Peter Sykes (1) (1939–2006)

A curious and disjointed horror thriller that sees a young English tourist, Paul (Simon Brent) arriving in a remote Bavarian village where he spots a strange young woman with a scar that looks like a spider on her arm. Hostile villagers warn Paul to leave but he determines to find the mysterious woman - cue folkloric legends, whispered village secrets, looted art treasures, an ex-Nazi scientist, a conspiracy to create a poisonous super-weapon and a spider-goddess. There is enough plot here for three or four movies and it shows as little of the overall narrative gels together in anything approaching a satisfactory manner. The story lurches from sequence to sequence with little explanation or coherence. Things aren't assisted by Peter Sykes' hazy, uneven direction nor by the choppy, slightly amateurish editing. Despite that "The Legend of Spider Forest" still manages to remain relatively intriguing throughout with a good underlying story trying to break out and Pater Jessop's marvellous cinematography ensuring the film is visually interesting throughout. Not the greatest slice of early '70s British horror, but probably deserves a better fate than the obscurity in which it presently languishes.… (meer)

“Demons of the Mind” (1972), is a thoughtful, virtually forgotten film from the legendary Hammer Studios. Directed by Peter Sykes and starring Robert Hardy, Patrick Magee and Michael Hordern this is a clever satire on both science and religion wrapped up in the trappings of a semi-gothic Hammer outing. Fearing a hereditary family curse of madness, Baron Zorn (Hardy) keeps his son and daughter locked up in the depths of his castle. In the nearby village young women are being murdered and the villagers are sinking into mass hysteria. Meanwhile Zorn is being treated by Falkenberg (Magee), a sadistic psychiatrist while a fevered priest (Hordern) wanders the countryside ranting. Christopher Wicking’s literate and subversive script is cleverly realised by Sykes who uses Zorn’s castle as a brilliant metaphor for madness (a role of many a house in classic horror films). The film is beautifully shot and lit with highly innovative interiors providing a strangely disorientating spectacle. The film crams in numerous (perhaps too many) controversial themes (incest, inherited madness, cod-psychology, religious fervour), while bringing a range of beautifully symbolic flourishes, such as flowers viewed through keyholes. An of-kilter, psychological horror film and an attempt to move away from their classic monsters, “Demons of the Mind” is on the face of it a very “un-Hammer” film. At the same time, however, you do have the typical Hammer period settings, costumes, forests, rivers and of course you do have the classic, hidden Hammer theme in spades - the peeling back of the placid façade of British life to reveal the madness, paganism, horror and insanity that bubbles relentlessly just below the surface.… (meer)