Scream and Scream Again (1970) User Reviews

Lee, Cushing, and Price, Oh My!!

[Jerry-93 · 6/10 · 22 July 2000]

This film was released before I was born, so I don't know anything about its ad campaign, but I imagine it went something like, "Lee, Cushing, and Price: Together at Last!!" This is true: they all are in this movie, but what we have here is a movie about a bunch of pseudo-Nazis (complete with knockoff uniforms) trying to create the master race by assembling people from assorted "perfect" body parts. Price has a substantial supporting role, but Cushing and Lee have basically cameos, and none of them share any meaningful screen time. So, basically, they are together in the credits only.

Now for the movie. Yes, it has a solid plot, but the movie doesn't follow it. It mostly has to do with the police tracking one of "composite" superhumans as he goes on a rape and murder spree. This does make for two of the best moments of the movie: when the killer, handcuffed to a car bumper, tears off not only his hand to escape, but a third of his forearm. The other is when a killer falls off a mountain and barely gets a scratch.

The real highlight is the final 20 minutes, when Price explains, in classic Bad Guy fashion, the entire master race thing to the hero. Price is a great actor, but he's a terrible doctor, because 1) he puts on his own surgical gloves, and 2) contaminates them 10 seconds later. A fight ensues between Price and the head of the fake Gestapo, and that's it. I don't know if I can recommend this movie to anyone, because fans of the three horror institutions in this film will be disappointed, as will genre fans. Watch it if you're bored, or for the goofy dialogue.

Scream "I am confused!" Again

[quickwatson · 4/10 · 20 September 2019]

I saw this in 1970 at the age of 11 and was very confused. Having just rewatched it 49 years later, I'm still confused. But amused.

SPOILERS. !!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!



SSA is just as weird as I remembered. Milton Subotsky produced. It feels like a major section was just lifted out for the sake of trimming the running time, but it left the plot almost incomprehensible.

Soooo.... an unnamed European country has become a fascist state. Most of the inhabitants sound German but Cushing plays the Chancellor. He has a brief, meaningless scene of exposition about torture going too far.

England is secretly making Frankenstein-ish super beings -- called "Composites" -- with American Price as the master surgeon, out in a country mansion painted Pepto Bismol pink on the inside.

Lee is some kind of civil servant who knows about the plan, and has an uneasy alliance with the fascists. He spends a lot of time on the phone.

When one of the Composites gets loose in England, it goes on a rape and murder spree. But first he spends a lot of time checking out babes in swinging night clubs. Every Composite needs a hobby, I guess. ;) There is a "Scream & Scream Again" rock theme song played at the club.

Most of the film is devoted to local police superintendent and a doctor from the city morgue who are trying to piece the puzzle together. Mostly, they yell at each other.

There's a long car chase around 30 minutes in that eats up a lot of screen time buy never pays off.

Price turns out to not only be a mad scientist, but also one of the Composites. (How he performed an operation on himself is left unexplored.) Lee shows up at the country lab. With almost Dracula like powers, he stares Price down -- into a vat of acid. The end. Actually "it's just the beginning," Lee intones.

Scream is sort of like an Avengers episode, though not nearly as stylish. Had Robert Feust had directed, maybe Scream would be a bizarre masterpiece like Phibes. But it's just bizarre.

The Curse of Ambition

[stmichaeldet · 4/10 · 16 September 2006]

Scream and Scream Again seems to want to be a very deep and complicated film. After all, it starts out by presenting three different, and apparently unrelated, plot lines, introduces new characters seemingly at the writers whim through the run time, and seems to pride itself on a grim and "realistic" portrayal of violence and death (while still allowing itself plenty of latitude for shock sequences and super-powered antagonists). Does it all work? Well, not entirely, but I have to give it some credit for trying.

Let's start with the biggest problem I have with this film, the bait-and-switch billing. Price, Lee, and Cushing sit majestically at the top of the credits, yet get precious little screen time, virtually none of it shared. Price is a doctor/mad scientist introduced early on, and then forgotten until the film starts winding down, Cushing has one scene and then dies, and Lee isn't even introduced until late in the film, where he serves as a plot device to tie everything together and wrap up.

Then there's the whole three-plot lines thing. The bulk of the film follows a police inspector on the trail of a psychotic, blood drinking, super-strong serial killer. (Gee, could he be a vampire? Ummmm... well, no.) Alongside that we have the story of a spy for some unnamed, oppressive regime. The over-the-top tone of these scenes clashes with the more mannered presentation of the inspector's story. The costumes and sets suggest a combination of Stalinist Russia, Nazi Germany, and rampant Satanism. (Sure, the symbol displayed on armbands, banners, windows, and any other available surface is probably supposed to evoke the bundled arrows of fascism, but it looks more like the head of a demonic pitchfork to me.) Then we have a series of scenes about a man who collapses while out jogging, and finds himself in a hospital room, where he is kept sedated most of the time while his limbs are gradually stolen in off-camera surgeries. None of this seems connected in any way until the end, when the true plot is revealed, and turns out to be something not particularly suggested by anything in the film up to that point.

