Rent Scream and Scream Again (1970)

Bizarre - Scream and Scream Again review by sb

 One of the odder films I have seen of late. It opens with a jogger collapsing and waking up in hospital and every time he comes around another limb has been removed . In the meantime in some Fascist state in Eastern Europe some military guy is murdering his superiors (including Peter Cushing who is in it for 5 minutes) while back in London someone is murdering girls he picks up in night clubs and draining their blood. All 3 stories run concurrently without any explanation on how they are linked until the final reveal. The killer is pursued by a splendidly world weary Alfred Marks who crosses paths with a surgeon ( Vincent Price) while a Whitehall manadarin (played by Christopher Lee) is trying retrieve a missing pilot. As I said none of any of this makes any sense in relation to each other and although the three leads get star billing only Price gets any decent screen time. There a car chase that ends up in a quarry and some grisly surgery and I suppose by the end it all just about hangs together but it’s a real hodge podge of a movie - 3.5/5

Bizarre horror sci-fi - Scream and Scream Again review by LC

Whilst Price, Lee and Cushing are the headline stars, they do not have huge roles in this film (Cushing in particular only gets a single scene). That said, the film is still worth watching as it's such a bizarre ride. It starts with three seemingly totally unconnected storylines, which only begin to dovetail very late in the narrative. This is a film that plays its cards close to its chest, and I'd recommend knowing as little as possible before watching it (I'm glad I never even read Cinema Paridiso's spoiler-filled synopsis). Part horror, part Cold War thriller, and part sci-fi, this is a real genre mishmash, and though the story doesn't really work in the final analysis, it's so unique that it's worth going along with the madness. The groovy 70's feel of it all just adds to the charm. Totally bonkers.

Triple distilled horror ... apparently. - Scream and Scream Again review by NP

This 1970 film is one of many from that period I have only just got around to seeing. On reflection, there’s a chance I might have watched it a few years ago and put it out of my mind. It’s a meandering, overlong, frequently incomprehensible, disjointed jumble with one saving grace – Alfred Marks as Detective Supt. Bellaver.

Apparently, Marks added a few ad-libs throughout many of his scenes, raising the interest level with his witticisms. Probably better remembered as a comedian, he steals the show here, his character providing the glue that brings the many varied set pieces together. Despite this, it’s near impossible to get swept up in this.

Securing the talents of Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and various other well-known faces, the characters they play only feature sporadically, as if they were only available for a day or so for shooting.

Although it has its moments, I can’t really recommend this. It’s a time-filler rather than delivering the goods and puts me in mind of the hastily made ‘Doctor Phibes Rises Again’ from a couple of years later. The thread running through this barely qualifies as a storyline and, despite Marks, seems to last a lot longer than its 95-minute runtime.