House of the Living Dead
House of the Living Dead (Skaduwees Oor Brugplaas, or Shadows over Bridge Place), also known as Doctor Maniac, is a 1974 science-fiction horror film directed by Ray Austin. The film, an international co-production between Great Britain and South Africa, takes place on a plantation in Apartheid-era South Africa and deals heavily with the occult.
| House of the Living Dead | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Ray Austin |
| Produced by | Matt Drucker Phillip N. Krasne Basil Rabin |
| Written by | Marc Marais |
| Starring | Mark Burns Shirley Anne Field David Oxley Margaret Inglis |
| Music by | Peter J. Elliott (as Peter Elliot) |
| Cinematography | Lionel Friedberg (lighting cameraman) |
| Edited by | Diana Friedberg (as Diana Ginsberg) |
Production company | Associated Film Productions |
Release date | 1974 |
Running time | 86 minutes |
| Country | Great Britain South Africa |
| Language | English |
Plot
The storyline follows a white family running a plantation farm on the Cape Colony in South Africa. The family consists of a mother (Margaret Inglis) and her two sons, Michael and Breck (both played by Mark Burns). Michael runs the house while Breck spends his time alone in his room, deformed and insane, conducting experiments to try to prove the soul is an organic object able to live outside the human body. Michael's fiancée Mary (Shirley Anne Field) arrives to marry him, much to the mother's dismay as she wants the family to end so the long history of madness can stop. Meanwhile, strange things begin to happen at the plantation, such as voodoo, which is assumed to be the work of the local black neighbors, and murder.
Awards
Mark Burns was recognized as Best Actor at the 1974 Sitges Film Festival.
Content
The film contains very little gore and no zombies at all, as would generally be expected of a title containing "Living Dead". It is sometimes confused with the substantially more popular video game series House of the Dead. It is 86 minutes long (85 in the UK cut version) and is rated Australia: R (and UK PG). It goes under various names – Doctor Maniac in the UK and US, Curse of the Dead also in the US, and Kill, Baby, Kill when released to video.
Cast
- Mark Burns ... Sir Michael Brattling / Dr. Breckinridge Brattling
- Shirley Anne Field ... Mary Anne Carew
- David Oxley ... Dr. Collinson
- Margaret Inglis ... Lady Brattling
- Dia Sydow ... Lina
- Lynn Maree ... Annie
- Bill Flynn ... Simeon
- William Baird Clark ... Capt. Turner
- Ronald France ... Col. Pringle
- Don Furnival ... Brand
- Pieter Geldenhuys ... Shoemaker
- Ben Dekker ... Jan
- Limpie Basson ... Hugo de Groot
- Amina Gool ... Aia Kat