In 1957, Dorothy and Edmund Yates were committed to an institution for the criminally insane, she for acts of murder and cannibalism and he for covering up her crimes. Fifteen years later, they are pronounced fit for society and released. However, in Dorothy's case the doctors may have jumped the gun a bit. Edmund and eldest daughter, Jackie, try to discover just how far Mother's bloodlust has taken her. Meanwhile, youngest daughter Debbie begins to explore the crazy roots of her family tree as fully as possible.
Acting
Sheila Keith's terrifyingly domestic monster-in-plain-sight performance.
Direction
Pete Walker's sleazy precision elevating cheap thrills into genuinely queasy tension.
Writing
The delicious irony of 'cured' cannibals and their complicit enablers.
Director
Pete Walker
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Frightmare emerged from Britain's 'video nasty' panic era, when low-budget horror faced moral crusades and censorship that ironically ensured its cult immortality.
Sheila Keith was a respected stage actress who relished her villainous turn; Walker specifically cast against type to make Dorothy's ordinariness more disturbing.
GB
