Deadly Advice – 1993 | 86mins | Black-Comedy | Colour

Plot Synopsis

A mildly amusing study in the gentle art of murder in this sub-Ealing black comedy. There’s something of a ‘tv’ film’ feel to the direction but that’s hardly surprising given it was BBC tv director Mandie Fletcher’s first and only feature film – she’d previously directed episodes of Blackadder II and III so was perhaps well suited to the darkly humorous material. Jane Horrocks’s performance won her the Best Actress award at the 1994 Catalonian International Film Festival. Horrocks is supported by a number of distinguished actors who produce a typically English blend of macabre farce and naive charm.

Welsh librarian Jodie Greenwood (Jane Horrocks) and her sister Beth (Imelda Staunton) live with their dreadfully domineering mother Iris (Brenda Fricker) in the cosy country town of Hay-on-Wye. The introverted and somewhat unbalanced Jodie has romantic feelings for Dr. Ted Phillips (Jonathan Pryce), a local physician, while Beth has become involved with a hunky male stripper, but both sisters feel hampered in their relationships by their mothers constant interfering. Jodie discovers a book on great British murderers – and this sparks a fantasy visit from the ghost of Major Herbert Armstrong (Edward Woodward), a locally infamous man who murdered his wife. Jodie begins to collect a whole new set of imaginary friends when another ghost arrives in the shape of murderess Kate Webster (Billie Whitelaw): The two knowledgeable and inventive spooks draw on their vast experience to offer Jodie the required deadly advice on how to achieve personal freedom by despatching with her troublesome mother. Jodie subsequently kills her mother, and with Beth’s help they dispose of the corpse in a nearby lake.

However, bad blood arises between the two sisters when Jodie takes a shine to Beth’s hunky Chippendale boyfriend. With her sister now becoming a problematic, Jodie has a nocturnal visit from well-known murderer Dr. Crippen (Hywel Bennett), and Jodie is inspired to pick up the hatchet once again and do away with Beth. Unfortunately, yet more people stand between Jodie and married bliss – and as a consequence the rogues gallery is bolstered by the arrival of A-List luminary Jack the Ripper (John Mills) to aid the rising body count. By the conclusion she has despatched of all those in her way, beaten a murder case against her in court and married the man of her dreams. Regrettably, the remaining quartet of ghost’s sense their services may be required once more.