GB
1968
1hr 31mins
Dir: Robert Hartford-Davis
Starring: Peter Cushing and Sue Lloyd
A surgeon kills to restore the beauty of his fiancée
Some filming in this ropey horror took place around the Sussex coast, and there are some scenes filmed at both Seaford and Lewes stations. There are good shots of pre-war Southern Railway EMUs, which include 2 BIL set No.2038 arriving at Seaford on headcode 20 (should that be 28?), and 2 HAL set No.2633 departing on headcode 28, Seaford-Brighton. One of the murders then takes place on a train, and there are equally good shots filmed onboard. As Peter Cushing carries out his slaying, a shot out of the window shows an ‘All-Steel’ 2 HAL EMU passing in the opposite direction working headcode 16. Finally, the arriving train at Lewes is formed of a pair of 2 BIL units lead by set No.2084, again working headcode 28. All in all then, though the film is pretty bad, the railway scenes are pretty good.
Peter Cushing waits at Seaford station, East Sussex. The pink sort is his next unsuspecting victim, played by Valerie van Ost.
The train seen approaching in the previous shot now identifies itself as 2 BIL No.2038 but the stencil headcode looks to be wrong. It appears to read 20, which was London Victoria-Portsmouth Harbour via Mitcham Junction, but the little nicks in the middle of the ‘0’ stencil (compare with the 8 below) make one think that this is correctly showing 28, just that the centre of the 8 is dirty.
The next shot of a train leaving Seaford shows the correct headcode of 28 (Brighton-Seaford) but the EMU has changed. The train is now formed of 2 HAL set No.2633 with the driver looking back for the ‘tip’ from the guard.
This shot from a moving train caused initial confusion to the author. The houses are apparently on Ringmer Road, Falmer, which would therefore make this headcode 16 service, a Brighton-Ore via Eastbourne working. However, the type of unit was less than certain. After much deliberation, I have come to the conclusion that this an All-Steel 2 HAL, one of seven replacement sets that entered service in December 1948. They were withdrawn between October 1971 and May 1972.
This is Lewes, and a Seaford-Brighton service is arriving formed of a pair of 2 BIL units lead by set No.2084. Another change of train this maybe, yet the continuity has remained remarkably tight throughout.
The railway sequence finishes with a shot of the frontage to Lewes station
