Pete Walker (born 4 July 1939) is an English film director, writer, and producer, specializing in horror and

sexploitation A sexploitation film (or sex-exploitation film) is a class of independently produced, low-budget feature film that is generally associated with the 1960s and early 1970s, and that serves largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit s ...

films, frequently combining the two.

Biography

Walker was born on 4 July 1939 in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, England, the son of a

stand-up comic Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

Syd Walker and a

showgirl A showgirl is a female dancer or performer in a stage entertainment show intended to showcase the performer's physical attributes, typically by way of revealing clothing, toplessness, or nudity. History Showgirls date back to the late 180 ...

mother. He began his performing career as a stand-up comic while a teenager, but quit at age 19. Walker made films such as ''

Die Screaming, Marianne ''Die Screaming, Marianne'' (also ''Die, Beautiful Marianne'') is a 1971 British thriller film produced and directed by Pete Walker (director), Pete Walker. Although Walker's films were mostly in the horror or sexploitation genres, this is a stra ...

'', ''

The Flesh and Blood Show ''The Flesh and Blood Show'' is a 1972 British slasher film directed and produced by Pete Walker, and starring Ray Brooks, Jenny Hanley, and Luan Peters. It follows a group of actors being stalked and murdered by an unseen assailant while re ...

'', ''

House of Whipcord ''House of Whipcord'' is a 1974 British exploitation horror film directed and produced by Pete Walker and starring Barbara Markham, Patrick Barr, Ray Brooks, Ann Michelle, Sheila Keith, Dorothy Gordon, Robert Tayman and Penny Irving. Plo ...

'', '' Frightmare'', ''

House of Mortal Sin ''House of Mortal Sin'' (also known as ''The Confessional'' and ''The Confessional Murders'') is a 1976 British horror slasher film directed and produced by Pete Walker. It was scripted by David McGillivray from a story by Walker. Its plot con ...

'', '' Schizo'', '' The Comeback'', and ''

House of the Long Shadows ''House of the Long Shadows'' is a 1983 British comedy horror film directed by Pete Walker. It is notable because four iconic horror film stars (Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and John Carradine) are together in one feature. The ...

''. His films often featured sadistic authority figures, such as priests or judges, punishing anyone — usually young women — who doesn't conform to their strict personal moral codes, but he has denied there being any political subtext to his films. Because of the speed with which he had to make his films, Walker often used the same reliable actors, including

Andrew Sachs Andreas Siegfried Sachs (7 April 1930 – 23 November 2016), known professionally as Andrew Sachs, was a German-born British actor and writer. He made his name on British television and found his greatest fame for his portrayal of the comical Sp ...

and

Sheila Keith Sheila Keith (9 June 1920 – 14 October 2004) was a British character actress, active in theatre, films and TV. She was born to Scottish parents in London while they were visiting the city and brought up in Aberdeen, Scotland. Longing to act, ...

, the latter playing memorable villainesses in four of Walker's pictures. Walker decided to retire from filmmaking after his last film in order to focus on buying and restoring cinemas.Hodgkinson, Will (10 March 2005).
'God, what a terrible film'
(review of The Pete Walker DVD Collection). ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. Retrieved 6 June 2020. Malcolm McLaren hired Walker to direct a documentary on

The Sex Pistols ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

entitled ''A Star Is Dead''. Walker was an unlikely choice of director for this project and the deal fell through when the band split up. Walker's work was reviled and condemned by some contemporary critics, while others were surprised to find relatively sophisticated subtexts in what were made and marketed as commercial exploitation films. Although Walker's movies have never undergone a critical reappraisal in the same way as Hammer films or his American contemporaries

Tobe Hooper Willard Tobe Hooper (; January 25, 1943 – August 26, 2017) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work in the horror film, horror genre. The British Film Institute cited Hooper as one of the most influenti ...

and

Wes Craven Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and editor. Craven has commonly been recognized as one of the greatest masters of the horror genre due to the cultural imp ...

, the release in 2005 of a DVD boxed set of five of his films was greeted with some good notices in the British national press. On his own work, Walker has said when asked if his films had hidden depths, "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."

Filmography

References

Sources

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External links

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Mondo-digital.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Pete 1939 births Living people People from Brighton English film directors Horror film directors English film producers English screenwriters English male screenwriters

Biography

Filmography

See also

References

Sources

Further reading

External links