The Monster Club
A late night walk for the horror writer R Chetwynd-Hayes, an act of vanity which opens a vein, admiring a book shop which features a prominent window display of his works and attracting the attention of the hungry vampire Eramus; recovering from the bite, Eramus confesses his admiration of the author – “everybody likes to read about themselves” – and wishes to repay the donation of “the best blood I have ever tasted,” introducing him to the entertainment of The Monster Club.
There is music, dancing, and drinking, the human Chetwynd-Hayes remaining unobtrusive in the diverse company sitting in the corner with a glass of tomato juice, while Eramus tells him of the genealogy of the monsters, vampires, werewolves and ghouls, the three primates, and their various offspring, werevamps, weregoos and vamgoos, then raddys, maddys and shaddys, and ultimately the mock, the unfortunate creature whose curse forms the first cautionary tale of the evening…
Directed by Roy Ward Baker, no stranger to horror having awoken Hammer’s Quatermass and the Pit and the Amicus anthologies Asylum and The Vault of Horror, The Monster Club was based on the stories of R Chetwynd-Hayes, here played by Johnny Guitar‘s John Carradine while Eramus, eloquent campaigner for equality of monsters, is Theatre of Blood‘s Vincent Price, their presence the frame which holds the triptych of The Shadmock, The Vampires and The Ghouls.
Something of an oddity even on its original 1981 release, a comedy horror interspersed by similarly themed musical numbers and a revealing strip tease, the different elements of The Monster Club do not always sit comfortably together but with the theme of the film acceptance and coexistence there is something for everyone, and in all the segments the ostensible monsters are presented sympathetically.
Reclusive apologetic shadmock Raven (James Laurenson) betrayed by gold digger Angela (Quatermass’ Barbara Kellerman), he retaliates in the only way he can, while the vampire hunted by Pickering (The Night of the Generals‘ Donald Pleasence) is charming family man and father Manford Busotsky (The Haunting’s Richard Johnson), and trapped in the village of Loughville behind the veil of perpetual mist young Luna (Doctor Who’s Lesley Dunlop) longs for a life away from gathering clothes, wood and food from desecrated coffins.
Moving swiftly with light feet, the focus is on story rather than deep character, and the production value of the segments is better than the masks and costumes of the basement venue patrons, but the cast are all sufficient for the demands and the pace and variety make up for any shortcomings, The Monster Club an establishment which stands as an undeniably and proudly British horror film which pays homage to a tradition carried forward from Dead of Night to the present day.
The Monster Club will be streaming on Arrow from Friday 23rd December