Theoretically, this movie could still have worked, and if they had pulled it off, it might have been quite clever. But, even beyond the mismatched feel of the three plot lines, there are other problems which make SaSA feel like several different films forced to share one screen. The inspector becomes irrelevant to his own plot once things get rolling, his leading-man status usurped by the young assistant coroner, who was no more than a minor player for the whole first half of the film. The psycho leaves a nightclub with his latest victim, just in time to go out for "one last drink," and is followed and eventually chased by the police... in broad daylight. Apparently, the bars in England close much earlier than I thought. Add in an unnecessary shock scene or two (like the evil spy's interrogation of a pretty would-be defector, which doesn't seem to have any connection to the rest of the film), and you're starting to make a real mess of things.

Still, the resolution, while coming out of left field, does do a reasonable job of tying things together. But I still cannot recommend this film, mainly because I still feel cheated at the under-utilization of three of the greatest horror actors of all time.

Weird, uneven, bizarre, but never boring

[squeezebox · 9 October 2003]

Gordon Hessler was not all that great a director. He wasn't particularly good at setting up interesting shots or getting good performances out of his actors, but occasionally he managed by default to create a movie that was so completely off-the-wall and bizarre that those shortcomings could be forgotten.

SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN is a good example of that. It is by no means a good movie; in fact, it's really pretty bad. But you literally have no idea where it's headed, and by the time you get there, even though it's a tad underwhelming, it's still just oddball enough to keep you hooked.

Basically, it's the story of a serial killer who preys on bar-hopping women, and who, incidentally, seems to have superpowers of some sort. Or, maybe it's the story of a military conspiracy of some sort? Or is it the story of some kind of body parts black market? Believe it or not, all these seemingly unrelated plotlines eventually come together, and it's a wacky ride all the way.

The biggest disappointment for me, is the scarce screen time of headliners Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. They literally have less than twenty minutes of screen time combined, and only Lee and Price even appear together, in one very brief scene. The main characters seem to be a disgruntled Scotland Yard detective, and a younger, less cynical police officer.

I recommend this movie to any fan of AIP or any of the three horror stars, but most people will not have the patience to sit through it. Fans will enjoy it, if only for it's sheer weirdness.

A strange and dated mess of a movie that wastes the opportunity of bringing Price, Cushing & Lee together for the first time

[Colbridge · 4/10 · 16 March 2022]

With horror legends Cushing, Lee and Price in the cast you would think you'd be onto a winner here but you're not, the actors are given little to do and are barely on screen. It's also a shame these iconic actors of the genre don't appear together at any one time as this was only one of two movies where they are on the same bill, the other being The House of Long Shadows (1983).

The film mainly follows chirpy Detective Superintendent Alfred Marks on the trail of a deranged killer who has vampire like tendencies by attacking women and draining them of their blood. There's a subplot about some Nazi type organisation doing experiments on unsuspecting victims such as the runner featured in the opening titles but all in all this really is a bit of a mess as it tries to juggle espionage, science fiction and horror.

When he is on screen Vincent Price hams it up nicely but his casting seems like a fish out of water and he admitted he didn't understand what was going on in the script either. It's another example of a low budget horror produced by Corman's AIP production company, in collaboration with Amicus, set in England.

The horror is kept to a minimum, presumably for budget constraints, despite the promise of gore with the vat of acid on the poster. The annoying scenes with Amen Corner singing tepid songs in a nightclub makes this look very dated however it's a guilty pleasure if you're a fan of early 70's British horror.

"That bloody chicken wasn't killed, it died of old age."

[bensonmum2 · 7/10 · 5 February 2005]

What a bizarre movie! Scream and Scream Again is all over the place. It's a combination horror/sci-fi/mystery/espionage/thriller with sort of a James Bond twist. And it's a lot of fun.

To be honest, at the beginning of the film, I was lost. There are about four different plot lines that don't seem to have anything to do with each other. (1) There is a runner who collapses. Every time we see him after the collapse, he's in a hospital losing his limbs one at a time. (2) There is a vampire killer on the prowl in London. He attacks young women and drains them of their blood. (3) There are scenes of some fascist regime in some unknown country. The leaders of the regime are being killed one at a time. Also, people are being tortured for no apparent reason. (4) There are discussions going on in the uppermost levels of the British government that appear to have nothing to do with anything else. But, by the end of the film, most everything fits together quite nicely as a story about creating a master race.

