Scream and Scream Again (1970)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Gordon Hessler

Writers:

Peter Saxon (novel)
Christopher Wicking (writer)

Release Date:

13 February 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Crime | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

TRIPLE DISTILLED HORROR... as powerful as a vat of boiling ACID!

Plot:

A serial killer, who drains his victims for blood is on the loose in London, the Police follow him to a house owned by an eccentric scientist.

Plot Keywords:

Scientist | Acid | Severed Hand | Dismemberment | Independent Film

Cast

Vincent Price	...	Dr. Browning
Christopher Lee	...	Fremont
Peter Cushing	...	Benedek
Alfred Marks	...	Supt.Bellaver
Christopher Matthews	...	David Sorel
Judy Huxtable	...	Sylvia
Yutte Stensgaard	...	Erika
Anthony Newlands	...	Ludwig
Julian Holloway	...	Griffin
Kenneth Benda	...	Prof. Kingsmill
Judy Bloom	...	Helen Bradford
Marshall Jones	...	Konratz
Peter Sallis	...	Schweitz
Uta Levka	...	Jane
Clifford Earl	...	Det. Sgt. Jimmy Joyce

Also Known As:

Screamer

Runtime:

USA:95 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:18 (video rating) | UK:X (original rating) | West Germany:16 (nf) | Australia:M | Finland:(Banned) (1972) | Norway:16 (1970) | Sweden:15 | USA:M (original rating) | USA:PG (certificate #22245) (re-rating) (1969)

Filming Locations:

Chertsey, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Trivia:

Vincent Price refused a stunt double for a scene where he submerges in bubbling yellow "goo".

Goofs:

Continuity: When Michael Gothard is finally apprehended, his left arm is curled up behind his head in one shot and then disappears altogether in the next.

Quotes:

Superintendent Bellaver: Smells like cheese, looks like ham...
[takes a bite of sandwich]
Superintendent Bellaver: Oh, no problem: it's chicken.

Movie Connections:

Spin off Dr. M (1990)

Soundtrack:

WHEN WE MAKE LOVE

SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN (Gordon Hessler, 1969) ***

I had missed a viewing of SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN (the title itself is fairly ludicrous, I must say) when I was a kid, shown on Italian TV as part of a one-night Vincent Price marathon. Having now watched the four AIP films made by director Gordon Hessler, I think that this is probably his best work.

It has a rather audacious non-linear narrative for a 'mainstream' horror film, though it all comes together neatly in the end. It is also the only one of the four films to take place in 'our' times –despite the old-fashioned trappings of the plot (taking in espionage in the form of dictatorial regimes with their Nazi-like villains, as well as the obligatory mad scientist and his vampiric 'creations'), the modern-day setting is indeed very appropriate and John Coquillon's typically elegant cinematography captures its essence quite well.

SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN is virtually a black comedy which, mercifully, does not descend into camp: it is quite convoluted, relatively protracted (maybe this was because I watched it back to back with THE OBLONG BOX!), but wholly likable for all that. David Whitaker's 'unusual' pop score is another major asset.

Like the earlier film, SCREAM does not take advantage of having three great horror stars together for the first time. Peter Cushing, graceful as always, does not share any scenes with Vincent Price or Christopher Lee, and indeed appears all too briefly. Price is effective as the mad scientist, even if the material itself didn't seem to inspire him all that much (he later admitted to not 'getting' it!). Lee, perhaps the most progressive-thinking horror star (let's not forget he appeared in Jess Franco's EUGENIE…THE STORY OF HER JOURNEY INTO PERVERSION that same year!), is perfectly authoritative as the true villain of the piece.

We also get an exciting if over-extended chase sequence in which Michael Gothard finds new (and highly impractical!) means of eluding the Police - in the shape of sarcastic Superintendent Bellaver who, as played with a rather heavy British accent by Alfred Marks, manages any number of amusing scenes (designed, perhaps, to relieve the audience's frustration at the many - and apparently disjointed - strands of plot going on all at once)!

The end result is patchy overall – certainly not everything in this pot-pourri of ideas works to our general satisfaction (particularly Marshall Jones' overbearing characterization of Konratz) - but the film is often ingenious and weird enough to keep one's interest at all times. In retrospect, the great Fritz Lang's (reported) appreciation of SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN is actually not very hard to understand, as the material is indeed well up his street!

Reading about the film on the Net, I came across a rather disconcerting post over at Mobius where it was stated that the print utilized for the DVD was cut. Here is the relevant quote in full:

'On SCREAM I am convinced there was extra footage in the UK theatrical release (which I saw) that has now vanished and was not restored in the MGM DVD. This consists of (a) Alfred Marks bringing down Michael Gothard in the quarry by throwing a stone that hits him on the head, which is the reason he falls down (b) at the climax, there was originally more footage and some more dialogue between Lee and Price - there is a fairly obvious music track change on the DVD where this should be.'

Is anybody here able to confirm this, or at least shed some more light on the matter?