James Kenelm Clarke, an influential director and writer, made a significant impact on the cult film landscape with his work in the 1970s. He helmed and penned House on Straw Hill (1976), a film that exemplifies the era's provocative style and themes. Clarke also directed and wrote Hardcore (1977), further cementing his role in the exploration of adult-oriented narratives within the exploitation genre. His films continue to resonate with fans of grindhouse and exploitation cinema, showcasing a unique vision that challenges conventional storytelling.
House on Straw Hill
A novelist (Udo Kier) hires a quiet British country house so that he can work on finishing his latest novel. His agent arranges for a secretary to stay with him, in order to speed up its completion (played by Linda Hayden). However, this turns out to be a big mistake when she reveals that she has actually come to kill him for stealing the manuscript for his last novel from her husband, which drove him to suicide. The housekeeper, Kier’s girlfriend (played by 70’s sex superstar Fiona Richmond) and 2 local thugs all meet horrific ends as Hayden goes on her killing spree. Paul Martin (Udo Kier who starred in Flesh for Frankenstein and Story of O) is a paranoid novelist who rents out a secluded cottage in the British countryside in order to complete his new book, a pretentious sex romp. He has split with his girlfriend Suzanne (Richmond) and is having problems writing his book. To do the typing for him, he employs a secretary, Linda Hindstatt (Hayden), whom he meets at the railway station. A couple of youths at the railway station intimidate Linda, prompting Paul to give them a battering. Afterwards, Linda takes a walk in a field where she is raped by the youths. As a result, she shoots them both dead. Meanwhile, Paul keeps having nightmares and all his advances on Linda are rejected. He gets Suzanne to come back and she begins having sex with Linda. Paul then crashes into a river, while Suzanne is murdered in the bathtub and everything erupts into a pandemonium of violence. A novelist (Udo Kier) hires a quiet British country house so that he can work on finishing his latest novel. His agent arranges for a secretary to stay with him, in order to speed up its completion (played by Linda Hayden). However, this turns out to be a big mistake when she reveals that she has actually come to kill him for stealing the manuscript for his last novel from her husband, which drove him to suicide. The housekeeper, Kier's girlfriend (played by 70's sex superstar Fiona Richmond) and 2 local thugs all meet horrific ends as Hayden goes on her killing spree. "The house on Straw Hill" is a suspense thriller with a lot of blood and oniric sexual scenes with calculated violence and slowly intimate moments. No-one knows the reasons of the characters, specially Udo Kier -a paranoid writer with blood nightmares- and Lynda Hayden -a mysterious secretary with bad intentions-. The music, the splendid locations and the beautiful photography of the woods and the manor in Hatfield Peverel is the basic attraction of this horrific and erotic film banned in United Kingdom. Lynda Hayden has her moments as a killer female character and a very sexual presence described by the filmmaker around the movie. Udo Kier, in their best moments before -he did "Story of O" in the same year- is vulnerable and caothic as a worried writer obsessed with finishing their second novel and their traumas. A very recommended production for fans of horror movies in the seventies.
