Morbidly Beautiful

Your Home for Horror

Posts

This wonderfully shot and poignant film was denounced in its time, but it touches on abuses that still plague society as a whole.

A wealthy old man abuses two young girls. The town doesn’t want to believe it’s true, but the parents fight for justice. Let’s dig into 1960’s NEVER TAKE CANDY FROM A STRANGER, directed by Cyril Frankel!

As I See It

The film starts out with an admission and a warning.

The filmmakers concede the story is fictitious but caution that it could happen anywhere and be coincidentally true. Understanding the implications of the title, I figured this to be a propaganda film and did not assume much in regard to quality.

What the film delivered, however, was honest, open dialogue centered around the politics of a small town, with the focal piece of the story being the elder member of a wealthy and influential family acting “inappropriately” with two young girls.

The dynamic is complicated by one of the girls being a local and the other being the daughter of the new school principal, an outsider.

Forty minutes in, we get the court case as the young girl’s parents have courageously, and against everyone’s advice, proceeded with charges against the old coot.

Here we get the most authentic representation of the politics of society on a local level.

The townspeople know what the old man is up to, but they deny it because the trouble stirring up shit would cause is more bothersome to them than the cries of babes.

Being produced by Hammer, this film is an excellent example of how the horror genre and its filmmakers have always been at the forefront of processing and addressing heavy social issues instead of hiding and repressing them.

Famous Faces

In a primarily British cast, it’s the young Janina Faye (Jean) who holds some prior genre credits, including another Hammer Film Horror of Dracula, and The Headless Ghost.

Of Gratuitous Nature

The mechanism within the story is simple enough. It’s the open commentary that becomes complex and necessary. But in the era it was released, speaking in the open air about such topics was utterly taboo and led to the “failure” of the film.

Heartthrob

It’s the performances for me that stick out. From the Carters (Gwen Watford, Patrick Allen, and Janina Faye) on down, there was hardly a poorly directed or delivered performance. It is also beautifully shot, and Janina Faye’s plentiful freckles film brilliantly in black and white.

Ripe for a Remake

The subject matter takes a ton of integrity to mess with and avoid the warranted backlash. Over the years, our genre has been peppered with icons (Freddy) who exploit children in the most grotesque ways, so it was never too taboo for mainstream acceptance as a storyline.

Spawns

It has no proper follow-up, but it would be hard to argue that it doesn’t have a place, with its long-term effect at least, in the history of Movie of the Week type films that warned teens and parents of societal woes.

Where to Watch

Mill Creek Entertainment included this film in the Hammer Films Ultimate Collection, which gathered twenty Hammer films that didn’t focus on a vampire. You can stream it on Flix Fling.

Overall Rating (Out of 5 Butterflies): 4


THE DAILY DIG
The Daily Dig brings you hidden genre gems from the 1960s-90s you may have not yet discovered. You’ll get a brief rundown of everything you need to know, including where to watch each title for yourself. Come back each day, Mon-Fri, for new featured titles. CLICK HERE FOR A TIMELINE OF DAILY DIG COVERAGE.

Leave a Reply

Allowed tags:  you may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="">, <strong>, <em>, <h1>, <h2>, <h3>
Please note:  all comments go through moderation.
Overall Rating

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hungry for more killer content? Sign up for our FREE weekly newsletter to ensure you never miss a thing.

You'll never receive more than one email per week, and you can unsubscribe anytime.