Scream Bloody Murder Year: 1972 Director: Marc B. Ray Written by: Jany Alexander, Marc B. Ray Threat: Psychopath Weapon of Choice: Hook IMDb page:

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Rish's Reviews
There's a beat up old showhouse in town which shows exploitation flicks on the last Tuesday of every month. Sometimes they're Horror and sometimes they're not, but they're rarely good, and I usually have to skip a couple of months before I'm up to going again. If tyranist lived close enough to accompany me, I'm sure we'd go with the fervency of devout Islams, but alone, it's tough. I've tried taking people with me, but I've never had someone attend twice. Come to think of it, maybe that says more about me than it does the experience. Hmmm.
Anyway, I saw this with a truly abominable flick called Invasion of the Blood Farmers, which had only its title going for it, as part of a double-bill. Because that was so bad, I probably enjoyed this film more than I otherwise would.
Scream Bloody Murder, or The Captive Female, as it was titled when I saw it, tells the story of Matthew, a disturbed young man with a really positive outlook on life. Released from a mental institution after the inexplicable murder of his father (and his own illogical maiming), he finds the world unwilling to accept him . . . so he starts to kill people. Eventually, he meets a young prostitute and becomes enamoured with her. Obsessed, really. Telling her obvious lies about his big mansion and fabulous wealth, she is surprised when he invites her to check out his trove of riches. When she gets there, she finds that he's actually killed the real owners of the house and has no intention of letting her leave. At least not until she learns to love and appreciate him.
Also known as Claw of Terror and Matthew, the film was introduced by Phantasm star, Angus Scrimm, who had a supporting role in the flick. Though I've never been a fan of Scrimm's work, he seemed like a nice old gentleman, and it encourages me to check out more of his films.
Made on the cheap in the Seventies, when movies were at their cheapest, this isn't a film that will appeal to everyone. There is a lack of logic at times (especially the beginning), and the ending, while ambitious, doesn't really work. Sadly, I used the same ending for a story WAAAAY back in 1990. I wonder if I fared any better.
Scream Bloody Murder was not a very great movie, nor very fun, but quite well-done. The ending sort of falls flat, but its screenplay, for what it was, was excellent, and the acting by the two main leads was quite impressive. Poor Matthew was one of those amoral characters who isn't evil, but does evil things. And he deals out death with a generous array of methods, including bulldozer, rock, axe, paint trowl, meat cleaver, hook, pillow, and bust (the statue head kind, not what you're thinking).
It had one of the funniest lines of dialogue I've ever heard in a horror movie, and the crowd went totally nuts over it, laughing, applauding, cheering, and crapping their pants. Our sweet Matthew tries to make his love understand his pain, saying, "See what I do for you? I buy you groceries, and clothes, and art stuff, and kill people . . . and do you appreciate it? No!"
Very nice.
I'd Recommend It To: Someone who catches this on a late night movie and doesn't feel the need to turn it off.
Posted: June 20, 2005

Total Skulls: 13

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc.
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?