Scream and Scream Again 'stars' Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, and Peter Cushing. I say 'stars' because Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing are barely in the movie. In fact, Cushing has all of about 5 minutes of screen time. Alfred Marks as Supt.Bellaver is actually the star. He's a no nonsense policeman investigating the string of murders in London. In the end though, Price takes over and is wonderful. His mad doctor routine is terrific to watch.

There are some excellent moments in the film worth mentioning. The chase scene is one of the longest I've ever seen, ending with the killer losing a hand after being handcuffed to the front of a car. Another is the fight scene at the end between Vincent Price and leader of the fascists. There are also moments of tension as when the young doctor is snooping around Vincent Price's house.

This is a movie that you have to be patient with. Trust me, it all makes sense in the end.

Cryptic, disjointed horror-thriller triptych

[jamesrupert2014 · 5/10 · 29 October 2020]

A runner keeps waking up in a hospital bed to a new horror, an unnatural serial killer with an appetite for blood murders women in London, and apparatchik in an unnamed fascist/communist state covers up research into übermensch with a deadly 'Vulcan neck pinch' - three parallel stories that are (vaguely) tied together in the final reel. Also in triplicate, iconic horror stars Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Vincent Price, who unfortunately do not add much to the film beyond marquee-value (Cushing is in little more than an extended cameo). Much of the film is a lengthy car/foot chase as the strangely unarmed (even by British standards) police pursue the vampiric serial-killer. The film has some good moments (the hospital-bed scenes, which are all I remembered from a decades-past viewing, are a nosocomephobic's nightmare), but the intriguing tripartite build-up is let down by a flat and unsatisfying ending. Not great but different and watchable for fans of 'body-horror'.

An enjoyable but disorientating pulp cocktail

[heathblair · 7/10 · 2 May 2003]

POSSIBLE SPOILERS

A British government sponsored scientific clinic run by Vincent Price is secretly producing a race of superhuman cyborgs assembled from stolen human body-parts. The cyborgs are taking over key positions of power throughout the world with a view to total domination. The superhumans' plans are threatened with exposure when one of their number flees Price's clinic and goes on a psychopathic killing spree. More mayhem ensues when a cyborg hit-man is dispatched to England from a fascistic eastern European country to eliminate all witnesses to the murders, including his former co-conspirator, Price.

If writer Chris Wicking had streamlined the above storyline, Scream And Scream Again might be regarded today as a lean, mean minor classic. Instead, the film's reputation has suffered because of a partial failure to resolve the screenplay's many intrigues; spy-planes, government cover-ups, police investigations, car chases, swinging London, transplant surgery, eugenics, and vampirism. Wicking obviously wanted to portray the intangibility and inter-connectedness of evil, but ninety minutes is scarcely time to tie all of these elements together and accommodate character development. Unfortunately, Wicking sticks rather too closely to the original book's choppy narrative (itself a result of multiple writers hacking away to produce a pulpy, patchwork, dime-store novel), and doesn't quite make it gel. Nice try though.

Christopher Matthews plays the young, inquisitive police pathologist and is the movie's nominal hero. But his character exists only to bear witness to the very small piece of the puzzle that he is a part of. He is what film critics used to call a cipher. Indeed, all of the characters are ciphers. They don't exist as properly motivated people in themselves, but rather as conduits disseminating the story's fertile ideas. It's possible to make an interesting movie in this way, but Scream And Scream Again is first and foremost a schlock exploitation film. It says "American International" on the tin, so you aren't going to get Antonioni here.

So, high art apart, is the movie any good as schlock entertainment? Sure! It possesses a fair dollop of pulp-trash energy, and its willingness to flit recklessly between locations, time-frames, and plot-points lends it a certain charm.

The casting is astute. The late Michael Gothard makes a good, eerie cyborg psychopath as he prowls groovy London discotheques in search of party-girls whom just assume he's a good-looking guy with a fast car and an Austin Powers shirt. Of course, the reality is more gruesome, and he is soon savagely murdering them and sucking their blood - although why he has vampiric tendencies is, typically, never explained. With his turns in that other super-trash magnum opus, Lifeforce, and Ken Russell's brilliant The Devils, I'm surprised Gothard doesn't have more of a cult following.

Elsewhere, Alfred Marks pretty much steals the show as the curmudgeonly cop in charge of the murder investigation. He has some nice throwaway lines (the only real character-based dialogue in the movie) that he delivers with mordant relish. Think of a British version of Walther Matthau in The Taking Of Pelham 123. Marks was a well known light-comedy actor in Britain, and appears here in one of his few film roles.

Judy Huxtable plays one of Gothard's victims in a brief and suitably unpleasant scene. A little later, Huxtable's became famous for being Peter Cook's second wife.

