utgard14 Scientist Peter Cushing digs up an ancient skeleton that's pure evil or something. When you pour water on the bones, flesh grows. So don't do that. Anyway, this is all weird and interesting enough but then there's a huge chunk of the movie dealing with Cushing's daughter who he is overprotective of because he doesn't want her to turn out like her mom, who died in an asylum. This stuff is a lot less fun. Christopher Lee plays Cushing's brother. He runs the asylum and he's got a subplot about an escaped inmate. All of these plot threads eventually meet but I can't say they do so satisfactorily.It's a decent British horror movie with two top stars and a good director in Freddie Francis. The problem is it's got too much going on and it devotes more time to the uninteresting stuff than the skeleton business. Now, the ending is cute and perhaps lines the meandering plot up a bit but it doesn't fix everything. You're still left feeling like you didn't get as much of the "creeping flesh" aspect of the movie as you might have expected.

george.schmidt THE CREEPING FLESH (1973) ***1/2 Crackerjack classic Hammer horror with Dynamic Duo Peter Cushing & Christopher Lee as men of science in Victorian England with Saint Peter's scientist making an amazing and terrifying discovery: a skeleton of a foreign giant has been located and to his utter amazement comes with a tremendous price - madness and monstrosity unleashed. Lee as competitor and supposed half-brother of Cushing is out for fame and glory thru his unscrupulous methods in his asylum while Cushing's fair daughter may be inheriting her late mother's latent insanity (!) Directed with aplomb by veteran helmsman Freddie Francis and fantastic production design wherewithal envelop the unspooling, steady fear and loathing to come! Flesh for fantasy indeed.

Reaper-of-Souls I want to start off by saying that I thoroughly enjoy most of Freddie Francis' films, especially those he made with Hammer. But...I was expecting so much more from THE CREEPING FLESH. With the recent passing of Christopher Lee (RIP), I wanted to go back and re-watch his films that I loved and also to find some that I hadn't previously viewed. So I stumbled upon THE CREEPING FLESH and immediately sought it out. Maybe my expectations were too high going in, but I was a bit let down. As I said, I really like Freddie Francis. I also love Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. So it was a no-brainer that I would like this film. And I did like it...just not as much as I thought I would going in to it.The Victorian age set pieces were fantastic. The subject matter of the story (though not scientifically accurate) was interesting. The acting was great. The atmosphere was pretty good. It was the lack of the horror element that I was expecting and it just didn't seem to show up until the final 15 minutes or so of the film. When it did show up it was great. I just wish the movie would have used it sooner.I also disagree with the many people who feel THE CREEPING FLESH is Freddie Francis' best film. TORTURE GARDEN, TALES FROM THE CRYPT, LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF and maybe even THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS and THE SKULL were all better in my opinion. I especially loved LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF...but I am partial to werewolves.All in all, THE CREEPING FLESH is a good movie worth watching, especially if you are a Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing fan (or a fan of Hammer films even though this is not a Hammer production). It's a good, solid 6 out of 10.

AaronCapenBanner Peter Cushing plays a scientist returning from New Guinea with a huge humanoid skeleton he had found. He has formed a theory that it was evil, and when it is splashed with water, starts to regrow flesh, then eventually comes to life to wreck havoc. Meanwhile, he injects his daughter Penelope with its blood, mixed with blood he considers good, on the theory that it will destroy the evil: he is proved to be wrong, as Penelope goes on the same road to ruin that led to his own wife being put in an insane asylum, run by his brother(played by Christopher Lee).Contrived and cynical film about the battle between good and evil never amounts to much, even with two horror legends in the leads. Subtext about whether or not the scientist is really crazy(and the whole film a figment of his imagination) is not enough to redeem this film, though the direction by Freddie Francis is adequate.