Coventry Review of Screamtime

Screamtime (1983)

Puppets, haunted houses, gnomes, faeries and Peter Cushing doppelgangers!

[6/10 · 26 November 2008]

Totally obscure and low-keyed British horror anthology that certainly holds a few frights in store and at least doesn't outstay its welcome, but in the end clearly isn't strong enough to compete with – say – the Amicus omnibuses. Not that it ever at one point ambitioned to compete with the great ones, but still. I really liked how simplistic and unpretentious the whole thing was. Both the wraparound story as the three separate tales are thoroughly unspectacular and not highly memorable, but surely they entertain during the moment. Two young thugs steal a couple of videocassettes from a store and go over to the really yummy sister of one of them to watch. There's the wraparound story for you! Impressive, isn't it? The first segment is about an elderly puppeteer who's confronted with his family's increasing hatred regarding his profession. The wife wants to leave him and his delinquent stepson and his thug friends occasionally come around to vandalize his cute little street theater. After yet another aggressive outburst of the sun, the seemingly harmless puppets decide to fight back… The denouement of this story is predictable and derivative, but you won't mind too much, as it's fast-paced and boosts a blood-soaked climax. They old guy playing the puppeteer is great and both his looks and acting methods make him look like the mirror image of Peter Cushing. I presume the producers specifically searched for a look-alike when the price tag of the real Cushing was too expensive. The second segment superficially looks like a standard haunted-house story, but comes up with an admirably imaginative twist at the end. A newlywed couple moves into an old large mansion and almost immediately the girl – Susan – suffers from ghostly visions. They're harmless at first, like the reoccurring sight of a boy cycling in the garden, but soon enough the visions become nightmarish, like bloodied knives in the sink and murdered people in the bathtub. Is the house really possessed with ghosts from the past? Is Susan crazy or perhaps a psychic medium? The largest part of this chapter is repetitive and dull, but the nifty climax compensates for quite a lot. Some really cool gory bits to admire here, too. The third and final segment has a wicked little premise as well: a young biker in desperate need of money accepts the job of gardener in the house of two elderly and seemingly senile ladies and immediately notices the valuable silverware and art in the house. He returns at night with a few friends to rob the place, but perhaps he should have paid closer attention to the ladies' stories of loyal gnomes and faeries that stand guard over the house and constantly look for fresh souls to recruit as slaves. There's a nice bit of morbid atmosphere in the closing chapter as well as a delightfully British sense of dark humor. Overall, "Screamtime" is good enough fun and definitely recommended if you happen to come across it.