The movie's big selling point is the casting of Price, Cushing and Lee. All but Price have little more than extended cameos, but it's always good to see them. Some have praised Price's "serious" performance, but, to me, he is his usual quite wonderfully camp self.

My personal favourite piece of characterization is that of Konratz, the sadistic cyborg hit-man/superfascist, icily portrayed by Marshall Jones. I don't know what became of Jones, but his stint here, conveyed with minimal dialogue, is impressively charismatic and convincingly evil. His preferred method of murder is noteworthy; a lethal version of Leonard Nimoy's vulcan nerve pinch, which, in this case, seems to induce an immediate cerebral hemorrhage. In one bravura sequence, Konratz calmly waltzes into a busy police station, kills one of the major characters in a startling and gory close-up, steals some files and waltzes out again without missing a beat. A very scary fellow.

The movie's technical credits are fine. Gordon Hessler directs efficiently, indeed some of his set-ups are inspired - fairly ambitious tracking shots and some energetic hand-held shots from the POVs of killers and victims etc). Elsewhere, it's a case of point-and-shoot, probably a result of time/budget constraints. John Coquillon's cinematography takes a similar path, doing well enough with limited resources. He was to do more interesting work on Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs a few years later.

David Whittaker's riotously jazzy score seems initially to be outrageously inappropriate, then, as the narrative silliness progresses, you realise it is COMPLETELY appropriate. It's that kind of a movie. When it was re-released on video in the mid 80s, the movie had a new electronic score composed for it by Kendall Schmidt perhaps to avoid Musicians Union re-use fees. While I'm fond of Schmidt's effort, I prefer Whittaker's original. The score actually takes a more serious tone towards the denouement when Whittaker underscores the true horror of Price's laboratory with an eerie saxophone mysterioso and dissonant brass. The film might have benefited from more of that kind of scoring.

Finally, with its wild fusion of elements, Scream And Scream Again is an enjoyable gallop through late sixties paranoia. If nothing else it highlights that era's creeping fear of medical progress. This was a time when the latest advances in transplant surgery were making global news. The latent horror of these techniques, echoing Frankenstein, were to inspire other productions such as O Lucky Man, Coma, and Gerry Anderson's UFO with its organ stealing aliens. But at least Scream And Scream Again got there first.

Bizarre Horror/Sci-Fi Hybrid That Lacks Cohesion

[Theo Robertson · 4/10 · 16 August 2011]

A jogger goes for his daily run , suffers chest pains and is rushed to hospital only to find that his leg has been amputated

The above sequence takes up the title sequence and is a good opening hook . Alas however it seems mainly to function only as a hook to draw the audience in because we never find out the name of the jogger . The scenario also collapses when it's given any thought such as how lucky it is for the villains ( Or how unlucky it is for the victim ) that someone conveniently falls unconscious and needs hospital treatment in order for the plot to progress

As the story continues the more ideas are thrown in to the plot and unfortunately there's far too much plotting going on . We find ourselves in a totalitarian regime where a militarist is eliminating party rivals who stand in his way and it's never actually revealed as to whether it's a communist or fascist dictatorship . It's left ambiguous but is also unconvincing and whilst all this taking place there's a series of murders taking place in England which the press have dubbed " The vampire killings "

By the end of the movie you can just about get your head around the ideas being explored - one of a new breed of humans being created but the experiment is too premature hence replicant humans running amok but the plotting is never cohesive enough to make the premise convincing in any way . The film also suffers from scenes that are completely disposable and a lack of internal continuity . For example when a nameless character such as the jogger from the opening scene is at the mercy of the villains he is operated on without any explanation where as when it's the girlfriend of the hero the operation is delayed so the villain can explain his plan and motives to the hero T

There is an element of cheating where the marketing is concerned . You can understand that this was hyped at the time as " the movie starring Vincent Price , Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing - three legends of horror coming together in one movie " The reality is however that Cushing appears in one very short scene while Price and Lee are sidelined for most of the movie . Instead it's Alfred Marks police detective who carries the first half of the movie only for him to abruptly be written out and replaced by his sidekick

SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN isn't nearly as impressive as the sizable minority view paints it as . It's a film that does have some good ideas but unfortunately it has too many ideas none of which are meshed in to a great plot and all of them are woefully underdeveloped

SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN (Gordon Hessler, 1970) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 10 October 2004]

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 {1969}!), 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 EUGENIETHE 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?

Flawed and flawed again!...because of the cuts!

