RAW MEAT (1972)
aka DEATH LINE
Label: Blue Underground
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 87 Minutes 22 Seconds
Audio: English Dolby Atmos (TrueHD 7.1), English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround, English or French DTS-HD MA 1.0 Mono with Optional English subtitles
Video: Dolby Vision HDR10 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (1.85:1), 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Gary Sherman
Cast: Donald Pleasence, Norman Rossington, David Ladd, Sharon Gurney, Hugh Armstrong, Christopher Lee
Beneath Modern London Lives a Tribe of Once Humans. Neither Men nor Women... They are the Raw Meat of the Human Race!
Raw Meat (aka Death Line) (1972) is the British film debut from American director Gary Sherman whom would go onto to direct the macabre classic Dead & Buried (1981), a first class suspense horror film featuring an amazing performance from Jack Alberts (Grandpa Joe from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory!), he also directed the much maligned franchise horror sequel Poltergeist III (1988), but before all that there was the British horror-thriller Death Line, also known as Raw Meat here in the U.S. where distributor American International Pictures chopped it up and retitled it hoping to attract a grindhouse audience.
As the film begins there's a pervy old chap in a bowler hat (James Cossins, Blood from the Mummy's Tomb) touring burlesque clubs in the red light district before propositioning a hooker down in the London Underground subway, he offers cash for ass but instead gets a knee to the balls for his troubles. As the prostitute runs off the now-aching horny bastard is attacked by a snarling unseen figure, he's knocked unconscious where he is found by young American college student Alex (David Ladd, Wild Geese) and his British girlfriend (Sharon Gurney, Crucible of Horror). The young couple argue a bit about whether the old chap needs aid or is just passed out drunk, but they report it to a policeman only to discover that his body has gone missing by the time they've returned. It turns out that the victim is a local politician of some importance. We're then introduced to what is quite possibly my favorite performance from Donald Pleasence as the sharp tongued and fussy, tea sipping Inspector Calhoun, a lively performance that, in my opinion, outshines his portrayal of Dr. Loomis from Halloween (1978) by a country mile, a dry-witted and colorful character with some witty comic back and forth with fellow officer Det. Rogers (Norman Rossington, Carry On Nurse).
Calhoun condescendingly interrogates Alex, coming off as a sly prick who's having a great deal of fun at the expense of the long-haired American, commenting that he should get a haircut. Noticeably, Ladd cannot match the character and intensity that the veteran actor Pleasence brings to the role, he's looks like a deer caught in headlights and the scene suffers for it a bit. Later in the film Pleasence spars with a more worthy opponent, none other than Christopher Lee (Prince of Darkness), in a brief cameo as MI5 agent Statton-Villiers, the brief but memorable appearance offers some snippy banter back and forth between the two horror icons, it great fun even if it tossed in there as a bit of marquee value for the adverts.
As people continue to go missing on this particular stretch of the Tube we discover that murders are being committed by a diseased cannibal man that lives in an abandoned part of the subway tunnels. He's the lone surviving descendant of a group of miners that were trapped in the tunnel after it collapsed during construction back in the 1800's. Apparently these unlucky bastards not only survived but procreated and flourished for nearly a century through a strict regiment of incest, murder and cannibalism. So, I thought to myself, while they've been able to escape the tunnels to occasionally wander out for some fresh meat from time to time, no one along the way figured out to escape to the surface and perhaps stop fucking and eating each other? Okay, so there are a few leaps of logic one must overcome to buy into this scenario, but we as horror folk have long turned a blind eye to more than our fair share of inconsistencies in the name of horror, am I right?
The film has some very nice cinematography, including a long tracking shot within the living space of the cannibal, known only as "the man", played by Hugh Armstrong (The Beastmaster), set to the creepy sound of dripping water as the camera slowly pans 360 degrees around the room revealing numerous mutilated, half-eaten corpses of victims, including our horny perv from the start of the film. The maggot ridden corpses are rotting, some of their facial features having been chewed off and eaten, it's strong, macabre stuff. It's an eerie sight as the camera reveals the man crying over the body his very recently dead companion, and I was struck by how much pathos Armstrong brought to the role, he's half sickening, and half pathetic, you actually feel some sympathy for this monster. For a film from 1972 this must have been quite startling sight to theatre goers who had yet to see The Exorcist (1973) or The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), the imagery from the man's lair of the corpses is on par with anything from TCM. The image of the bearded cannibal man stalking the dark tunnels with a gas lantern in hand is a chilling sight indeed, occasionally mumbling or calling out the only words he seems to know, "Mind the doors", a refrain that he has apparently picked up from the automated PA system on each of the subway cars, it's a nice, creepy touch, one of many.
