Pete Walker (director)

Pete Walker
Born (1939-07-04) 4 July 1939
Brighton, Sussex, England
Occupations
  • Film director
  • screenwriter
  • film producer
ParentSyd Walker (father)

Pete Walker (born 4 July 1939)[1][2] is an English film director, writer, and producer specialising in horror and sexploitation films, frequently combining the two.[3][4][5]

Life and career

Walker was born on 4 July 1939 in Brighton, England, the son of comic Syd Walker and a showgirl mother.[6][7] He began his performing career as a stand-up comic while a teenager, but quit at age 19.[6]

Walker made films such as Die Screaming, Marianne, The Flesh and Blood Show, House of Whipcord, Frightmare, House of Mortal Sin, Schizo, The Comeback, and House of the Long Shadows. His films often feature sadistic authority figures, such as priests or judges, punishing people – usually young women – who do not conform to their strict personal moral codes. Because of the speed with which he had to make his films, Walker often used the same actors, including Andrew Sachs and Sheila Keith.

Walker retired from filmmaking to focus on buying and restoring cinemas.[8]

Asked whether his films have hidden depths, Walker replied: "Of course they didn't. But recently I had to record commentary for the DVD releases, so I saw the films for the first time since making them, and you know what? They're not as bad as I thought. But searching for hidden meaning ... they were just films. All I wanted to do was create a bit of mischief."[8]

Filmography

Year Title Notes Ref.
1967 I Like Birds Directorial Debut
Alternative title: For Men Only 		[9]
1968 The Big Switch Alternative title: Strip Poker [10]
1969 School for Sex
1970 Man of Violence Alternative title: Moon [11]
1970 Cool It Carol! Alternative title: Dirtiest Girl I Ever Met [12]
1971 Die Screaming, Marianne Alternative title: Die, Beautiful Marianne [13]
1972 Four Dimensions of Greta Alternative title: The Three Dimensions of Greta [14]
1972 The Flesh and Blood Show [15]
1973 Tiffany Jones [16]
1974 House of Whipcord [17]
1974 Frightmare Alternative titles: Cover Up and Once Upon a Frightmare [18]
1976 House of Mortal Sin Alternative titles: The Confessional and The Confessional Murders [19]
1976 Schizo [20]
1978 The Comeback Alternative title: The Day the Screaming Stopped [21]
1979 Home Before Midnight [22]
1983 House of the Long Shadows [23]

References

  1. ^ "Pete Walker". Moviefone.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  2. ^ "Pete Walker". Moviepilot (in German).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  3. ^ "Pete Walker". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times (profile). 2012. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012.
  4. ^ Rigby 2000, pp. 254–256.
  5. ^ Chibnall 1998, pp. 14, 72.
  6. ^ a b Walker, Pete (2014). "Flesh, Blood, And Censorship". The Flesh and Blood Show (Blu-ray interview short). Kino Lorber.
  7. ^ Botting, Jo. "BFI Screenonline: Walker, Pete (1939–) Biography". British Film Institute.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  8. ^ a b Hodgkinson, Will (10 March 2005). "'God, what a terrible film'" (review of The Pete Walker DVD Collection). The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  9. ^ Chibnall 1998, p. 38.
  10. ^ Chibnall 1998, p. 45.
  11. ^ Chibnall 1998, p. 59.
  12. ^ Chibnall 1998, p. 67.
  13. ^ Chibnall 1998, p. 85.
  14. ^ Chibnall 1998, p. 88.
  15. ^ Chibnall 1998, p. 100.
  16. ^ Chibnall 1998, p. 111.
  17. ^ Chibnall 1998, p. 117.
  18. ^ Chibnall 1998, p. 135.
  19. ^ Chibnall 1998, pp. 151–155.
  20. ^ Chibnall 1998, pp. 163–168.
  21. ^ Chibnall 1998, pp. 175–179.
  22. ^ Chibnall 1998, pp. 195–200.
  23. ^ Chibnall 1998, pp. 209–210.

Sources

  • Chibnall, Steve (1998). Making Mischief: The Cult Films of Pete Walker. London, England: FAB Press. ISBN 978-0-9529260-1-6.
  • Rigby, Jonathan (2000). English Gothic: A Century of Horror Cinema (Third ed.). London, England: Reynolds & Hearn. ISBN 978-1-903111-79-6.

Further reading

  • Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema by Simon Sheridan (fourth edition) (Titan Publishing, London) (2011)
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