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1976 - USA Directed By: S.F. Brownrigg. Starring: Camilla Carr, Gene Ross, Stephen Tobolowsky, Ann Stafford, Sharon Bunn, Chelcie Ross, Annabelle Weenick, Bill Thurman and Jessie Lee Fulton.
Aka
The House Where Hell Froze Over
Current Availability
Released in 2007 on US R1 DVD under its alternate title The House Where Hell Froze Over. Unfortunately this release is on the infamous Televista label and as with all their output is nothing more than a glorified, overpriced bootleg released without the authorisation of the original rights owner. What's more this release features a poor fullscreen transfer which suggests Televista mastered their disc from a heavily worn VHS source, plus the cover art is rubbish. Those who wish to own a legitimate copy can seek either of the two UK pre cert video releases on the Champion Video or Olympus label. Both releases are now fairly sought after by collectors.
Recommended?
Mildly recommended. Keep My Grave Open is a flawed but offbeat and engaging low budgeter, which would prove to be the final foray into the realm of seventies independent horror for underrated Texan filmmaker S.F. Brownrigg. Whilst an acquired taste and not without its narrative shortcomings, overall Keep My Grave Open is a well-made, nicely acted tale of a womans slide into insanity blessed with a moody, melancholic and haunting atmosphere.
Review (Contains Spoilers)
With the Stateside market for low budget, homegrown horror and exploitation at its commercial and creative zenith, the seventies became something of a Golden Age for aspiring regional filmmakers. During this time Texas based filmmaker the late Sherald Brownrigg (usually credited under the abbreviated moniker S.F. Brownrigg) would carve out a unique if relatively minor niche for himself within the heavily populated annals of low budget horror. These days Brownrigg is generally remembered as a one film wonder, the one film in question being his debut feature, the "lunatics take over the asylum" drive-in classic Don't Look In The Basement (aka - The Forgotten) (1973). Despite being made on a budget of small change Don't Look In The Basement became a minor hit on the US drive-in circuit mainly due to a striking yet plagiaristic promotional campaign which allowed the film to ride the commercial coattails of Wes Craven's exploitation classic The Last House On The Left (1972) by recycling its memorable "It's only a movie!" tag line.
However, to dismiss Brownrigg as a cinematic one hit wonder is actually unfair, as following Don't Look In The Basement the Texan would deliver a further three low budget horror films between 1974 and 1976, which whilst rough around the edges featured enough unique atmosphere to make them all at least worthwhile. Brownrigg's sophomore directorial effort would be 1974's Poor White Trash II (aka - Scum Of The Earth), a wonderfully sleazy, oppressive and unnerving tale of prowling psychopaths and redneck incest set in the sweltering darkness of the Louisiana Bayou. Easily Brownrigg's best effort Poor White Trash II stands as one of the most purely effective and underrated of the many Southern shockers released in the wake of Tobe Hooper's classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Brownrigg's third and penultimate horror film Don't Open The Door!, despite having its good points and a plot which predated Fred Walton's cult classic When A Stranger Calls (1979) by several years, was a step down from his previous efforts and failed to make the same impact on the Southern drive-in circuit.
Seemingly discouraged, Brownrigg would depart from the world of exploitation filmmaking, but not before directing one final horror effort, his 1976 genre swan song the wonderfully entitled Keep My Grave Open. Telling a typical Brownrigg tale of southern fried murder and madness Keep My Grave Open has become the most obscure of the Texan directors horror quartet, vanishing into obscurity following its initial release. Ironically Brownrigg himself would suffer a similar fate, despite eventually returning to filmmaking after a decade long break with the sex comedy Thinkin' Big (1986) he would never return to the horror genre, which in the opinion of this writer is a real shame.
Keep My Grave Open begins with a hitch-hiking tramp (Thurman) arriving in a small, isolated southern town. At nightfall he visits a seemingly deserted mansion and upon finding no one at home helps himself to the contents of the refrigerator then leaves. Later that night the unfortunate man is brutally killed by a homicidal maniac who wields a sword.
Following this the viewer is introduced to the mansions owner, attractive spinster Lesley Fontaine (Carr) who dedicates her entire life to the well being of a mysterious individual named Kevin, who is never seen by anyone else in town and may be her husband or possibly her brother. It soon becomes clear that Kevin is nothing more than a figment of Lesley's troubled imagination. Despite the pleas of Dr Emerson (Ross), Lesley refuses to seek psychological help and continues to slide into insanity. Meanwhile the sword-wielding killer is still at large, stealthily claiming several more unwitting victims. Could there be a possible link between Lesley's warped, sexually charged obsession with the non-existent Kevin and this brutal spate of murders?
Although it remains a step behind both Don't Look In The Basement! and Poor White Trash II, Brownrigg's final foray into the world of low budget horror still contains enough in the way of effective moments, unique atmosphere are surprisingly good performances to ensure that it at least winds up being more than the sum of its parts. Brownrigg succeeds in grabbing the viewers attention from the outset, beginning Keep My Grave Open with a startling extended opening sequence in which a transient hitch-hiker is murdered. Scenes of said bum snooping around the seemingly deserted, darkened mansion crackle with menace and Brownrigg caps off his effective curtain raiser with a rather bluntly executed but well-timed shock as the hitch-hiker is run through by the blade of the mysterious swordsman.