I love this film, but that is not to say it's without flaws, it's a bit pacey in places, and Ladd's portrayal of Alex really gnawed on my nerves, not because the character was annoying, but Ladd is so damn wooden. If he had disappeared altogether from the film after the initial interrogation, or had fallen prey to the cannibal man, I wouldn't have minded at all. However, Pleasence as the piss and vinegar Calhoun, and Armstrong as the sympathetic cannibal man carry the film for me, even if the finale is a bit short and wraps up too quickly. Calhoun is also ably assisted by Detective Sergeant Rogers (Norman Rossington, Hard Day's Night) who pairs well with the sardonic detective, and Sharon Gurney is cute as a button as Alex's better half, who must fight for her life when she is later abducted by "the man" and taken to his tunnel lair, offering up some nice inner strength and blood curdling screams.
Audio/Video: Raw Meat (aka Death line) arrives on 4K Ultra fast from Blue Underground fully restored with a brand new 2025 4K scan of the original uncensored camera negative, presented in the original widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1, looking gorgeous all the way around, with the Death Line title card. There's an uptick in all the expected areas over the 2017 Blu-ray, the source has been restored flawlessly, it's looks immaculate with a natural sheen of film grain, fine detail and textures of clothing look terrific, and the depth and clarity of the image impress. The biggest take away here is the Dolby Vision HDR10 upgrade, the colors are richer and more nuanced, it's while it's film that is largely shot in dim and dreary underground locations with lots of browns and grays, but there's some nice candy-colored lensing during the opening credit sequences as the upper-crust perv tours the cabarets with neon lighting that pop nicely. The black levels are deeper and inkier as well, which advance over the Blu-ray counterpart with the increased 4K resolution and upticks in shadow detail,
We get four audio options here, you can choose from English Dolby Atmos (TrueHD 7.1), English DTS-HD MA 5.1, or and English or French language DTS-HD MA Mono 1.0 with optional English subtitles. I appreciate the new Atmos track quite a bit, opening up the stage quite a bit, dialogue sounds crisp, the sounds of arriving and departing trains, the acoustics of the subterranean tunnels, and the experimental electronic passages from composers Wil Malone and Jeremy Rose all benefit nicely from the upgrade with some added depth, and it opens up the sound design quite a bit. I also took in the original mono soundtrack via DTS-HD, and the mono track still works for me watching these vintage terrors, it's not as dynamic as the Atmos but it is crisp and clean, well-balanced and the swanky burlesque main theme and more sounded great. I still prefer the mono, but it's great to have options.
Onto the disc extras Blue Underground carry-over all the extras from their previous 2017 Blu-ray and add a couple more to sweeten the pot. New stuff comes by way of a new Audio Commentary with Film Historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth, and a Newly Expanded Poster & Still Gallery with 170 images of various posters, the US press book, lobby cards, stills, and a gallery of home video releases through the years from various territories, it;s quite an expansive set of images.
The new Audio Commentary with Film Historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth is expectedly fantastic and enriching, this is cult-cinema team-up that always brings their A-game. They talk about the experimental score and the sleazy sounding opening title track, digging into the cast an dnoting their filmographies, commenting on locations and interesting bits of trivia, pointing out movie posters spotted in the background, and how this entry sort of anticipates Texas Chainsaw Massacre and An American Werewolf in London in several ways. noting how it bloodier than TCM, and that the director felt that he was ripped off by other films, as well as the former scarcity of it on home video back in 2003. They cover quite a bit more, including Gary Sherman;s career and films he passed up that perhaps could have increased his spotlight, as well as offering an appreciation of the much maligned Poltergeist III.
