Born in 1939 in Brighton, Sussex, Pete Walker is responsible for such memorable horror and sexploitation films as Die Screaming, Marianne, House of Mortal Sin, House of Whipcord, Schizo, The Comeback, House of the Long Shadows, and - my own personal favourite - Frightmare.

Walker's films often featured sadistic authority figures, such as prison warders, priests or judges, with chilling tendencies to brutally punish anyone - especially young women - who dares to defy their strict regimes of discipline. However, despite what some people have been lead to believe from the militarian nature of these productions, Walker has categorically denied there being any political undertones to his films.

Because of the speed with which he had to make his films, Walker often used the same reliable actors, including Andrew Sachs and Sheila Keith (who has often been described as a "distaff Karloff") the latter playing memorably cold-hearted villainesses in four of Walker's pictures.

Although Walker's movies have never undergone a critical reappraisal in the same way as Hammer films or his American contemporaries Tobe Hooper and Wes Craven, the release in 2005 of a DVD boxed set of five of his films (which you can purchase below) was greeted with some favourable comments in the British national press.

When discusssing his own work, Walker has said, when asked if his films had hidden depths, "Of course they didn't. But recently I had to record commentary for the DVD releases, so I saw the films for the first time since making them, and you know what? They're not as bad as I thought. But searching for hidden meaning ... they were just films. All I wanted to do was create a bit of mischief."

You can buy all of Peter Walker's movies by clicking on the image links below (I would especially recommend Frightmare!).