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Peter Cushing stars as a doctor who murders people so he can harvest their pituitary glands to (somehow?) restore his fiancée’s badly burned face. At first, guilt drives his character because he’s partially to blame for the accident that disfigured her. But after a while, the stress and anxiety of constant murder starts to drive both of them mad. Things come to a head when they vacation in the British seaside, where a gang of hooligans target the doctor and his doomed love without realizing how dangerous the couple are.
Corruption is a predictable, pedestrian horror movie that even the charming Cushing can’t elevate or save. His character is woefully underdeveloped and uninteresting. The supporting characters are equally dull. The only surprise in the screenplay is when the hooligans enter the picture, making it a toss-up as to who is the predator and who is the prey. But even with that third-act perk, the climax of the film is a really stupid one in which Cushing’s mysterious laser machine (which somehow restores his fiancée’s complexion) goes crazy and kills everyone — Cushing, the fiancée, and all of the hooligans. I only wish the machine had done it ninety minutes earlier so it could have saved me from the tedious boredom of this movie.
If you’re a fan of movies ‘so bad they’re good’, you might enjoy the ’60s kitsch on display in the wardrobe, hair, music, and art direction. There’s also a beach chase sequence between Cushing, his fiancée, and one of the hooligans that is hysterically staged and ridiculously protracted.
With Sue Lloyd, Noel Trevarthen, Kate O’Mara, and Billy Murray. Directed by Robert Hartford-Davis.