Wanna see what would happen if someone as old school as Peter Cushing went to a groovy late 60s Swinging London happening? If so then Corruption is the film for you.
Cushing plays plastic surgeon Sir John Rowan who after getting into a fight with Anthony Booth’s sleazy photographer accidentally disfigures his fiancee’s face after a heat lamp falls onto her. Rowan tries experimental surgery involving the transplanting of young women’s pituitary glands which seems to make his partner’s disfigurement disappear. We see John kill a West End prostitute for this purpose. Unfortunately, the effects of this pioneering new surgery is only temporary which means that Rowan must kill time and time again to repeat the procedure and bring back his fiancee’s looks to their former glory.
Things then take a bizarre twist when a gang of friends of one of the missing girls invade the home of John and his partner.
This movie is fantastic. There are moments that are completely unhinged and insane. In other words, my favourite kind of cinema. Check out the chase scene that has been sped up and involves the characters wearing the kind of late 60s colours that make your retinas bleed. It’s like a Benny Hill sketch on acid. Also, Cushing is surprisingly maniacal when he’s bumping the women off.
Of course, there are comparisons with Eyes Without a Face that can be made but Corruption ventures into different avenues altogether.
Corruption shocked critics and audiences alike with its graphic violence at the time of its release. It still has the ability to shock today.
Off-kilter, left-field and batshit crazy. Not to be missed.
4.5 stars out of 5
meathookcinema.com 