[owen-170 · 4/10 · 8 June 2015]

I remember a cinema viewing of this (the most complete version I've seen), then a TV broadcast, then a video, and in more recent years a DVD. All versions were different with scenes cut, & re-edited, plus the music variations: There is a scene with a coroner kissing a corpse before being disturbed, a scene where the hitchhiking man & woman are being tortured – especially the man. Other scenes with Alfred Marks bringing down Michael Gothard, using a weapon in the quarry & worst of all: a shortened scene involving Lee & Price talking. I'm told there are other cuts at the end too - but I can only remember what I have mentioned. Because of this & the fact a lot of these scenes have never been restored (or maybe others out there have the more complete versions), I'm afraid the forthcoming Blu-Ray could be a real letdown; unless it has an extras section. If it hasn't, what would be the point of another edited release? This movie was a big enough mishmash in the first place!

Great atmosphere, great plot, fair otherwise

[silversprdave · 8/10 · 24 December 2001]

'Scream and Scream Again' is one of my favorites, even though it is ratherly poorly put together. The director tried to make the movie mysterious -- and succeeded too well, making it nearly incomprehensible. However, if you have patience, the final explanation at the end will tie enough of the film together to make rewarding sense.

The main attraction for this movie is its subtle atmosphere of horror. The movie mainly consists of fragmented images that come to gether to paint a darker picture than just what the movie shows. A good example of the texture and flavor of the film is the scene which, to my disappointment, was removed from the version I rented (I originally saw the film in a college Halloween movie festival). A coroner while alone investigating the death of a lovely women begins to move forward as if to kiss the corpse but is interrupted by the inspector entering the room. The surprised coroner quickly straightens up and tries to look very official and busy, but obviously is upset at having almost been caught being amorous to the corpse. No further reference was made to the scene.

This is an example of the extremely dark and upsetting images that lie just beneath the surface of the film. It is unfortunate that the director's attempt to involve the audience by making them work hard to piece together fragments of action into something comprehensible was mostly unsuccessful. Still, I think the film is worth the patience. My rating: 8 of 10.

Despite Top Billing, Not Much Price To Offer

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 11 March 2011]

A killer who has a literal thirst for blood is prowling the nightclubs for fresh young victims. The police decide to set a trap to catch this man. A young policewoman poses as his new victim while wearing a wire. The killer meets the young policewoman and takes her with him to a secluded spot where he proceeds to drink her blood...

Vincent Price in interviews a number of years after the film was made, said he never understood the script at all. Not surprising, as the novel featured aliens and the film changed them to Communists (or something like that). And that is probably the least of the problems...

I mean, the choking of women and the pointless blood sucking? A jogger who is getting his legs removed? Yellow acid for some sort of research? It does not really all add up. Really sweet cars, though.

Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee appear, though not much. Heck, even Vincent Price does not really show up until the second half. But if you like these guys, do not mind waiting, and are okay with not really understanding what you are watching, check this one out.

Price, and Cushing and Lee, oh my!

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 27 June 2018]

Starring three of horror cinema's greatest icons - Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, and Christopher Lee - this rather atypical American International Pictures release consists of several seemingly disparate plot threads that director Gordon Hessler attempts to pull together in the final act, with little success, the ending almost as confusing as everything that precedes it.

The film opens with a jogger collapsing and waking up in a hospital bed where he finds that he is missing a leg! The action then cuts to an unspecified Eastern European country where Konratz (Marshall Jones) is killing his dictatorial superiors in a bid to seize power. Meanwhile, a murder investigation leads London police detective Supt. Bellaver (Alfred Marks) to the home of Dr. Browning (Vincent Price). Christopher Lee appears as Fremont, a government official who is trying to secure the release of a spy, and Cushing, in what amounts to little more than a brief cameo, plays one of those who stands in the way of Konratz's climb to the top.

While there are some decent scenes along the way, including a perilous car chase, and a killer ripping off his own hand to escape from the police, the choppy nature of the narrative and the disappointing ending make Scream and Scream Again a far from essential 70s horror, despite its trio of genre greats.

If you want to see Price, Cushing and Lee together in a good film, I recommend The House Of The Long Shadows: it's much more fun, and you get John Carradine thrown in for good measure.

You will scream again and again!

[the lioness · 21 December 2001]

This has got to be the wildest Price film ever. I saw this film for the first time recently and I was just blown.

This film tells the intricate story of an organization that's trying to take over the world by way of a superhuman race of people that are literally created. Think "Frankenstein". If I could rename this film, I'd call it "Frankenstein Meets James Bond". As a matter fact, that's the best way to describe the plot.

When you see this film, don't turn away from it because you will find yourself missing a lot. There are several plots going on simultaneously (I kid you not!). You have the crazed serial killer will a thirst for blood, the runner who keeps losing limbs and the secret organization that's afoot.

For those of you that are looking for action & horror in a fast-pace setting, you got it!

The Ultimate Film Fraud!

