SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN(director: Gordon Hessler; screenwriter: Christopher Wicking/from novel by Peter Saxon 'The Disoriented Man'; cinematographer: John Coquillon; cast: Vincent Price (Dr. Browning), Christopher Lee (Fremont), Peter Cushing (Maj. Benedict Heinrich), Judy Huxtable (Sylvia), Alfred Marks (Superintendent Bellaver), Christopher Matthews (David Sorel ), Michael Gothard (Keith), Marshall Jones (Konratz), Anthony Newlands (Ludwig), 1969 - UK)
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
The three biggest superstars in this genre film's cast are not seen on screen together until only Price and Lee are briefly seen in the very last segment of the film- Dr. Browning (Vincent Price, insane scientist), Christopher Lee (Fremont, the head of British Intelligence), and Peter Cushing (Maj. Benedict Heinrich, head of a fascist government)- are in a horror film that shows little affinity for the genre and apart from a few scares, this is a rather tepid effort put forth by the director.
Scream and Scream Again was based on Peter Saxon's novel 'The Disoriented Man,' but it is the story that seems out of whack rather than the title.
The film opens inspiringly enough, as a robust jogger is seen on the road gracefully running and then suddenly is having a heart attack, but then the scene intercuts to his waking up and screaming in a hospital bed and finding his limbs have been removed. Each time the film cuts back to him, a robotic-type of a nurse treats him, insensitive to his screams, as he discovers he keeps losing another limb, which sets the stage for the film's very chilling beginning.
But what remains constant during this moody piece, is confusion, as a crusty veteran police inspector, in charge of a grizzly murder investigation, Bellaver (Alfred Marks), discovers that he is dealing with a psychopathic rapist-killer. Going over the lab results, of the strangled and mutilated girl who was found in the woods, with his new pathologist, David Sorel (Christopher Matthews), he discovers two vampire puncture marks on her wrist. When another girl is found killed in the same vampire style and her jugular vein is burst open but similarly no blood is found on the scene, the police realize that there is something strange here, as they decide to go after the serial killer by having one of their policewoman wired with a mike and used as a lure for the killer at the same disco the other two girls were picked up in. Incidently, the loud music coming out of the disco is played by a group called The Amen Corner.
In the film's most animated sequence, the mad killer, Keith (Michael Gothard), is trapped by the police after showing inhuman strength and overpowering four policeman to escape to the top of a rock quarry. When captured, he is securely handcuffed to a car but escapes by pulling his hand off and running toward the house of the mysterious Dr. Browning, where he flings himself into a vat of acid. An offbeat reaction to this scene, is that Bellaver orders one of the pursuing cops to stick his hand in the vat, thinking it was only water, to retrieve the killer's body, instead he ends up losing his arm. These are the quirky characteristics found throughout the film that makes its humor rather odd and might appeal to certain fans of this genre.
Bellavar has been ordered to stay away from the respected Dr. Browning, who is respected enough to even have a government research contract. The case is now officially closed. But Sorel is not satisfied, believing that Dr. Browning has something to do with these murders. He gets the help of another policewoman and goes out to Browning's house to investigate. Unfortunately, she gets caught and is taken to Browning's lab hospital to be prepped for an operation, while he gets caught by the good doctor inside the lab and is forced to listen to an explanation about what all the murders were about and about the master race Browning is creating. Keith, the vampire killer, was a composite, who is not human but made up of body parts from others and has no feelings for pain. The result is a race of emotionless and mindless androids. There are many others that the scientist has created in his lab, but they are more closely akin to being robots, as he apologetically explains, my group is only in its infant state. A fascist type of government, located somewhere in Europe, with plans for world dominance, is behind this research movement.
While this was going on, another composite of the master race, a fascist in some unnamed European country, Konratz (Marshall Jones), who kills anyone who gets in his way, including his superiors in his own government (he kills the Peter Cushing character off). He has made a deal with the British government, that he will return a downed pilot of a spy plane for all the evidence collected by the police in the vampire murder case. When Bellaver refuses to let the Nazi take the evidence with him, even if this has been approved by government higher-ups, the star detective of the film is killed, as Konratz puts two fingers on his shoulders and bam, Bellaver crumples to the floor with blood oozing out of his mouth.
When Sorel is about to be ripped apart by the insane Dr. Browning, Konratz enters the lab and since he is opposed to Browning, who happens to also be a composite, the two androids of the master race fight, with Browning putting Konratz into the acid bath. Then Fremont, head of the British Secret Service, also a composite of the master race, decides Browning's usefulness has come to an end and tosses the bad doctor into the conveniently placed acid vat. The film ends with a cryptic warning by Fremont that all is not over with yet.
This muddled story is not supposed to make sense and it doesn't, it is supposed to shock your senses and if you were thusly shocked, I suppose you got your money's worth out of this B- film. There is no real character study accomplished. The story remains a shallow one, never presenting further ploys for its plot about world rule or the activities of a secret police force or Nazi type of scientific experiments. The dialogue ranged from being trite to being ludicrous. Overall, this was a weakly crafted film that probably has brought to the surface enough undeveloped ideas in it, to make it a somewhat bearable film to view during parts of it and a film that fans of the three horror stars should want to see, if for no other reason but for that alone.
REVIEWED ON 11/9/99 GRADE: C
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
http://www.sover.net/~ozus
ozus@sover.net
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ
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