Scream and Scream Again (1970)

This movie is closely based on Peter Saxon's science fiction novel "The Disoriented Man". Worth watching if you love sci-fi, mystery, thriller, crime and horror all rolled into one film.***************Spoiler******************* I have NEVER read the book but, from what I have read about the film vs the book, the only thing really missing from the film is the fact these mysterious people are aliens and not just some creation of human science - otherwise the film very closely follows the book. *****************************************This is another film that I have not seen since roughly the mid-80's and recently watched the film again... I have to say it's better than my memory allowed me to remember.There are several things going on in this movie at once - so it's one of those films you will not want miss anything which is easy because it will draw you in quickly just because it's so odd.Oh and by the way, this film is NOT overly gory - the worst parts happen off screen but there is some blood. 8/10

In London, a serial-killer drains the blood of females and the Detective Superintendent Bellaver (Alfred Marks) and his team are hunting down the so-called Vampire Killer. Meanwhile in an undefined country that lives a military dictatorship, the cruel Konratz (Marshall Jones) is climbing positions killing The Power that Be. When the Vampire Killer flees from the police, he seeks refugee at the real estate of scientist Dr. Browning (Vincent Price) and jumps into a tank of acid. Dr. David Sorel (Christopher Matthews) is intrigued with the powerful acid and decides to get a sample. He finds the truth about the research of Dr. Browning. Many years ago, during the Cold War, the dictatorships in South America, James Bond, Flint and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., "Scream and Scream Again" was a cult movie supported by the names of Vincent Price, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. The story entwines mad scientist with vampire, dictatorship and spy ring with a terrible music score. However, in the present days it is a dated mess despite the great cast. My vote is three.Title (Brazil): "Grite, Grite Outra Vez!" ("Scream, Scream Again")

Based on Peter Saxon's novel 'The Disorientated Man', and produced by Max J.Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky, 'Scream & Scream Again' ( 1970 ) has become something of a cult classic. Watching it though you somehow get the impression three completely unconnected movies ( a political thriller, a crime story and a horror picture ) have been edited together. It opens with a jogger ( Nigel Lambert ) collapsing in pain, possibly due to a heart attack. He wakes up much later in a private hospital room. Trying to get out of bed, he finds his right leg has been removed for no apparent reason. The next time we see him his other leg has gone.The story then shifts to a totalitarian East European country where Konratz ( Marshall Jones ) - who kills people with a method akin to Mr.Spock's Vulcan Nerve Pinch - is methodically wiping out party officials such as 'Salis' ( Peter Sallis ) and 'Benedek' ( Peter Cushing ).Off we go next to Swinging London where a serial killer is at large, picking up girls from nightclubs, luring them to secluded spots and then drinking their blood. One of his victims is the lovely Sylvia ( Judy Huxtable, Peter Cook's second wife ). Detective Superindent Bellaver ( Alfred Marks ), a no-nonsense copper of the Gene Hunt variety, lays a trap for the killer ( Michael Gothard ) using a policewoman as bait. After a lengthy chase, they handcuff this modern-day 'vampire' to a car. He gets loose, leaving behind his hand as a souvenir. After a further chase, the maniac eludes capture by leaping into a pit of acid in an outbuilding. An unsuspecting policeman tries to fish him out, and screams in agony as his arm burns. The outbuilding is part of the property of one Dr.Browning ( Vincent Price ) who claims to be doing important cancer research but in fact has gone one better than 'Frankenstein' by constructing a Master Race of super humans - he calls them 'composites' - from spare body parts. The jogger we earlier saw has now been dismembered and is in various freezers, awaiting rebirth...Elsewhere, creepy British civil servant Fremont ( Christopher Lee ) is concerned over a British pilot who crashed in Konratz's country.'S & S A' is very much a late '60's piece with its discotheques, pop groups ( 'The Amen Corner' ) and blokes in flowered shirts. Hammer tried to go down the same route two years later with 'Dracula A.D. 1972' but by then London had stopped swinging. Despite the teaming of horror superstars Cushing, Price and Lee, only Mad Vince has anything resembling a decent role. In the original book, Browning's 'composite' project was the brainchild of aliens bent on world conquest, but writer Christopoher Wicking jettisoned this explanation. The most impressive performance comes from Marks. Christopher Matthews is the doctor who risks his neck venturing into Browning's highly advanced operating theatre. The late Michael Gothard ( later to appear in the television series 'Arthur Of The Britons' ) is suitably menacing as Keith, a Browning creation who got out of control.The various story elements come together at the end, but whether you'll be satisfied at the way they do so is a moot point. Gordon Hessler - whose other credits include 'The Oblong Box' ( 1969 ) and 'The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad' ( 1974 ) - keeps the action moving at a nice clip. Baffled you may be, but you certainly won't be bored. If any film signposted the direction horror took in the '70's, it was this. You get a foretaste not only of Michael Crichton's 'Coma' but also the medically themed David Cronenberg movies such as 'Rabid'.( It seems that there are two different versions of the opening theme. When I saw this film on I.T.V. years ago, a synthesiser tune accompanied the titles, but on my D.V.D. copy its a more jazzy affair. )

Despite the title and promise of three horror titans teaming up, SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN is a bust. Vincent Price plays a mad scientist working for some vague army of lunatics bent on taking over the world...Christopher Lee is a British government official who may or may not be in on it. Peter Cushing pops up in a (very) brief cameo. Most of the film centers on the police trying to track down a "vampire killer" and as such, it's not too bad, just don't expect Price, Lee and Cushing to be sharing much screen time. Gordon Hessler's direction is alternately clever (he stages a few very good chase scenes) and oddly edited (there are far too many abrupt edits and Price's wrap up of the plot is really silly). There's very little to actually scream at...the film is not scary in the least.