[ashew · 2/10 · 17 October 2006]

Rarely have I been as frustrated as I was watching this film. It is as if the producers did everything possible to ruin every last aspect of this cinematic mess. I was utterly astounded by the high praise the film received in the dozen or so IMDb reviews I read before my stomach turned and I was compelled to rebut the praise. It appears that the movie industry has so completely lowered our levels of expectation that this garbage can be praised by so many people...and not only praised, but actually referred to by one reviewer as his favorite 60's horror film?! A most depressing concept to ponder.

This movie is a fraud on all accounts. Let's start with the top of the credits. Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, and Peter Cushing. Price has approximately three scenes in the movie (the bulk of which does not occur until the last 15 minutes), Lee has two full scenes and an appearance at the end of the movie, and Cushing has ONE measly scene in the beginning of the film and is then murdered!! To lead the public to believe that they are getting three titans of horror and then pull the rug out from underneath us is absolute fraud. Not frustrating...infuriating!

Fraud number two is trying to pretend that this is a horror film. There is very little horrific about this film, other than the level of quality. The stuff that is meant to be gruesome, or shocking, is completely undermined by bad directing, bad editing, and the most inappropriate soundtrack ever! The 60's Mod music is fine for the ridiculously over-long scenes in the club (which was pathetic pandering to "fool" young people they were watching a "hip and with-it" horror movie...all it does is come across as desperation by the film makers), but to have the upbeat, swingin' music running throughout the entire film eliminates ALL of the creepy atmosphere this film is so sorely lacking.

Fraud number three is that this is an exciting film, full of action. Nope. The small bits of action neither thrill, nor horrify. There is a painfully long and boring car chase scene in the middle of the film that looks childish, even by 1970 standards...especially since this movie was released well after the gut-wrenching thrill ride in 1968's BULLITT. The other "action" scene is the fight at the end between Price and the main bad guy, which was so completely fake in every regard that it was impossible to take seriously. Even the lame attempt to titillate the audience by showing the nude breasts of a female corpse and a female "creature" came across as cheap attempts to distract from all that was lacking. And the absurd use of the Shoulder Pinch as the means used by the bad guy to kill people was pathetic, and only served to remind the viewers how it had already been done better by Leonard Nimoy...SEVERAL years earlier.

The script is atrocious, the directing idiotic, the pacing erratic, the plot absurdly convoluted for no reason, the structure annoying, and most of the acting dreadful. Lee is okay in his minuscule part, even though he has the most ambiguous, nonsensical line to end the film, which I can only imagine was meant to set up a sequel if this mess had been a success. Price, who is normally one of my favorites, is not at his best here at all. And poor Peter Cushing, who is as brilliant as they come, was the only one in the "Mystery Country" who was speaking with a British accent when the others were speaking with German accents, yet calling each other "Comrade" (?!).

The ONLY bright spot in the film is Alfred Marks, who steals the entire movie (which is quite some feat when you have Price, Lee, and Cushing in the same film!) His portrayal was superb, and the wonderful touches of humor he added to the film were a great relief from the tedium.

I was going to give this film a 1, but have decided to give it a 2 strictly for Marks' performance. There is absolutely nothing else worth recommending about this confused, childish, boring, fraudulent film.

Still a great film after 33 years

[robertmingaye14 · 6/10 · 26 July 2002]

I first saw this film when it was released in 1970.At the time it was considered very shocking.Looking at it now,compared to todays horror films,I suppose it would be considered tame.I still think it is a great example of how a shocker should be made.You never know what is going to happen next!The film has everything,non-stop action, agreat cast(including the big three-Lee,Price and Cushing),and good special effects.So take my word for it-watch and enjoy!

A confusing mess

[JoeB131 · 2/10 · 6 May 2007]

There is little to recommend this film.

First, even though it is billed as a Vincent Price/Peter Cushing/Christopher Lee film, none of these horror icons appear in the film for more than a few scenes. Personally, I hate it when a name actor puts his name on a film, and only appears in one or two scenes. It elevates a bad film to a higher level than it deserves.

Secondly, the plot is a jumbled mess, with the separate plot lines of British cops trying to catch a serial killer and a sadistic officer in a eastern block country torturing people for fun. These plot threads aren't tied together until the last ten minutes of the film, and not even well then.

Enjoyable vehicle for three horror legends that never comes together

[Groverdox · 6/10 · 27 August 2020]

"Scream and Scream Again" has three disparate plotlines for three iconic legends of horror cinema, and then fails to bring them together. The experience is fragmented and annoying, lacking any character to fix on or empathise with, jumping around so much it tires us out trying to follow along.

The first story thread, if you can really call it that, features some kind of Nazi-like military force, apparently representing an unnamed European country, who can kill people by putting their hands on the victims' shoulders, making them seize with paralysis, falling slowly backward with blood coming out of their mouths. Peter Cushing has a brief cameo in one of their scenes.

