My World Dies Screaming

This one has some historical value do to the Psycho-Rama, all that means is it's the first movie ever that tries to add subliminal messages and images to the film. It's a bit comical to watch, at times almost distracting but the movie is good nevertheless.

This one has a two or three plot twists that will keep it from getting dull - pretty interesting story. The ending is not exactly what one would expect from a film like this... they didn't use the standard ending in a way that I expected anyway.

Sheila Wayne and Philip Tierney have just gotten married in Switzerland where she had been living for most all of her life. She's been seeing a psychiatrist while there about her bizarre nightmares but her new husband wants to take her to Florida so they go. Driving some back roads they come to a house, she screams in terror because that is the house in her nightmares. Philip insists they go inside and they meet up with a strange caretaker of the old house and then Philip insists to the caretaker they will take the place (rent it). And then our bizarre story begins.

I will say that Sheila is weird but Philip is even weirder even though he's the one that seems sorta normal yet very odd from the beginning.

I would say this film is worth watching if you like the older mystery films. Again, plenty of twists that are a bit unexpected.

8/10

I saw this under the title Terror in the Haunted House. I didn't know anything about this movie and I didn't bother to look up any information about it. So, I presumed it could be some creepy ghost story like The Haunted. But nevertheless I didn't have to disappoint. Well, maybe a little bit because I learned what is the Psycho-Rama and subliminal message in the film.

The story first seems simple but as more the movie grows the more peculiar and more complex it goes. It has so much plot twists that even M. Night Shyamalan would be envious. The film builds up the tension and pace so fast that the ending seems to comes too abruptly. And I will go that far and call this movie little bit Hitchcockian.

But remind, this is more a suspense-thriller than a horror film. Otherwise it would have been decent movie but those ridiculous subliminal messages(?). Why were they needed anyway?

Overall My World Dies Screaming is nice entertaining B-flick with great performances.

Many of the reviews I have read complain that this film is boring or mediocre. I think they are forgetting that it was made in 1958. Considering that, I thought it was very exciting for its time. I certainly loved the acting, but that too is very much in the style of the 50s.

It is the plot twists that make the movie worth watching today (That is, for normal people, not just nostalgics like myself.) You know that the woman is not evil, but what about the two men, Phillip and Mark, and that servant Jonah? Just when you think you have them figured out, the movie flips them again. If you follow it, and don't get too easily bored by the 1950s effects and black and white, I think you will be surprised by how it turns out.

I gave it 9 out of 10. It was a masterpiece of its time and still entertaining today, though I might suggest watching it more as a mystery/drama than a horror film. My only complaint is the title itself, for I was hoping for a haunted house, but there was nothing supernatural about it. No ghosts or ghouls or anything. Ah yes, and I stopped noticing the 'subliminal messages' about 15 minutes into it. They really serve no purpose.

While the film is watchable to the degree that it does have a story about a woman returning to a house she has seen in her dreams, the ultimate feeling left upon the viewer after seeing this is that it wasn't anything special in any way. The budget is suitably low. That means there are no special effects to speak of, save the house which on the outside looks creepy with huge decaying palm trees but looks rather nice(save the wallpaper in the bedroom) inside. The acting talent is indeed meager with no one giving a good performance. The female lead Cathy O'Donnell is adequate, but the guy that plays her husband is awful. He is the kind of guy that grates on you and you want something to happen to him fast. That was one wish un-fulfilled. His name by the way is Gerald Mohr(he looks kind of like a young Morton Downey Jr.). The most interesting performance is given by John Qualen as an old caretaker. He is at least acting with some ability and able to make a unique characterization. The story is not anything special either as it tells about a woman reliving her past and surrounded by people she cannot trust. Nothing new there nor is it done any differently than countless of other times. The major claim to fame of the film is that it was filmed in Psychorama which is when subliminal pictures pop on for seconds and then disappear. Too bad they didn't disappear altogether as they are very aggravating because you are trying to see what they are, and when you do, you say, "Hey, it's a painted face of a red devil...Big Deal!" At the very least, that will give you something to think about as you watch the film.

Although the practice of using subliminal advertising--that is, flashing messages on a movie or TV screen for a fraction of a second, too quickly to register with the human brain but capable of having a subconscious effect--was banned by television stations and by the National Association of Broadcasters in 1958 (and, years later, was claimed to be ineffective), it wasn't in time to prevent the first big-screen film from using the technique. That picture, originally released under the artier and more appropriate title "My World Dies Screaming," and years later, for home viewing, as "Terror in the Haunted House" (a somewhat misleading appellation), turns out to be an interesting enough little film that hardly requires this tiresome gimmick (presented as "Psycho-Rama" here!). In it, we meet a pretty newlywed, Sheila, who has been going to a psychiatrist in Switzerland to cure her of recurring dreams involving an old house, and, most particularly, of a flight of steps in that house leading to a cobwebbed attic. And when Sheila's new husband, Philip, brings her to America to stay at that EXACT SAME HOUSE, her nightmares become a living reality, and the viewer is thrown into a state of confusion about whether Philip is trying to help his new bride or, a la "Gaslight," perhaps drive her insane....

For a cheaply made "B picture," "My World Dies Screaming" is surprisingly effective, and most of the credit for the film's success must surely go to Cathy O'Donnell in the lead. O'Donnell, who most viewers might remember from the 1946 classic "The Best Years of Our Lives" as well as for appearing in the cult item "They Live By Night" and the excellent film noir "Side Street" (both from 1949 and both costarring Farley Granger), is truly excellent here, lovely and appealing, and appearing in every single scene of the film. Gerald Mohr, playing Philip, gives a nicely ambiguous portrayal (many viewers will remember him from the following year's "The Angry Red Planet"), and the film's other three performers (Barry Bernard as Sheila's shrink, John Qualen as the house's uberstrange caretaker, and Bill Ching as Philip's cousin) are all fine as well. Harold Daniels directs his picture competently, eliciting chills on a regular basis, although it must be said that the film seems a bit eerier in its first half. Still, the mystery of Sheila's nightmares, and her familiarity with a house she's never been in, is a fascinating one, and keeps the viewer involved throughout; to the film's credit, the resolution of that mystery entails a surprisingly complex backstory that does manage to tie up every loose end. As to those subliminal messages, they ARE visible, although only a frame-by-frame viewing on your DVD player will reveal their contents. Basically, they consist of demon masks with the following captions: "Scream." "Scream Bloody Murder." "Prepare To Die." And "Die Die Die." (One message, very amusingly inserted by the DVD manufacturer, exhorts us to "Buy Rhino Videos Every Day"!) As I mentioned before, these flashes of...something become hokey after a while, and the film is good enough to stand on its own without them. It's nothing great, surely, but is an engaging entertainment nevertheless. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to wrap up this little review and run down to the grocery store. For some strange reason, I've just developed a sudden urge to purchase popcorn, Goobers and Raisinets....