The two merge when her father
injects her with a serum he is working on hoping it will prevent
insanity. The effect is to make her a homicidal maniac.
An early scene shows an early form of shock treatment. Its
authenticity is doubtful. The patients in the institute are all
portrayed as 'man men', and James shoots a patient who tries to
escape.
This is a Hammer film and definitely in the mad scientist category.
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Notes
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