Review of Corruption

Corruption is a sleazy horror movie set in the swinging 60's in England starring the legendary Peter Cushing. Much different from the Gothic Hammer horror that he is known for, Corruption is set in a contemporary time and is a very colorful film with a jazzy score. This film is also pretty vicious and ahead of its time with regards to the sex and violence contained in it. Peter Cushing is a mild mannered doctor who has a beautiful fiance that is a model (Sue Lloyd) that got her face terribly disfigured in an unfortunate accident. Our good doctor discovers a way to restore his girl's beautiful face by taking a pituatary gland from other women, which under demand of soon to be mrs. sets Peter Cushing on a killing spree, slicing and dicing with bloody surgical precision, leaving the decapitated, bloody remains of unfortunate women in his wake. This sets this otherwise happy couple on a moral downward spiral, where the conflicted doctor kills at his wife's command in a process of restoring her face. While this is basically a low budget exploitation picture, Peter Cushing delivers an Oscar worthy performance as this layered and complex character's moral dillema and fall into psychosis and murder. This leads to a run in with a goofy, hippie gang that put our couple as victims of a home invasion that ends with a fight sequence with a surgical laser, for an appropriate and totally nihilistic ending. The hippie gang/ home invasion sequence reminds me of both A Clockwork Orange and Straw Dogs which this film predates by a couple of years. Corruption is a very dated and nasty film that is simultaniously a product of its time as well as being ahead of its time. Peter Cushing's performance is what makes this hold up and Corruption was a very shocking and extreme picture for its time.