The Silent Scream (1979)

Scotty moves into Mrs. Engels' seaside mansion where three other college students are boarding. Mrs. Engels prefers to stay in her room in the attic, but her son Mason helps the students ... See full summary »

Director:

Denny Harris

Writers:

Ken Wheat, Jim Wheat,

Stars:

Rebecca Balding, Cameron Mitchell, Avery Schreiber

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rebecca Balding	...	Scotty Parker
Cameron Mitchell	...	Lt. Sandy McGiver
Avery Schreiber	...	Sgt. Manny Ruggin
Barbara Steele	...	Victoria Engels
Steve Doubet	...	Jack Towne
Brad Rearden	...	Mason Engels
John Widelock	...	Peter Ransom
Jack Stryker	...	Police Chief
Thelma Pelish	...	Housing Lady
Tina Tyler	...	Victoria at 16
Yvonne De Carlo	...	Mrs. Engels
Juli Andelman	...	Doris Prichart
Annabella Price	...	TV Rape Victim
Joe Pronto	...	TV Rapist
Jason Zahler	...	Mason at 3

Storyline

Scotty moves into Mrs. Engels' seaside mansion where three other college students are boarding. Mrs. Engels prefers to stay in her room in the attic, but her son Mason helps the students get settled. Soon one of the students is killed. The policemen on the case begin uncovering the Engels family secret as the remaining students become endangered.

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Plot Keywords:

student | attic | college student | mute character | slasher | 

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Taglines:

Terror so sudden there is no time to scream.

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 August 1980 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Silent Scream

Filming Locations:

Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Denny Harris

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Barbara Steele took the role of Victoria because it afforded her a rare opportunity to play a mute character. Her scenes were shot in four days.

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Goofs

As she does laundry in the basement, Doris's shirt changes from pale to bright yellow. The filmmakers couldn't match the color during re-shoots.

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Connections

Featured in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Classics from the Vault: Women in Danger (2011)

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Soundtracks

"I Love You Baby, Oh Baby I Do"
Words and Music by Roger Kellaway
Vocal Solo by Ken Barrie

User Reviews

A 'cut above' the usual slasher.

Four college-bound students arrive too late for on-campus housing and are then forced to rent rooms in the creepy old hilltop mansion inhabited by a weird family hiding a dark and disturbing secret. Yvonne De Carlo is the mysterious matriarch who always stays upstairs and always seems to be guarding the attic, and Brad Rearden is her strange son. Cameron Mitchell and Avery Schreiber are detectives called in to investigate when a brutal murder occurs at the eerie place. There's also a nice role for sixties scream queen Barbara Steele. I"ll admit, before I actually saw the film I thought, considering the release date and R rating, that this was just going to be another one of those bloody teen slasher flicks. I couldn't have been more wrong! There actually is a plot, a surprisingly low body count, and even the few characters that do get knocked off are appealing in their own strange way, so you can't help but care what happens to these people. And above all, there is some terrific suspense sequences. It usually takes alot to get my adrenaline running, but at some points in the film, I literally jumped out of my seat! Any horror movie that can do this for me is truly something special. It appears to have been made on a small budget, but the cast handles it all so professionally that it hardly matters. Indeed, there are some real professionals involved, including horror mavens Barbara Steele and Yvonne DeCarlo. Unfortunately, it's a tough movie to find and not likely to be sitting on the shelf of your local retail/rental store, but it's well worth the extra effort.