Drive-in Theatre: Stop Me Before I Kill! and The Flesh Eaters

Alan tries to resist his impulses.

Stop Me Before I Kill! (1960)

A year after a high-speed collision with an eighteen-wheeler on his wedding day, all is not well with former Grand Prix driver Alan Colby (Ronald Williams). Even as he and his wife Denise (Diane Cilento) head to southern France for a vacation, Alan struggles to overcome sporadic compulsions to...strangle his wife.

At their hotel, the Colbys meet David Prade (Claude Dauphin), an inquisitive psychiatrist who lives in a nearby villa. During a dinner with Prade and others, Alan has a violent outburst, punches the doctor, and leaves. Later that evening, Denise express her deep concerns about Alan to the psychiatrist, who astutely observes: "Your husband is in a state of acute anxiety."

Dr. Prade watching Denise.

Stop Me Before I Kill!, also known as The Full Treatment, is one of those films in which it's obvious from the start that all is not what it seems. But director and co-writer Val Guest does an admirable job of keeping the viewer guessing. Is Dr. Prade to be trusted...especially after spying on Denise as she skinny-dips (her reflection in his binoculars is one of the creepiest shots in the film)? Is Denise really the loving wife? What's up with that mention of her brother, who died in a auto race at Le Mans? As for Alan, there's no doubt that the lad needs serious therapy for his murderous tendencies.

One of several Hammer suspense films produced in the 1950-60s, Stop Me Before I Kill! lacks the cleverness of The Snorkel and Scream of Fear. Still, Guest, an underrated director, squeezes the last ounce of tension out of his plot. He also creates a visual uneasiness by filming through vertical bars (implying that Alan is trapped in his mental state?) and using extreme close-ups of wringing hands, quivering lips, and troubled eyes. The only flaw in his direction is a too-long sequence where Alan undergoes the kind of psychiatric therapy that causes doctors to lose their licenses.

Despite some plot issues (e.g., Alan was never in therapy before?) and its length, Stop Me Before I Kill! remains an entertaining suspense picture. It boasts good performances and enough red herrings to keep you fishing for more all the way to the climax involving a chair lift (which you knew was going to be important as soon as you saw it earlier in the film).

The Flesh Eaters (1964)

En route to Provincetown, an airplane pilot experiences engine trouble and lands on a supposedly deserted island with his passengers, an alcoholic actress and her assistant. The island is, of course, anything but deserted. The only human inhabitant is the creepy Professor Peter Bartell (Martin Kosleck). Note I said human, because the other inhabitants are the shiny flesh-eating microbes that Bartell has released into the ocean.

A legitimate cult classic, The Flesh Eaters is a virtual textbook in how to make an effective low-budget horror film. Director Jack Curtis pulls out all the stops in creating a sense of unease: a whistling wind sweeping across the beach, a swinging light bulb casting weird shadows, a man in a scuba suit unexpectedly emerging from the ocean, and a skeleton washing up on the beach.

Curtis's best work may be the opening scene in which two teens on a boat disappear down into the ocean as an expanding circle of blood forms in the water (an effect repeated in later movies). Indeed, the tiny monsters turn the ocean into a surrounding wall of water that traps the protagonists on the island. It's a clever premise--and helps the budget, too, because it minimizes the number of times the flesh eaters need to be shown. (Unfortunately, an unimpressive large version of the flesh eaters made an appearance at the climax).

Kosleck as Bartell...would you
trust this man?

The cast standouts are Kosleck as the baddie and Rita Morely as the hungover actress ("I drink...not polite cocktails...I drink!"). Byron Sanders plays the dull, hunky hero, Barbara Wilkin is the pretty assistant, and Ray Tudor pops up as a beatnik who meets a gory demise.

The Flesh Eaters is certainly not a brilliant film, but there's no denying the talent behind the camera. Sadly, director Curtis never helmed another movie. He did, however, provide the voice for Pops Racer on the cartoon series Speed Racer (1967-68).