Estranho Poder de Matar

During a cricket game in the grounds of an asylum, patient Charles Crossley is telling a story to his opposite scorekeeper Robert. He tells of how he came across musician Anthony Fielding outside church one day, and he invited back home for dinner. Over dinner he tells Anthony and his wife Rachael that of his last two decades of living in the Australian outback, where he learned many spells from the aboriginal witch doctors and one being the shout. It can cause instant death when heard. Soon Charles settles into the homestead, where he has Anthony and Rachael under his thumb, as he fears him and she's infatuated by him.

Weird, baffling and truly novel passes through my mind whenever I watch this sedately complex, courageous and alienating late 70's British experimental thriller. The way it has layer upon layer, goes on to ambitiously build a minor and gripping structure, which its inspired psychological strangle hold and mystical air takes shape as to how genuine the pieces are and if they do come together. Does it make sense? Well, it's hard to say what the bigger picture means, but it is indeed curiously haunting, daunting and truly unpredictable. The non-linear story and compact script chips away with plenty of cryptic messages inter-cutting the soft, dream-like touch brought on by director Jerzy Skolimowski. He gives the film such an hypnotic appeal amongst its arty brushes, where its swirling electronic score peaks in the right places and Mick Molloy's sublime framing emits elegant photography work. Those scenes involving the 'shout' are lethal, and only increase to the lurking eeriness created by top-notch sound FX. Visually the film has a powerful, isolated and lush setting that works with the story's spiritual and supernatural journey. The three lead performances are sensational, but it's Alan Bates who dominates the show with his startling and obscure turn as the tramp/patient. John Hurt as the downtrodden turned bewitched composer gives in a stellar performance and Susanna York, as his wife is also great. The talented Tim Curry shows up in a small, but effective role.

Quite an unusual puzzle, which is strangely compelling, unique and very well made.

And I really do mean 9/10. This film is a superbly made, wonderfully acted, deliberately under-stated fantasy masterpiece. The sense of conviction, of the truth being portrayed even when the paranormal erupts into the world, is unnerving. Yes, the film as a whole is unapologetically high-brow, full of cultural allusions that many will miss (The dry psychoanalytic cracks, the Francis Bacon-inspired compositions, the inversion of Orpheus), but all that can happily be missed without in any way detracting from the film. For those who love metaphysics, the incredible thrill of the possibility of magic, this should not be missed. (The current DVD release, MOST Regrettably, has been sub-optimally re-mixed. However, for those new to the film, it shouldn't matter too much. For those who have, turn that shout up loud!!!)

Anthony and his wife Rachel (John Hurt and Susannah York) invite a bizarre drifter named Charles (Alan Bates) into their home for lunch. Charles claims to have spent the last 18 months in the Australian outback. He also says that he's acquired the ability to kill by merely shouting.

Anthony doubts the story, so, Charles takes him out and proves it to him. Unfortunately for Rachel, Charles has even more wickedness up his sleeve.

THE SHOUT is a magnificently odd little film about magic, madness, and death. It's told via flashback in a mental institution.

Highly recommended for fans of the dark and different... Be sure to watch for Tim Curry!

I saw this film for the first time when I was just 17 years old and it made an impression which has lasted another 25 yrs. I just cant forget it. To this day, I cannot think of another film which captures so much about the isolation of English civility from the raw power of tribal beliefs, and to bring them together in the gentility and peace of a rural Devon setting.. even the "Wicker Man" fails to gain such potency as it is set in what is from the beginning contrived to be island cultures.. remote from civil society, whereas "The Shout" is both in your face, while (as a 1970's film) hauntingly suggestive of unspoken fears and longings. As such it speaks of the era within which it was made, a time of fragile contentment and almost subversive experimentation with.. other ways of viewing the world. Bates and York's performances are also totally believable which contrasted with the other-worldly nature of the setting and story make it compelling viewing. As another review stated.. I believe this to be a thoroughly underrated film, while for me at least definitely.. a classic.

'The Shout' is one of the most underrated thrillers of the 70s, and should be spoken of in the same breath as the much more celebrated 'Don't Look Now' and 'The Wicker Man'. All three put complex and original adult approaches to the supernatural thriller genre. Alan Bates ('Whistle Down The Wind') really shines in this movie as the mysterious and charismatic stranger cum shaman Crossley, who turns a comfortably bohemian middle class marriage upside down. The couple are played by John Hurt ('The Elephant Man') and Susannah York ('Superman'), and they are both first rate, as is Tim Curry ('Rocky Horror') in a smaller but important supporting role. But as good as they all are this is Bates' movie all the way in an unforgettable performance. A haunting, dreamlike puzzle of a movie that improves with multiple viewings. Highly recommended!