Pete Walker (director)
Encyclopedia
Pete Walker is an English
film director
, writer and producer
, specialising in horror
and sexploitation
films, frequently combining the two.
His films include Die Screaming, Marianne
, House of Mortal Sin, Frightmare
, House of Whipcord, Schizo, The Comeback
, and House of the Long Shadows
.
His films often featured sadistic authority figures, such as priests or judges, punishing anyone - usually young women - who doesn't conform to their strict personal moral codes, but he has denied there being any political subtext to his films. Because of the speed with which he had to make his films, Walker often used the same reliable actors, including Andrew Sachs
and Sheila Keith
, the latter playing memorable villainesses in four of Walker's pictures.
Malcolm McLaren
hired Walker to direct a documentary on The Sex Pistols entitled A Star Is Dead. Walker was an unlikely choice of director for this project and the deal fell through when the band split up.
Walker's work was reviled and condemned by some contemporary critics, while others were surprised to find relatively sophisticated subtexts in what were made and marketed as commercial exploitation films. Although Walker's movies have never undergone a critical reappraisal in the same way as Hammer films
or his American contemporaries Tobe Hooper
and Wes Craven
, the release in 2005 of a DVD boxed set of five of his films was greeted with some good notices in the British national press.
On his own work, Walker has said when asked if his films had hidden depths, "Of course they didn't. But recently I had to record commentary for the DVD releases, so I saw the films for the first time since making them, and you know what? They're not as bad as I thought. But searching for hidden meaning ... they were just films. All I wanted to do was create a bit of mischief."
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, writer and producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, specialising in horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
and sexploitation
Sexploitation
Sexploitation, or "sex-exploitation", describes a class of independently produced, low-budget feature films generally associated with the 1960s and serving largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit sexual situations and gratuitous nudity. The genre is a subgenre of exploitation films...
films, frequently combining the two.
His films include Die Screaming, Marianne
Die Screaming, Marianne
Die Screaming, Marianne is a 1971 British low-budget film by minor cult director Pete Walker. Although Walker’s films were mostly in the horror or sexploitation genres, this is a straight horror-thriller.- Plot :...
, House of Mortal Sin, Frightmare
Frightmare (film)
Frightmare is a 1974 British horror film directed by Pete Walker and written by Pete Walker and David McGillivray. It starred Rupert Davies and Sheila Keith...
, House of Whipcord, Schizo, The Comeback
The Comeback (film)
The Comeback is a 1978 British horror film directed by Pete Walker.-Plot:A once successful American singer, Nick Cooper , relocates to a country manor in England, leaving L.A. and a failed marriage behind him, to begin work on his career comeback...
, and House of the Long Shadows
House of the Long Shadows
House of the Long Shadows is a horror-parody film directed by Pete Walker. The screenplay by Michael Armstrong is based on the novel Seven Keys to Baldpate by Earl Derr Biggers. The original music score is composed by Richard Harvey....
.
His films often featured sadistic authority figures, such as priests or judges, punishing anyone - usually young women - who doesn't conform to their strict personal moral codes, but he has denied there being any political subtext to his films. Because of the speed with which he had to make his films, Walker often used the same reliable actors, including Andrew Sachs
Andrew Sachs
Andrew Sachs is a German-born British actor. He made his name on British television and is best known for his portrayals of Manuel in Fawlty Towers, a role for which he was BAFTA-nominated, and Ramsay Clegg in Coronation Street.-Early life:Sachs was born in Berlin, Germany, the son of Katharina , a...
and Sheila Keith
Sheila Keith
Sheila Keith was a British actress, active in films and TV, born to Scottish parents in London while they were visiting the city and brought up in Aberdeen, Scotland....
, the latter playing memorable villainesses in four of Walker's pictures.
Malcolm McLaren
Malcolm McLaren
Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren was an English performer, impresario, self-publicist and manager of the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls...
hired Walker to direct a documentary on The Sex Pistols entitled A Star Is Dead. Walker was an unlikely choice of director for this project and the deal fell through when the band split up.
Walker's work was reviled and condemned by some contemporary critics, while others were surprised to find relatively sophisticated subtexts in what were made and marketed as commercial exploitation films. Although Walker's movies have never undergone a critical reappraisal in the same way as Hammer films
Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...
or his American contemporaries Tobe Hooper
Tobe Hooper
Tobe Hooper is an American film director and screenwriter, best known for his work in the horror film genre. His works include the cult classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre , along with its first sequel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 ; the three-time Emmy-nominated Stephen King film adaptation...
and Wes Craven
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the...
, the release in 2005 of a DVD boxed set of five of his films was greeted with some good notices in the British national press.
On his own work, Walker has said when asked if his films had hidden depths, "Of course they didn't. But recently I had to record commentary for the DVD releases, so I saw the films for the first time since making them, and you know what? They're not as bad as I thought. But searching for hidden meaning ... they were just films. All I wanted to do was create a bit of mischief."
See also
- Derek FordDerek FordDerek Ford was an English film director and writer, most famous for sexploitation films such as The Wife Swappers Keep it Up Jack! Sex Express , and What's up Superdoc! .Ford began as a writer in collaboration with his brother Donald Ford , originally...
- Stanley LongStanley LongStanley Long , often known as Stanley A. Long, is a British Exploitation cinema and sexploitation filmmaker. He is a writer, cinematographer, editor, and eventually, producer/director of low-budget exploitation movies....
- David McGillivrayDavid McGillivray (director)David McGillivray is an actor, producer, playwright, screenwriter and film critic.Originally a critic for Monthly Film Bulletin, McGillivray wrote his first film script, Albert's Follies, for friend Ray Selfe in 1973...
- Norman J. WarrenNorman J. WarrenNorman John Warren, born 25 June 1942 in London, is a British film director best known for such 1970s horror films as Satan’s Slave , Prey and Terror...