The second plotline features the efforts of police to catch a serial killer, who is played by the guy who went on to appear as the lunatic religious investigator in "The Devils". The police are totally inept and casual about their job, almost leading to the death of a girl when they just chill out waiting for the killer to begin killing, not realising that their radio mic has gone silent because, what do you know... he already has. Christopher Lee features in a couple of these scenes.

The iconic actor who really owns the movie, though only for a few scenes, is Vincent Price, however. He features in the final plotline, which also includes perhaps the movie's only memorable idea: that of a person waking up in a hospital bed repeatedly to find another of their limbs missing each time.

Christopher Lee encounters Price at the end of the movie, which seemed like an attempt to finally explain what these two (or three) plot-threads are doing in the same movie, but I didn't really get it. Apparently the novel the movie was based on was followed closely by the screenwriter, up until the end, where they left bits out. Unfortunately, it shows.

The movie was still pretty enjoyable, though.

Has its moments, but never seems to come together

[TheLittleSongbird · 4/10 · 2 January 2013]

Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, three major genre icons, were what drew me into seeing Scream and Scream Again. But I was left feeling disappointed at the end result. By all means it is not a terrible film but it never seems to really come together. It is not without its good points though, the film does look good and the score is jazzy and doesn't intrude with the atmosphere too much. The ending is also intriguing and actually makes sense, which unfortunately is more than I can say for the rest of the movie.

The three stars themselves don't disappoint, though they deserved much more screen-time than they did(as well as he played it you do question the point of Peter Cushing's character) and the fact that they are barely together- apart from Price and Lee briefly- is something that fans will consider a cheat. Christopher Lee is fine in his role, his voice not as distinctive as usual but he does very well in a role quite different to the other ones he's done in his long career. The best of the three though is Vincent Price, while in more straightforward role he still manages to bring a great deal of dignity and class to the film.

Alfred Marks though was just alright, for me this said alright is not enough to carry a movie, particularly how he and his character were so abruptly written out. And sadly, I can't praise Scream and Scream Again any further. Gordon Hessler directs in a rather routine fashion, while the characters are not written or developed enough to really shine or make us care for them. The gore to me looked very tacky and cheap, and while with the ending the high points of the story the chase and fight sequences could also be seen as on the cartoonish and artificial side. The script is also a bunch of nonsense, with some of the more humorous parts jarring with the tone.

Where Scream and Scream Again is particularly hurt is in its story, an example of an intriguing idea executed poorly. The constant jumping around from one genre theme to another and the numerous plot strands that are all over the place make it structurally incomprehensible with the sense that it doesn't know what kind of film it wants to be. I'll give you this much and say that the film is never dull. Overall, redeemed by Price and Lee(Cushing is good as well but his character is pretty useless) as well as the look of the film, score and ending, but because of the nonsensical script and unfocused story Scream and Scream Again never really came together for me.

4/10 Bethany Cox

Scream and Scream Again on 4k ultra hd

[jucsetmai · 7/10 · 13 November 2020]

A UK version would have the original score. With AIP, when the scores differ, the U.S. score is the alternate.

A few films AIP rescored for U.S. theatrical release at the time. Sometimes they would redub them also. Sometimes reedit. This is how we ended up with "the AIP version" and the "UK/international version".

Several European films were distributed in the U.S. with the original score. In the 1980s, when Orion/MGM/UA wanted to release them on VHS it was discovered that for most of them AIP had never secured the music rights. They began hunting down these composers throughout Europe. Some couldn't be found, some had died, and some wanted huge sums for the rights.

A single guy was hired to rescore these films. Just one guy with his keyboard synthesizer(sp?). That's how the films remain to this day on U.S. releases. Even BD. The best known example is WITCHFINDER GENERAL/CONQUEROR WORM. It had a beautiful original score that was replaced for VHS and cable distribution in the U.S. PAL>NTSC tapes of the UK version were a hot seller in the day. PAL>NTSC copies of the UK DVD were also popular until MGM released the UK version in the U.S. on DVD. MGM/UA licensed the UK version from whomever owned it. This is the cause of that particular Vincent Price Collection BD going OOP.

