One of the finest cinematographers in the world – (he shot The Red Shoes, Under Capricorn and The
African Queen among many others), Jack Cardiff’s own work as a director was
more uneven. One of his last films was The Freakmaker (aka The Mutations), a very odd and often grotesque horror film
featuring the great Donald Pleasence as a mad biologist bent on splicing plants
and humans into a new super-species.
Real-life handicapped people play members of a local carnival freak show
to which Pleasence is happy to donate his less successful creations, some of
whom were lately his university students.
Some interesting effects, like a giant plant that eats live rabbits and
time-lapse photography to indicate accelerated growth, add to the insanity and
it’s all pretty good fun.
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