December 5, 2013 20:58
For today’s entry in the 44 Days of Paranoia, we take a look at one of my favorites of the old school British horror films, 1970’s Scream and Scream Again.
Taking place in the near future, Scream and Scream Again follows three seemingly unconnected stories.
In the first — and, to me, the most disturbing — story, an unnamed London man collapses while out jogging. When he wakes up, he finds himself in a hospital. He is tended to by a nurse who refuses to speak to him. Whenever he falls asleep, his limbs are surgically removed one-by-one. While we never learn much about the man, his scenes are perhaps the most difficult to watch. Everything from the starkness of the hospital to the nurse’s lack of concern and empathy for her patient contributes towards making these some of the most genuinely nightmarish scenes that I’ve ever seen.
While the unnamed jogger is being slowly taken apart, the London police are far more interested in solving the “Vampire Killer” case. Keith (Michael Gothard) is a serial killer who picks up young women in nightclubs and then drinks their blood. When, after an exciting chase, the police finally do catch him, they attempt to handcuff Keith to a car bumper. Keith responds by ripping off his own hand and running into the night. The investigation into Keith eventually leads to an eminent scientist named Dr. Browning (Vincent Price). However, Fremont (Christopher Lee), the head of the British secret service, orders the police to drop the case because Browning is apparently doing very important work for the government.
Meanwhile, in an unnamed country in Eastern Europe, secret police officer Konratz (Marshall Jones) ruthlessly climbs his way to the top of the service by murdering his superiors (including Peter Cushing). When a British spy is captured in his country, Konratz contacts Fremont and offers to exchange the spy for all the information that Scotland Yard has gathered about the Vampire Killer case…
Perhaps the best way to describe Scream and Scream Again would be “joyfully chaotic.” The film’s three separate storylines do all come together during the final ten minutes and the film’s climax does make a lot more sense than it really has any right to but, up until that moment, a lot of the pleasure from Scream and Scream Again comes from seeing just how many different plots and subplots director Gordon Hessler can juggle in one film without losing the audience. Fortunately, Scream and Scream Again is a wonderfully entertaining horror/sci-fi/conspiracy hybrid, one that remains compulsively watchable despite the fact that it often doesn’t make much sense.
Of course, one of the main reasons to see Scream and Scream Again is because it features three icons of horror cinema. Unfortunately, Cushing isn’t on-screen long enough to make much of an impression while Lee basically just has an extended cameo. Vincent Price doesn’t show up until fairly late into the film but once he does, he wastes no time in making an impression. Even by the standard of Vincent Price, his performance in this film is a bit over-the-top.
But you know what?
It’s exactly the performance that this film needs. The film itself is so joyfully chaotic and disjointed that Price fits right in. The triumph of Scream and Scream Again is that it creates (and makes us believe in) a world where it only makes sense that the final solution would lie with Vincent Price.
Finally, Scream and Scream Again serves as a wonderful time capsule for those of us who may be fascinated by the swinging 60s and 70s but, as a result of being born a few decades too late, will never get a chance to experience them firsthand. For us, Scream and Scream Again will always be worth it for the scenes of Keith getting his mod on at a London discotheque.
Scream and Scream Again is a film that everyone should see at least once in their life. Just don’t go jogging afterwards…
Other Entries In The 44 Days of Paranoia
Posted by Lisa Marie Bowman
Categories: Film, Film Review
Tags: 44 Days of Paranoia, Christopher Lee, Film, Gordon Hessler, Lisa Marie Bowman, Michael Gothard, movie, Peter Cushing, review, Scream and Scream Again, Vincent Price
Mobile Site | Full Site
Get a free blog at WordPress.com Theme: WordPress Mobile Edition by Alex King.
[…] Scream and Scream Again […]
LikeLike
By 44 Days of Paranoia #36: The Fugitive (dir by Andrew Davis) | Through the Shattered Lens on January 3, 2014 at 05:01
[…] Scream and Scream Again […]
LikeLike
By Christopher Lee, R.I.P. | Through the Shattered Lens on June 12, 2015 at 11:43
[…] paranoia, and domestic drama, it also reminded me a bit of the classic British horror film, Scream and Scream Again. Much like that film, Subject 0 demands a little patience. Not all of its mysteries are […]
LikeLike
By The TSL’s Daily Horror Grindhouse: Subject 0: Shattered Memories (dir by Tiziano Cella) | Through the Shattered Lens on October 19, 2016 at 18:40
[…] Scream and Scream Again (1969) […]
LikeLike
By Lisa Marie’s Week In Review: 5/25/20 — 5/31/20 | Through the Shattered Lens on May 31, 2020 at 21:00
[…] Scream and Scream Again (1970) […]
LikeLike
By Lisa’s Week In Review: 10/5/20 — 10/11/20 | Through the Shattered Lens on October 11, 2020 at 23:01
[…] actors! And, if you want to watch a movie with all three of them at their best, might I suggest Scream and Scream Again? It’s my […]
LikeLike
By The Shattered Lens Honors The Birth of Three Icons | Through the Shattered Lens on May 27, 2021 at 12:23
[…] Scream and Scream Again (1970) […]
LikeLike
By Lisa Marie’s Week In Review: 10/28/24 — 11/3/24 | Through the Shattered Lens on November 3, 2024 at 22:02
[…] Amicus Productions was responsible for some classic films of their own. One of my favorites is Scream and Scream Again (1970), which manages to be a horror film, a science fiction film, and a conspiracy thriller all in one. […]
LikeLike
By 20 Horror Movies For The Weekend (10/10/25) | Through the Shattered Lens on October 10, 2025 at 03:58