Following this Keep My Grave Open to all intents and purposes settles down into a twisted character piece held together by the powerhouse performance of leading lady Camilla Carr as the severely troubled Lesley Fontaine. Carr had previously acquitted herself well in character roles in Brownrigg's earlier Don't Look In The Basement! and Poor White Trash II and clearly relishes the opportunity afforded her to take centre stage in Keep My Grave Open. Indeed, her deliberately overwrought performance is nothing short of superb as she regularly erupts into unnerving outbursts of schizoid rage whilst conversing with the clearly imaginary Kevin. A fragile, obviously disturbed young woman who appears to teeter constantly upon the brink of insanity, Lesley Fontaine makes for an atypical yet highly engaging central female protagonist.
Carr also receives able support from fellow Brownrigg movie regular Gene Ross as Lesley's understandably concerned general practitioner Dr Emerson. However, it must be said that following Ross' exceptional portrayal or redneck miscreant Odis Pickett in Brownigg's Poor White Trash II, his talents seem rather wasted in this comparatively tame role. Elsewhere prolific American film and television character actor Stephen Tobolowsky enters a creditable debut appearance as Lesley's shy stable boy Robert, who is clearly perturbed by his demented employer's irrational behaviour.
Despite the relative thinness of the films narrative Brownrigg, to his credit, succeeds in maintaining viewer interest by crafting and maintaining a powerful and highly distinctive sense of offbeat, haunting melancholy which hangs over the film like a thick atmospheric fog. Additionally Brownrigg also delivers a number of accomplished set pieces. The most notable of these is a taut sequence in which Robert's promiscuous girlfriend Suzie (played by Ann Stafford, yet another Brownrigg regular) is trapped inside a small wooden cabin by the sword-wielding killer who then proceeds to repeatedly plunge the blade through the walls in an attempt to impale her. This is a tense and well executed set piece with a bloody (if obvious) pay-off, although its effect is undermined somewhat by the rather convenient manner in which Stafford is required the position herself so that the killer can deliver the death blow.
Although Brownrigg does deliver the occasional modestly gory sword slaying, Keep My Grave Open is still ultimately a character study at heart and as such the films focus is for the most part placed squarely upon the troubled behaviour of Lesley, with a particular emphasis on her warped sexuality. This leads to several memorably sleazy scenes starting with a stylishly shot sequence in which Lesley dons heavy make-up in order to seduce Kevin. This leads into something of an exploitation first in the shape of a masturbation scene shot rather uniquely from the would be POV perspective of Lesley's imaginary lover. Despite featuring no actual nudity this sequence succeeds in being both strangely erotic yet unnerving thanks both to the imaginative manner in which it is shot but also the deliberate ongoing ambiguity as to whether Kevin is Lesley's husband or her brother. The scary weirdness is then cranked up a further notch as Brownrigg immediately follows this with Lesley's attempted seduction of a clearly petrified Robert. Carr is nothing short of magnificent here, fixing her hapless young would be lover with the kind of gaze which would send any halfway sane man running for the hills.
However, despite Brownrigg's strong handling of both atmosphere and characterisation, Keep My Grave Open is not a film without its flaws. Indeed, the films deliberately slow pace and heavy emphasis upon central character development and crafting a sombre, oppressive atmosphere are not likely to endear it to those expecting a more straightforward exploitation shocker. So while Keep My Grave Open holds much appeal for those in search of moody, offbeat seventies horror, more casual viewers are perhaps liable to be chased off by the many lyrical yet uneventful scenes of Carr rolling her eyes and generally going out of her mind. What proves to be a more pertinent and less subjective problem however, is Brownrigg's failure or refusal to fashion any semblance of mystery around the identity of the films mysterious sword-wielding killer. Indeed, it becomes plainly obvious from an early stage that the much talked about Kevin is merely a figment of Lesley's increasingly demented imagination and as a result the eventual revelation of the killers identity far from coming as a shock, instead merely confirms what the viewer has no doubt already surmised in the first fifteen minutes. Nevertheless, Brownrigg's decision to finally reveal the killer on the hour mark is mystifying as it leads the narrative with nowhere to go in its final third and results in Keep My Grave Open concluding on a rather flat note. This is only exacerbated by the inclusion of a twist epilogue, which makes no real sense at all.
Given that Keep My Grave Open would turn out to be Brownrigg's final foray into the world of low budget independent horror, it is perhaps something of a shame that he doesn't manage to conjure up yet another underrated gem on a par with either Don't Look In The Basement! or Poor White Trash II. Indeed, with its deliberately slow pace and emphasis upon mood and characterisation Keep My Grave Open is an acquired taste unlikely to appeal to those seeking more a more direct seventies exploitation effort, a fact compounded by Brownrigg's refusal to craft any mystery around the true identity of the films killer. However, for the more patient and open-minded viewer Keep My Grave Open weighs in as an interesting, unique and mildly rewarding effort. Despite its shortcomings Keep My Grave Open is a disarmingly accomplished and distinctive tale of growing madness and warped sexuality which benefits from a strong, haunting atmosphere and an exceptionally good central performance. So while Brownrigg's final horror film is not another unsung classic, it certainly stands out from the seventies exploitation crowd as a moody, strangely lyrical and often compelling little oddity, you have to give it that at least.
Also Try... Don't Look In The Basement / Poor White Trash II / Don't Open The Door! / The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974, Tobe Hooper) / Love Me Deadly / Axe / Demented / The Child (1977, Robert Voskanian) / Die, Sister Die! / Pigs / Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural.
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