This 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray set is currently available for purchase from Blue Underground.
Back in the day, Raw Meat aka Death Line was one of those cult movies that more people knew about than had actually seen. If you read the pages of Fangoria magazine and other horror movie periodicals, you would know that it was held in high regard. However, due to rights issues it was always remarkably difficult to find. It didn’t help that the American release was botched by a distributor that made changes and retitled the picture (from Death Line to Raw Meat). Right around 2003, Raw Meat finally became available in North America on DVD. And while it was a thrill to finally catch up with the feature, the image quality was still dark and frankly, many sections of this film taking place in the dark underground tunnels of London weren’t very clear.
That problem has now been solved by Blue Underground, who are presenting the film on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray. They initially cleaned up the film in 2017 with a 2K restoration and released a fine Blu-ray of the picture. Now, they’ve given the fully uncut original negative a 4K, 16-bit restoration of the original camera negative transfer presented in Dolby Vision. You’ll get both a 4K Ultra HD disc and a Blu-ray of the film. The results, particularly from someone like me who has only owned the DVD, are staggering to behold. This picture was largely shot in dark tunnels and has a natural (though not distracting) amount of grain, but has never looked clearer or sharper. You can see all of the London tube posters and ads very clearly now and they a marvelous snapshot of the era. Any horror fan will be blown away by the picture quality.
For those unfamiliar with the movie, it is set in London and begins with university student Patricia Wilson (Sharon Gurney) and her boyfriend, American exchange student Alex Campbell (David Ladd) on the tube heading home. They encounter a fallen, unconscious man (James Cossins) in their station tunnel. She worries that he might be diabetic or has had a stroke, while he shrugs it off. Eventually, Patricia convinces them to inform a constable, but by the time everyone returns, the man has disappeared. As it turns out, the individual was a noted member of the upper class and not the first to go missing in the subways. Grouchy Inspector Calhoun (Donald Pleasance) of Scotland Yard is assigned to the case and grills Alex about what he saw. But his gruff manner is how he treats everyone, including those above him like MI5 agent Stratton-Villiers (Christiopher Lee) who advises that he avoid poking his nose into the lives of individuals like the man who has vanished.
What is eventually revealed, is that the London Underground has extensive areas that have been long shut down and cut off from modern tube tunnels. A figure credited only as “The Man” (Hugh Armstrong) is lurking in these areas. It is implied that he, and his spouse (Jane Turner) are living descendants of Victorian railway workers who were trapped during a cave in in 1892. They’ve spent their entire lives underground and are feral cannibals, occasionally venturing out to grab a victim, commit murder and consume them.
It’s a great concept and the film is full of wonderfully creepy atmosphere and mood. While it’s a low-budget picture, you can now clearly see just how impressive the locations are and the impressive lighting by cinematographer Alex Thompson (who would go on to shoot Excalibur, The Keep, Legend, Labyrinth, Alien 3, Cliffhanger and many more). The same is true of The Man’s living quarters and his horrifying collection of partially eaten victims. Director Gary Sherman (Dead & Buried) uses some impressive long takes, including an extended, 7-minute shot that slowly shows all of the above. The performances are also interesting, with Pleasance really making an impression as the inspector who doesn’t seem to particularly like, well, anyone. His snarky sense of humor really shines too, as he makes others around him incredibly uncomfortable with his complaints accusatory tone. The prickliness even includes his superiors, which includes a polite but antagonistic tête-à-tête between himself and Stratton-Villiers, who shows little respect for him and tells him not to look into the personal habits of the vanished, stately man (the film clearly addresses class warfare between the characters).
There’s a lot of great stuff in this little picture on a technical level, as well as with performances. And of course, the horror bits are quite shocking, with The Man appearing out of the darkness and attacking various unsuspecting individuals in the tunnels. The movie is very chilling and earns its reputation as an above-average British shocker.
This Blue Underground’s bonus features are no less impressive. In addition to the impressive picture (which one can assume looks even better than the movie looked during its brief theatrical run), there is a new film historian commentary that offers a lot of fascinating information about the movie and those involved. The speakers go into director Gary Sherman, noting that he was an American who had become disillusioned with the US and moved to the UK. He worked largely in commercials during the early 70s, even forming a production company specializing in ads along with Jonathan Demme and Michael Mann (whom he didn’t get on well with). There are many fascinating stories about the production and the experts go into just how little the movie was made for. They discuss the various themes and go into further details about cast and crew members.
Another great story involves how Christopher Lee came to appear in the movie. He had worked with producer Paul Maslansky in the past, had heard about the movie, and wanted to work with Pleasance. So, he agreed to work for scale, and appeared on location one Saturday morning, shooting his role in a couple of hours show up and, in the process, got his opportunity to perform with Pleasance. It’s a very good scene that adds an extra layer of dark fun to the proceedings. The commentary is an informative one that will please those who enjoy the picture.
Like all commentary tracks, the best source is usually the director. This disc contains an archival commentary track with Sherman, producer Maslansky, and assistant director Lewis More O’Ferrall that get into the fine details of how the story came about, how they shot the film on a tiny budget and their experiences on set (as well as their issues with the distribution). First-hand knowledge of what went down is always the best and most enlightening, with Sherman and Maslansky delivering fascinating facts about the movie.
There are more archival bonuses including another excellent interview with Sherman, as well as co-star David Ladd and Maslansky, not to mention Hugh Armstrong, and his work to make The Man both frightening while creating a bit of sympathy for him and his tragic existence, all with only one line of dialogue.
You’ll also get promo materials like trailers, TV spots, radio spots, and a newly expanded poster and still gallery for the movie. The first pressing of the title comes with an embossed, foil-highlighted slipcover and reversible sleeve with alternate artwork for the picture under its original title, Death Line.
Raw Meat, or Death Line, is an indie horror effort that only gets better with age. It’s still shocking, but also possesses more depth and layers, not to mention style, than most horror pictures. The new Blue Underground presentation of the film comes very highly recommended to any genre fan. This is a fantastic release and one that I was thrilled to not only revisit, but find even more appreciation for.