The set is packed with terrific archival extras as well, these include the Audio commentary from co-writer/director Gary Sherman, Producer Paul Maslansky, and Assistant Director Lewis More O’Ferrall moderated by David Gregory. It goes into great detail about the origins and making of the film, beginning with original director Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs) dropping out of the project to work for Roger Corman. It's a great track loaded with fun facts and trivia fans of the movie will love. The 13-min From The Depths – Interview with Star David Ladd and Producer Paul Maslansky
offers an appreciation of the script and it's dry humor, an appreciation of the cast, the seven in a half minute tracking shot, and the score. Also broached are Sherman's left leaning politics that show up on screen, and how AIP retitled it Raw Meat, as well as its new found cult popularity since it's been re-assessed on home video.
Nex up is the 19-min Tales From The Tube – Interview with Co-Writer/Director Gary Sherman and Executive Producers Jay Kanter & Alan Ladd Jr. - Sherman discusses getting project through Jonathan Demme who was originally slated to produce, Kanter talke of getting it financed in London with Rank, trying to cast Marlon Brando, casting Hugh Armstrong, memories of the shoot, the premiere and almost selling it to Paramount only for it to end up at AIP. The 16-min Mind The Doors – Interview with Star Hugh Armstrong features the Armstrong talking about joining the Army after high-school before leaving to pursue his acting career, exploring his character, the reality of the story, shooting in an cold and damp disused train tunnel, his memories of the cast, including the vivacious Sharon Gurney, lamenting that she seemed to disappear shortly after the film. He also gets into how the make-up effects took four hours to apply, and how the make-up guy would have an endless supply of limerick, doing some of his own stunts. Disc extras are buttoned-up with a selection of Trailers, TV Spots, Radio Spots for the film.
This release comes housed in a dual-hub black keepcase, it comes with a Reversible Sleeve of artwork featuring the Death Line image of "the man" walking through the tunnel, in addition to that sweet, though very misleading, Raw Meat poster art used by AIP to advertise the American cut. There's also a Limited Edition Slipcover that is embossed with cool foil-highlights, is used the same Raw Meat artwork but is has been rendered in red on a black background, which is quite striking. The only extras not ported over from the previous 2017 Blu-ray is the 20-Page Illustrated Booklet with writing on the film by Michael Gingold, but as I won the previous release I'll just slip that into the 4K release before I gift it to someone at the monthly cinema club meet-up.
Special Features:
Disc 1 (4K Ultra HD) Feature Film + Extras:
• Audio Commentary #1 with Co-Writer/Director Gary Sherman, Producer Paul Maslansky, and Assistant Director Lewis More O’Ferrall
• NEW! Audio Commentary #2 with Film Historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth
• Trailers: Raw Meat Trailer (2:07), Death Line Trailer (2:04)
• 3 Raw Meat TV Spots (2:01)
• 2 Raw Meat Radio Spots (2:03)
Disc 2 (Blu-ray) Feature Film + Extras:
• Audio Commentary #1 with Co-Writer/Director Gary Sherman, Producer Paul Maslansky, and Assistant Director Lewis More O’Ferrall
• NEW! Audio Commentary #2 with Film Historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth
• Tales From The Tube – Interview with Co-Writer/Director Gary Sherman and Executive Producers Jay Kanter & Alan Ladd Jr. (18:51)
• From The Depths – Interview with Star David Ladd and Producer P Paul Maslansky (12:41)
• Mind The Doors – Interview with Star Hugh Armstrong (15:35)
• Trailers: Raw Meat Trailer (2:07), Death Line Trailer (2:04)
• 3 Raw Meat TV Spots (2:01)
• 2 Raw Meat Radio Spots (2:03)
• Newly Expanded! Poster & Still Gallery
Raw Meat (1972) is terrifying subterranean cannibal-horror featuring one of Donald Pleasence's best and most fussy performances, the brand new 4K restoration with Dolby Vision/Atmos upgrades from Blue Underground is a phenomenal upgrade that advances over the previous release, and the new and archival extras are binge-worthy, this comes highly recommended.
Screenshots from the Blue Underground Blu-ray (2025)
Extras:
Buy it!
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