1 of the finest pieces of cinema
just watch
shareok
share
MovieChat Forums > Scream and Scream Again (1970) Discussion > 1 of the finest pieces of cinema
Awesome theme song.
shareSeconded. A magnificent film.
shareIt certainly is a fine piece of cinema. It might not be scary but it has an excellent pace, excellent humour, excellent acting and some of the best car chase scenes I have seen. I really love this film. I can't understand why the rating (5.4) is so low.
shareI did enjoy it, but you really have to forgive the story telling technique of the director used. Not so much narrative, but spilling the plot on screen in a hap hazard fashion. This has the feeling of a 4 hour movie thats been trimmed down to fit a cinema release. It makes the viewer work hard to piece the story together (which is no bad thing in my opinion!) and at the end it leaves a surplus of questions hanging in the air (again, not a bad thing, but not to everyones taste!)
Its a good try, but I can't help feeling it would have worked well as a television mini-series with a long running time and plenty of opportunity to explore the subplots and mysteries.
That movie has warped my fragile little mind.
I agree with everything here: that this is an amazing piece of cinema, that the theme song is awesome, and that the storytelling is haphazard. Regarding the last point, do we know for sure that this was the intent of the director, or did the film suffer a lot of cuts for whatever reason? It comes across as very choppy, and not in the enigmatic "21 Grams" sense.
shareI agree with everything you said. Criminally underrated (I gave it 8 stars). Not a masterpiece, but a quintessential example of 1970s drive-in horror (this played at the passion pits for years). Loved Alfred Marks's hilarious asides, and I found the car chase very well executed and gripping. And the sequence with Michael Gothard "rappelling" up the rock face and then pulling his own hand off is pretty cool (and disturbing).
I think the naysayers are mostly disappointed that Lee and Cushing in particular didn't have a lot of screen time, but that doesn't make it a bad movie. And it's really not that hard to follow, although I found that judicious use of the subtitles during some of the expository dialogue helps (if you're a Yank like me and sometimes have trouble understanding British accents). The plot is actually pretty original and unique.
BTW, I remember seeing the trailer for this back in 1970 at the movie theatre and the "reveal" of the runner's amputated legs freaked the audience out big-time (actual screams and gasps!).
this movie rocks
share