damnation just don't have the punch they should, with most of "Beware My Brethren" coming across as a television movie that's occasionally The last difference is to the 'meat-hook scene' where one of Kenny's victims (Suzanna East) initially drowned is discovered hanging on a meat hook. Both versions play the discovery slightly different, the Derann version includes a brief shot of the girl on the meat hook as well as a second shot that zooms in on the dead girls face. The BBC version begins with an additional long shot of the dead girl, and ends on a second shot, that's actually the first shot we see of the body in the Derann version but is more drawn out. The zoom shot from the Derann version isn't included in the BBC version. In some ways Brethren is a companion piece or extension to the bleak yet crude Corruption. Hartford-Davis and scriptwriter Brian Comport evidently wanted to comment on the repression and control of organised religion but this becomes lost in the need to titillate the movie goer with topless female victims. This lessens the impact and tension of the story. However, the production design and cinematography do a tremendous amount of work in lifting the on screen value and some images linger in the mind, such as the women’s corpse found hidden in cement, and the climatic crucifixion of Magee’s character. classic serial killer fashion, share a bit more mutual attraction than the average family bond. The picture doesn't develop it, but a dash of incest

The following scene where Quinlan's body is discovered in cement, is different in the two versions. The BBC version represents this scene with two shots of nudity (the actress obviously found it hard to hold her breath). The Derann version represents it with an odd, (still photograph?) close-up on the girl's face. Birdy (Ann Todd) is a widow who's granted access to the Brethren, an Evangelical cult, to build a church inside her house. She's a devout believer, a There is certainly a fine opening scene where scenes of a girl being pursued, strangled and drowned, which is intercut with a baptism and a singer singing a hymn, where Robert Hartford-Davies cuts at appropriate points between lines like “With His blood, set me free … I know what my punishment must be/I have sinned with my every breath and my punishment must be death … And I know with my death I’ll be free.” Religious fury is slowly unfurled in 1972's "Beware My Brethren" (aka "The Fiend"), a British production that's endeavoring to wind itself up withWidow Birdy Wemys has become a devoted member of a fundamentalist fire-and-brimstone religious sect called "the Brethren", led by the charismatic Minister. Birdy has turned her sizeable home over to the Brethren for use as a church and a recruiting ground, and her son Kenny has also fallen under their spell. Kenny is a troubled individual, dominated by his overbearing mother, introverted and socially inept. He has taken the teachings of the Minister to heart, and feels repulsed by what he sees as sin, lust and temptation being openly flaunted by the young women he sees as he goes about his daily business. Films are releasing Beware My Brethren aka The Fiend on blu-ray later this month. This release has also had a new restoration so it should be the best version yet. In some ways Brethren is a companion piece or extension to the bleak yet crude Corruption… The film is as equally interesting as any of Pete Walker’s kitchen sink horror and could have easily have been directed by him. In some ways it is a forerunner to Walker’s output such as The House of Mortal Sin…” church and a citywide sprint from Kenny's latest victim, generating some tension as death draws near. It's a weird opening, but sadly, it's the last

Kenny descends into a frenzy of killing. One day at the pool, he is outraged when a young woman removes her bikini top and later follows her home to exact retribution for her Godless ways. While on his nocturnal beat he stumbles across a prostitute servicing a client, and she too is brutally despatched. Naked female bodies turn up across London in bizarre circumstances, dropping out of a cement mixer or dangling from a meat hook. of the churchgoers. While there's no choreography, Hartford-Davis stages the moment like a musical number, cutting between the performance in theThis blu-ray has had a “2K Remaster from the Original Negative”. It also includes a booklet and a matte laminate slipcase. Having recently bought a copy of the 2010 release of this lost gem, finally available fully uncut and beautifully presented in anamorphic widescreen 1.78:1 - Odeon Entertainmant ODNF162 - I can't recommend it enough. Taking into consideration the very strict censorship laws and general climate the time of it's production, it's easy to see why it was butchered and suppressed at the time of it's initial release in 1972, the Mary Whitehouse brigade would have soiled themselves collectively at the subject matter alone. And the murder scenes, whilst fairly tame compared to some in todays more enlightened times, were way out there for early 70's Britain. It's not the most polished of films, but the directing is pretty good and the acting pretty solid throughout - with a convincing enough ratio of ham, menace and believability - with the script and storyline excellent. Overall the results, particularly when taking the fairly small budget into consideration, really are very, very good indeed. Which is why I honestly think this film was years ahead of it's time.