I'm a big fan of 1970s UK horror films, and sometimes you can be lucky enough to come across a low-budget lost gem... sadly, that isn't the case here!
It starts off promisingly enough, with a bus-load of prim London schoolgirls whose coach breaks down in the middle of a lonely part of the Lake District. They and their teachers trek off into the night, and eventually a local gamekeeper directs them to a huge, gothic hotel - currently closed for a refurb.
The manageress lets them stay the night but, as we soon learn, they are not alone, as there are some escaped lunatics on the loose from a nearby cottage hospital.
Not only that, but said-lunatics are the victims of 'dream therapy' - drugged up on hallucinogenic drugs where they believe they're in a permanent dream state where they can act out their sordid fantasies with no repercussions.
Sadly, this promising set-up all falls down as soon as we encounter the first of the escapees. Rather than being the traditional faceless, prowling, silent, creepy killer, he's brightly dressed (in a white hospital robe), rather chatty, and just a little camp!
His accomplices are of the same mould and pretty soon the whole atmosphere of tension and foreboding that's been carefully built descends into a silly farce.
It's not helped by heavy use of unconvincing 'day for night' outdoor filming, and a tardis-like tent where some nearby campers are pitched - whose interior is much too big and clearly filmed in a studio.
You can probably guess the rest - just don't expect much in the way of shocks, suspense, or even much by way of entertainment.
It does make you think that with more money, a clever director and a bit more of 'less is more' approach, this could have been a minor classic - but sadly this is a film that deserves the obscurity it enjoys.
It starts off promisingly enough, with a bus-load of prim London schoolgirls whose coach breaks down in the middle of a lonely part of the Lake District. They and their teachers trek off into the night, and eventually a local gamekeeper directs them to a huge, gothic hotel - currently closed for a refurb.
The manageress lets them stay the night but, as we soon learn, they are not alone, as there are some escaped lunatics on the loose from a nearby cottage hospital.
Not only that, but said-lunatics are the victims of 'dream therapy' - drugged up on hallucinogenic drugs where they believe they're in a permanent dream state where they can act out their sordid fantasies with no repercussions.
Sadly, this promising set-up all falls down as soon as we encounter the first of the escapees. Rather than being the traditional faceless, prowling, silent, creepy killer, he's brightly dressed (in a white hospital robe), rather chatty, and just a little camp!
His accomplices are of the same mould and pretty soon the whole atmosphere of tension and foreboding that's been carefully built descends into a silly farce.
It's not helped by heavy use of unconvincing 'day for night' outdoor filming, and a tardis-like tent where some nearby campers are pitched - whose interior is much too big and clearly filmed in a studio.
You can probably guess the rest - just don't expect much in the way of shocks, suspense, or even much by way of entertainment.
It does make you think that with more money, a clever director and a bit more of 'less is more' approach, this could have been a minor classic - but sadly this is a film that deserves the obscurity it enjoys.