HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR EPISODE 8 - CHILDREN OF THE FULL MOON (1980)

DIRECTED by Tom Clegg

SCREENPLAY by Murray Smith

STARRING - Christopher Cazenove as Tom, Celia Gregory as Sarah, Diana Dors as Mrs Ardoy, Robert Urquhart as Harry, Jacob Witkin as The Woodcutter.

PLOT - Tom and Sarah - a successful middle class couple are enjoying a weekend away in the countryside when their car goes out of control and breaks down.

Stranded in the forest the couple seek shelter in an old house.

Upon arriving at the house, the pair find that it's inhabited by a mysterious woman named Mrs Ardoy and her band of unnerving children.

Reluctantly staying for the night, Sarah and Tom are horrified to see a wolf-like creature peering in through thier window. Tom is overpowered and Sarah is assaulted by the bizarre man-wolf.

Tom comes round in hospital and Sarah tells him that it was all a dream, they merely had a minor car crash and Tom was knocked unconscious. The pair return home to thier everyday lives.

But things have changed - Sarah has become more sexualy aggressive, she's also developed an appetite for raw meat. What's more - she now appears to be pregnant.

Tom's suspicions grow as Sarah acts increasingly strange, Tom begins to believe that the encounter in the country house wasn't a dream after all. All trails lead back to the strange old house, Mrs Ardoy and her brood and a hideous date with destiny...

PERFORMANCES - In many ways Children Of The Full Moon is probably the campiest episode of Hammer House Of Horror, which isn't to say it's in anyway a "comedy" episode (because it isn't), but the story is definitely dangling it's toes into full on B-movie territory and the performances of the cast seem to tap into this.

Case in point is Christopher Cazenove as Tom. Cazenove basically plays Tom like he's the hero in a 1950's B-picture. He's got it all - the slick gentleman's "received pronunciation" accent, the two fisted no nonsense attitude (even though he's absolutely terrible at fighting and always gets his arse handed to him), the condescending attitude to his wife and lots of cheesy dialogue.

He gets some brilliantly camp moments in this. I love the scene where Tom's car goes out of control  as they speed along the tight country roads, he yells at Sarah to cover her eyes with her arms. Presumably this is to shield her from glass if they crash, BUT never at any point in the script does it indicate that the car has gone out of control due to any supernatural reason - it's just that Tom's driving too fast. Here's an idea Tom - why not TAKE YOUR FOOT OFF THE ACCELERATOR, the car will then slow down and eventually STOP ! Simple.

Another great moment is when Sarah tells him she's just seen a werewolf and Tom comes out with the immortal line "I don't believe in that type of thing. I'm a lawyer ! I'm a logical man !" (who can't drive for shit).

Cazenove isn't going to win any prizes for subtlety but he's great fun to watch in this.

Celia Gregory is pretty good as Sarah. She starts off coming across as being very posh and quite uptight (there's quite a bit made of her career as a diplomat but this doesn't have any real bearing on the story).

As the episode continues Sarah becomes more aloof and distant towards Tom also she's a lot more sexual. Basically she's a woman who's been released from her upper middle class shackles and is more or less going feral.

Playing the sinister Mrs Ardoy is Diana Dors. Mrs Ardoy is basically the "nanny" to the Werewolf's brood of sinister kids. Dors plays the role in a "matronly" manner (a million miles away from her earlier "sexpot" roles where she was pretty much Britain's answer to Marilyn Monroe). She's very good in this - outwardly she seems quite a benign and friendly character but if anything she's OVERLY friendly (she never stops smiling), this gives her an unnerving presence - she's basically hiding her own predatory nature behind a false smile. Dors pretty much gives the most subtle performance in the whole episode. Paired with the creepy kids (and they ARE creepy) she makes for a memorable villain.

A quick mention must go to Jacob Witkin as the Woodcutter/Werewolf, he's not in it very much but he deserves his place in the pantheon of screen Wolf Men. The scene where he spys on the young couple through the bedroom window is a truly creepy moment (it scared the shit out of me when I was five) and is yet another iconic moment in a TV show that's full of them.

SEX & VIOLENCE - Sex and Violence is central to the story even though we see very little of either occur onscreen. Sarah's sexual awakening and subsequent pregnancy is a result of sexual violence inflicted on her by the Werewolf. The camera cuts away before we see the assault actually occur though and everything else relating to Sarah is instead just heavily implied.

We get some low level gore in the prologue when we see one of the wolf children eating the remains of a dead lamb. This is achieved using the now standard issue unconvincing dead animal prop and a touch of "Kensington gore".

At the end, the Woodcutter Werewolf attacks Tom with his axe. The camera cuts away before we see the inevitable outcome...

SFX - The Werewolf has a fairly standard "Wolf Man-esqe" look. He maybe looks slightly too friendly when seen in full light but he's much more menacing under subdued lighting.

RATING - Hammer House Of Horror goes full-on Lycanthrope. This episode is probably the closest in style to the famous Hammer horror movies of the 50's to 70's (despite being set in the then present day).

It may not be the most subtle, original and artistically accomplished episode of the series but it is a hell of a lot of fun.

4 creepy wolf kids out of 5. Grab a beer, stick this in the DVD player and prepare to wolf out !!!

ART -