Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

For a few decades during the latter half of the 20th century, both Amicus Productions and Hammer Film Productions were successful British movie-making companies that each earned reputations because of the popular horror films they produced. Both companies went into decline at the end of the 1970s--the company now called Hammer is essentially a mere shadow of the former, and Amicus produced its last film in 1980--and in the years since, horror fans have generally favored the films of Hammer over those of Amicus, many because they feel that Amicus was rarely able to reach the same literary and production-quality plateau in their movies that rival Hammer seemed to consistently achieve. There are exceptions to any rule, of course, and in this case the exceptions are 1972's TALES FROM THE CRYPT, 1973's THE VAULT OF HORROR, and 1973's AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS!

One reason that TALES FROM THE CRYPT and THE VAULT OF HORROR stand up against the Hammer films might be the fact that they are based on stories from the still-venerated Horror comic books published in the U.S. in the 1950s by EC Comics. Like the magazines on which they were based, the stories in these two anthology films are scary but witty modern tales in which the bad guys ultimately receive their often ironic just deserts. But AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS! is a wholly different film. Based on the novel FENGRIFFEN by David Case, this Amicus film is a Gothic tale of supernatural revenge that is set in 18th-Century England. As such, it more closely resembles a number of Hammer's horror films, most of which are also tales of Gothic horror. In addition, AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS! is more earnest, more literate, and more frightening than the bulk of the other horror films in the Amicus library, and the production values (including the convincing special FX) are also several notches above the company's usual output.

Other aspects of AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS! might also help explain why it is one of the better Amicus horror films. First off, the film was directed by Roy Ward Baker, who had previously directed some of Hammer's best horror films like THE VAMPIRE LOVERS (1970), SCARS OF DRACULA (1970), and DR JEKYLL & SISTER HYDE (1971). Baker also directed several episodes of the classic Brit TV show THE AVENGERS. Secondly, the film co-stars the beautiful Stephanie Beacham--also a veteran of Hammer horror films (1972's DRACULA A.D. 1972) who would later go on to fame in the U.S. on TV's THE COLBYS and DYNASTY in the 1980s--and Ian Ogilvy, who had cut his thespian teeth on genre classics like THE SORCERERS (1967) and WITCHFINDER GENERAL (1968). Finally, AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS! also includes an outstanding supporting performance from horror great Peter Cushing, himself a veteran of numerous Hammer horror classics in recurring roles as either Dr Frankenstein or vampire hunter Van Helsing. American audiences probably know Cushing better from his role as Grand Moff Tarkin in George Lucas' STAR WARS (1977).

The DVD edition of AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS! from Dark Sky films is well worth the price of admission. It offers a very clean digital transfer of the film in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 (enhanced for widescreen TVs), and the disc also includes two outstanding feature commentaries (one with director Baker and star Beacham, and the other with star Ogilvy). Unlike most of the other films from the Amicus library that are available on DVD, this one unquestionably deserves a place in the collections of all serious fans of horror cinema.

Although this movie was not great I found it very watchable. I think anyone who is a fan of Peter Cushing and British films will enjoy this one.