Shanks (1974) – Nostalgia Central

Malcolm Shanks (world-renowned mime Marcel Marceau in his first starring role in a feature film) is a sad and lonely deaf mute living with his cruel sister (Tsilla Chelton) and her boozing husband (Philippe Clay), who are cruel to him and delight in abusing him.

His only pleasure is making puppets and putting on shows for the children in his town.

Thanks to his skill, he is offered a job as an assistant to Old Walker (also Marcel Marceau), an eccentric and elderly scientist who is working on strange experiments to re-animate the dead bodies of animals by inserting electrodes at key nerve points and manipulating the bodies as if they were on strings.

When the old man suddenly dies one night, Shanks decides to apply his experimental results to a human body, and then to start exacting some revenge.

Soon, he’s killed his brother-in-law by sending a reanimated chicken after him, and forced his sister into traffic.

They become his marionettes, and he uses them to buy groceries and provide service and entertainment at a birthday dinner for him and his young friend Celia (Cindy Eilbacher, pictured) – who seems only vaguely disturbed that her friend has killed two people and brought them back to life.

A biker gang attacks the picnic – forcing Shanks to make the puppets do things he’d never want them to do – and one of the gang members assaults and kills Celia.

Shanks then decimates everyone and brings Celia back to life for one more dance before awakening from his dream.

The film itself has rightly been described as one of the strangest ever made.

Malcolm Shanks/Old Walker
Marcel Marceau
Mrs Barton
Tsilla Chelton
Mr Barton
Philippe Clay
Celia
Cindy Eilbacher
Mata Hari
Helena Kallianiotes
Napoleon 
Larry Bishop
Einstein 
Don Calfa
Goliath
Biff Manard
Genghis Khan
Mondo
Policeman
Read Morgan
Grocer
William Castle
Beethoven 
Phil Adams
Little Girl
Lara Wing

Director
William Castle

Video