The Creeping Flesh

The Creeping Flesh
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Freddie Francis
Produced by	Michael P. Redbourn
Written by	Peter Spenceley Jonathan Rumbold
Starring	Christopher Lee Peter Cushing Lorna Heilbron Jenny Runacre George Benson Kenneth J. Warren
Music by	Paul Ferris
Cinematography	Norman Warwick
Edited by	Oswald Hafenrichter
Production company	World Film Services
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	1973 (United Kingdom) February 12, 1973 (United States)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The Creeping Flesh is a 1973 British horror film. The film was directed by Freddie Francis, and stars Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and Lorna Heilbron.

Prof. Emmanuel Hildern (Peter Cushing), a Victorian era scientist is shown in what appears to be a laboratory meeting a young doctor. Hildern excitedly tells the doctor that he needs help because he has discovered a form of evil that is real, a living being, and that he has unwittingly unleashed the evil thousands of years too soon. Hildern then recounts how his discovery was made.

In a flashback, Hildern recounts his return in 1894 from an expedition to New Guinea where he has discovered an abnormally large humanoid skeleton. Paradoxically, the skeleton is far older than previously recovered specimens, but also much more advanced. Hildern hopes the discovery will earn him the prestigious Richter Prize. Hildern has little time to rejoice before receiving word that his wife, institutionalized for years, has finally died. This he learns from his brother James Hildern (Christopher Lee) who runs the asylum where Hildern’s wife had been held in secret. While visiting the asylum, James tells his brother that he made a psychiatric study of Hildern’s wife and plans to publish the findings in the hope of winning the Richter Prize. He also tells Hildern that he will no longer subsidize Hildern’s expeditions.

Returning home and to the skeleton, and with a new urgency to complete his research, Hildern discovers that the skeleton grows flesh when exposed to water. Hildern reviews myths of ancient peoples of the region where the skeleton was discovered, which tell of evil giants who will be roused by rain. Hildern theorizes that the skeleton is the remains of one of those evil beings, and would not have been discovered before for thousands of years of erosion revealed its resting place. By that time, the science of the region’s inhabitants would have grown sophisticated enough to deal with the evil. Hildern makes a further conclusion - if evil can live as an organism, then it can be biologically contained and eradicated like a disease. Using cells formed around the skeleton’s fleshy finger - which Hildern removes - he develops what he believes to be a serum against evil. Testing the serum on a monkey, Hildern notes positive results.

Meanwhile, Hildern’s daughter Penelope learns of her mother’s death. Having been told for years that her mother was dead, Penelope reacts with shock when learning that her mother had been alive and institutionalized all that time. Worried that Penelope's emotional outburst may be a sign that she has inherited her mother's insanity, Hildern injects her with the serum.