Psychock

This movie scared the bejezzus out of me when I was a kid. I think I was scarred for life. I haven't seen the movie since I was a kid, but at that age I went to see a movie more than once so I still recall the movie pretty well. Silent Scream was one of the first ‘psycho killer on a rampage' kinds of horror movies I had ever seen. Most of my childhood movie experiences were supernatural gore fests. I had gone through life blissfully believing that all things horrific where relegated to the realm of the supernatural, where they couldn't hurt me. That ended for me in the summer of 1980: the year Silent Scream and Friday the 13th came out. I was glued to my seat, eyes like saucers, watching some wacked-out person hacking people up with a butcher knife or trying to pull them through a hole in the attic wall so they could hack them up. It was pure magic for an adolescent boy. It didn't matter that there was no mystery to figure out. All that mattered was that I was getting the you-know-what scared out of me and loving it. I look back now and think of how truly silly those kinds of movies were but, hey, they were great summer entertainment for a junior high school kid. I still have a soft place in my heart for all of those mindless slasher movies. I would recommend Silent Scream for anyone who loves classic ‘80's horror (the best decade for horror in my opinion). Here are some other recommendations for horror/thriller from my childhood (I'll try to stick to the less well known ones): Humanoids from the Deep, The Boogens, The Boogeyman, Sleepaway Camp, Dead of Winter,Evil Speak, Scanners (well known but a must), Mausoleum, Motel Hell, Blood Beach, Happy Birthday to Me, April Fools Day, Sole Survivor, Galaxy of Terror. There is also from the seventies: Suspiria, Alice Sweet Alice, The Other, Burnt Offerings, Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things, Piranha and Giant Spider Invasion: most of which I saw in the eighties. There are a lot more that don't come to mind right away but suffice to say that I made it my goal to see all the horror movies I could when I was young and there were a ton of them. I'm sure I loved them all. Please feel free to contact me for any recommendations to give or receive.

For a film as cliche ridden as Silent Scream, it's a minor miracle that it came out as enjoyable and fun as it did. The story is well-worn and only slightly remixed for the late 70's/early 80's slasher craze. A young college student finds herself without housing, so she finds a room for rent at a spooky beachside home operated by a repressed young man and his nearly mute mother. Pretty soon, the bodies are piling up and family secrets are flying out of closets left and right.

Only a useless cop subplot (featuring Cameron Mitchell and Avery Schrieber) kills the pacing here and there and feels extraneous. The cast happens to be a likable, agreeable bunch with the charming and spunky Rebecca Balding leading. Veterans Yvonne DeCarlo and Barbara Steele show up to add some class to the seedy proceedings and it works. Silent Scream feels like a cut above most of the early slasher glut due to an emphasis on suspense, mood, and interesting characters.

A better than average cast helps to make this horror film a decent watch, along with a reasonably good script (written by brothers Jim & Ken Wheat and Wallace C. Bennett) that has some memorable twists. It's graphically bloody at times but also has fine atmosphere, and a healthy nod to "Psycho" in its use of an imposing beach side house.

College student Scotty (Rebecca Balding) is in desperate need of a place to live and ends up at this house, owned by a weird family, the Engels. Unfortunately, Scotty and her fellow roommates won't know just *how* creepy this family is until it's almost too late. When one of the kids is murdered, a subplot develops with two detectives (Cameron Mitchell, Avery Schreiber) investigating the case.

The cute Balding is an appealing lead in this story, given effective theatrical treatment by commercial veteran Denny Harris (in his only feature credit). Helping a great deal is a grandiose music score by the under-rated Roger Kellaway, who also composes a period style song for the show. There is some good suspense and many ominous shots of the house and its interiors. The shocks are well realized, as well.

Yvonne De Carlo is also among the familiar faces appearing. Mitchell and an effectively serious Schreiber are fine as the detectives. In addition to Balding, Steve Doubet and Juli Andelman are similarly likable. Brad Rearden is great in the role of the nerdy Mason Engels, the films' one true tragic character. And horror genre icon Barbara Steele is a treat to watch in a non-speaking role.

Lovers of the horror films from this period should find a fair deal to enjoy here. "The Silent Scream" is enjoyable stuff that deserves a viewing from them.

Seven out of 10.

The slasher film was one of the more popular eighties horror sub-genres, and as a result; a lot of truly awful slashers were made. This one isn't particularly brilliant, but it's more than decent and has more going for it than the vast majority of similar films from the same period. Most of the eighties output was directly influenced by John Carpenter's overrated Halloween, but this film appears to take more from the original slasher - Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece Psycho - than the aforementioned modern slasher, which is definitely to the film's credit. The film puts it's focus on just one location; that being a boarding house near to a beach. The house is run by Mrs. Engels, who leaves her son Mason in charge as she prefers to stay locked in her upstairs room. Scotty Parker arrives at the house after searching all over town for a room. She gets a room there and pretty soon she is introduced to the other three house mates and mingles with them well. However, it soon becomes clear that there's a member of the household that she hasn't been introduced to, and it's not long before one of her new-found friends turns up dead.

I have to be honest and say that I probably wouldn't have bothered tracking this one down if it wasn't for the fact that it features the great Barbara Steele. Steele doesn't get the lead role, but she is by far the most memorable thing about the film with her deliciously insane character. The plot plays out very directly, and there is little or no attempt to be clever at all. This certainly isn't a bad thing, however, as it means that writer-director Denny Harris (with his only film) is able to put the focus on the popular slasher elements such as murder and atmosphere. The film isn't very bloody compared to its counterparts; films such as Friday the 13th, but there's a few brutal murder sequences contained within the film, and this is sure to please slasher fans. The foreboding and tense atmosphere is a result of the focus on the central location, and the old house at the centre of the film gives it a nice feel throughout, which is also one of the film's main assets. The conclusion is somewhat predictable; but you can't expect much else from this sort of film, and while Silent Scream isn't massively impressive, it's better than a lot of slashers and comes recommended to fans of the sub-genre.

This is another one of those 80's slashers that came out during the golden age, but has long been forgotten about despite the fact that it was a smash hit when it came out grossing $15 million at the box office, so I asked myself if this was so big then why isn't it more remembered, I mean this made more money than such other slasher gems such as (My Bloody Valentine, Happy Birthday To Me & House On Sorority Row).

Then I finally got round to seeing this and okay it's not quite up there with the other gems, but it's still worth checking out. The beginning is quite interesting and sets the tone for whats to come, like teens staying in an old Gothic mansion then getting picked off one by one by a murderous presence hiding in the attic. The performances also makes this movie work especially from genre stars Babara Steele and Yvonne De Carlo. And the gloomy atmosphere but Unfortunately it is this over-reliance on the past that proves to be the films' ultimate downfall as it gets boring very fast and This movie is nothing special. There's barely any blood or gore and the story tends to drag on at times, especially since the deaths take too long to happen and are too quick when they do.

All in all Silent Scream does set the creepy and Gothic tone well, but it does boring and far paced but overall the film works simply down the good turns from the cast.