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Cradle of Fear is an unrated, direct-to-video horror
offering made in the UK. I could discover no reason at all for the
title. It is a collection of four different episodes, linked
together by an imprisoned rapist/molester/serial killer, who is
using an evil angel to extract revenge on relatives of those who put
him away. It would be more accurately described as one extreme scene
of gore after another, punctuated with the odd breast, and the F
word at least three times in every sentence.
Plot Summary and Complete Spoiler
First, we see an actress credited as Emily Bouffante, actually Emily
Booth, pick up a guy at a Goth club, and take him home. He turns
into some sort of monster, and performs unspeakable acts on her
naked body. She then showers, and goes to have a sleepover with her
girlfriend. She wakes up in the middle of the night to find a
creature in her womb tearing her and her girlfriend apart. Or maybe
it is her with a pair of scissors, or perhaps both. We then meet the
head detective, who introduces the character of the serial killer.
Then we see the serial killer go to great lengths to create a
written message about the next deaths and to get the note to his
evil angel. Why the evil angel doesn't just ask him is never
explained, although the evil angel can appear and disappear anywhere
else in the film at will.
The next two victims are burglars, and probably lesbian lovers. They
break into an apartment, firmly believing that there is a large sum
of cash there to be stolen. There is, but there is also a deaf guy
sleeping in the bed that they find the money under, so they beat him
to death, and then jump into his bath tub together. When Emma Rice
admits to Rebecca Eden that her sister knows what they are up to,
Eden kills Rice, then goes home with the cash. The ghosts of Rice
and the dead deaf guy then show up and kill her.
The next couple are wealthy, but have a problem. He has only one
leg, and that makes him impotent, so he steals a leg from a friend
and has it grafted on. The leg gets even by killing his wife in a
car crash. The husband then stabs himself to death trying to rid
himself of the evil leg. The evil angel shows up to kill at least
one of the investigating cops as well, because ... well, because
he's an evil angel, dammit!
The final story concerns the son of the detective, who researches
evil web content. This pursuit completely corrupts him. He
brutalizes his girl friend. Her reaction? She quits her job and
tells nobody. He then discovers the ultimate evil web site, where,
at least until your credit card gives out, you can cause actually
pain, injury and even death to victims. He goes broke enjoying the
fun at this site, and then goes looking for it, only to become the
next victim, when the obligatory evil dwarf tricks him.
The detective finally decides to kill the incarcerated serial killer
to put a stop to it. He shoots him a couple times just for fun, the
guards restrain him, he regains consciousness, blows the head off of
the evil angel, and kills the serial killer. The evil angel then
kills him.
End Spoilers
In addition to the cheesy plot full of holes, The film features
terrible acting, annoying lighting effects such as strobes, and
gawdawful music at the threshold of pain. Specialty reviewers
praised it as the first British horror film to actually deliver. If
gore is your idea of a horror film, you will probably feel the same
way. The effects are mostly effective, and having four stories
helped reduce the boredom factor in the 120 minute effort.
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