When people disappear in the London Underground, including a government official, Scotland Yard finally investigates to find out what happened and where did the people go.
Written by Ceri Jones and Gary Sherman and directed by the latter, Raw Meat is a film that may feel less shocking now than it did in 1972, but it is still a fantastic horror thriller with elements of shock. The writing here is dated quite a bit but it still works and has a certain charm. The direction works well with the writing as often happens when the director is also one of the writers (yes, I know, Captain Obvious here). The film gains from this by having a vision that goes from start to finish and works great for the story.
The cast here is what will bring in most horror viewers giving that one of the Scotland Yard officials is played by Donald Pleasance, who serves one of his signature performances, being very much Donald Pleasance in it. This works great here and he’s fantastic to watch, really one of the main attractions not just for horror fans but for everyone. Joining him, Norman Rossington, David Ladd, Sharon Gurney, and a bunch of others with most of them all giving solid performances. Oh, and watch for Christopher Lee being his awesome self and giving a great performance as usual.
The look of the film is also a bit dated, but lovely nonetheless, at least for a horror film that takes place in the London Tube. The cinematography by Alex Thomson works well for the story and looks decent and decently grimy at times. There is an art to managing that balance and it’s achieved here. The editing by Geoffrey Foot works but could use a few extra cuts here and there to move the story along and help the pacing as the pacing is what will get most modern audiences to check out before the end of the film. Even this hardened film watcher had issues here and there with the pace and would want to reach for something to do while the film runs in the background. The pacing can lose the attention but if one sticks with the film, they will be rewarded with a well-made piece of horror cinema.
In terms of being a classic, Raw Meat has earned its place in the history books of horror cinema. The pacing is a bit slow, but the characters work, the story is decent, the direction works well with the story, and the cast is really good. There is a lot to love here if one has the patience for that pacing.
This new release (reviewed on Blu-ray here) looks great and sounds just as good as the source material can allow. The extras are more than decent, so fans of the film should be happy here. These extras have some that rise above the rest including the commentary with Gary Sherman, Paul Maslansky, and Lewis More O’Ferrall, the interview with Sherman (along with Jay Kanter and Alan Ladd Jr.), the interview with David Ladd and Paul Maslansky, and the interview with Hugh Armstrong. There is a decent number of extras here, so fans of the film should be satisfied.