There is a documentary, including interview with composer who did the rescoring on PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES BD I believe now let's do upgrade Native 4K coming soon on kino 4k ultra hd release February 2021

A waste of the talents of three horror icons

[greenbudgie · 5/10 · 21 December 2021]

Normally I stick to writing positive reviews but I really feel the need to warn Vincent Price followers who may not have seen this yet. Be prepared to be bored waiting for any meaningful appearance from VP. Little is seen of him until the last 16 minutes and then there is hardly any menace or quoteworthy lines from him. This movie was in no way a suitable vehicle for his talents whereas some of his 'silly' films do at least let his fans watch him lark about a bit. This film doesn't deserve the kudos of having the three horror icons of that time as top billing as none of them are really used to advantage. Christopher Lee alone is given just a little something to get his teeth into very briefly while Peter Cushing only go one day's work out of this. Horror fans at the time must have felt cheated. There are some horrible moments in this notably the athlete who couldn't understand why he was waking up in a hospital bed. He is seen three times rolling back his bedclothes and screaming as he looks down before losing consciousness again. There is a police chase that is well done but it goes on for a solid 16 minutes. Meanwhile I'm getting exasperated at the no-show of Vincent until the end when a slew of reveals pour forth but they come too late for me to get much satisfaction from the movie.

Hawaii-Five-OOOOOOHHHHHHHH

[Diagnosis Pete · 8/10 · 4 February 2002]

From the director of Hawaii-Five-0, Gordon Hessler directs this very underrated Thriller. With a star cast of Cushing, Lee and Price, and some rather wooden acting from Alfred Marks as the non-emotional Supt. Bellaver, this film runs as fast as Hawaii-Five-0, with some excellent car chases around England. However Hessler's use of tension is not used to full effect, and the German Nazi sub-plot (with hilarious logo) seems both distant and pointless, and used only as a dig at dictatorship regimes.

Also the music at times seems farcical, with Jazzy-sixty bands playing when the serial killer is attacking his victim. With the serial killers actions of out-running and powering the police, reactions of "he's quite strong" and "Oh he's torn his hand off" seem like tongue-in-cheek, or if not a terrible script.

All in all, this movie is a cross between Hawaii-Five-0, Frankenstein, and Hitchcock's Frenzy, and although it's well worth a watch, the styles don't combine well to give a scary thriller. The viewer is left a little lost with all the scene changing and Christopher Lee's role could have been expanded upon. The viewer should Scream and Scream Again and again and again at the poor direction the movie takes, nice try, but he should have tried and tried again to make it at least scary!!

Aside the oddball premise the movie is quite average!!!

[elo-equipamentos · 6/10 · 27 December 2020]

Amicus made a mix of several genre on this picture, Sci-Fi, Terror and Spying, the deadly sin lays out in casting three legendary actor of Terror, Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing as top billing, however they sadly appear as ordinary supporting casting, Peter Cushing just screened on few minutes and already died, Lee summed all takes around ten minutes or so, only just Vincent Price has more than fifteen minutes, anyway they weren't the main characters at all, they are calling as a bait to catch the audience, in any matter whatsoever the movie doesn't let down under any circumstances, aside the plot is split in two, the storyline is engrossing in all senses, except the oddball premise, there many praiseworthy sequences, as car chase that ends up with a backbreaking pursued of the Vampire killer until he throw yourself at acid pool, has another highlight regarding the overwhelming acting of weird Superintendent Bellaver (Alfred Marks) with a whimsical British humor, the movie also exploit the sex appeal of the gorgeous girls, aside the nonsensical sub-plot as an alleged and ill-fated Nazi-forces counterpart from some country of iron curtain on British ground that reach on the edge of the insanity or beyond, the remains is fully average!!

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 6.5

The Avengers featuring Vincent Price

[cmoyton · 4/10 · 31 July 2010]

There is a fine line between ambitious film making and producing an incoherent mess. This early 70's curio veers towards the latter. A movie combining the look, feel and plot lines from The Avengers, Mission Impossible(the TV show) and Hammers much maligned Dracula AD1972 deserves at least one viewing.

A major selling point must have been the appearance in one showing of the mighty triumvirate of Price, Lee and Cushing. The fact is that Cushing is hardly on screen for three minutes before his character is murdered and Price and Lee feature for all of about twenty minutes. Much of the screen time is taken up by Alfred Marks police inspector as he tries to solve a series of archetypal suspicious deaths. He joins a line of wisecracking somewhat incompetent British police officers from 1970's horror celluloid (think Death Line, Doctor Phibes, Theatre of Blood).

The movie plot comes together at the end but initially jumps all over the place. There is the mix of an apparent serial killer, the limb amputations of kidnap victims, a mysterious surgeon (Price), a shady government agency boss (Lee and a nameless Nazi like Eastern European dictatorship straight out of Mission Impossible or The Man From UNCLE. For added hipness add in a couple of now duff looking/sounding night club scenes featuring Amen Corner and you are left scratching your head. Also worth mentioning are one of the worst car chases in film history, a curious music score that until the climatic last 20 minutes seems out of tune with what is appearing on screen and a neat tongue in cheek death at the end. If you are a Vincent Price fan Scream and Scream Again may be worth a look otherwise stick to the cybernauts.