Die Screaming Marianne (1971)

Pete Walker was one of the most interesting British horror directors of the 1970's, with impressive efforts like The Flesh and Blood Show (1972), House of Whipcord (1974) and Frightmare (1974) to his name. This earlier film is sometimes described as his first foray into horror but really it is nothing of the sort. Despite a title that suggests that it could be, this one turns out to be a psychological thriller with really no horror aspects at all. A young woman's life is threatened when her crooked father tries to prevent her reaching her 21st birthday and in doing so inherit a fortune plus some documents which will incriminate him.Aside from being an early example of a Walker film, this one is notable for featuring Susan George in a starring role a year before she appeared in Sam Peckinpah's controversial Straw Dogs (1971). In truth, the opening credit sequence which has her gyrating in a bikini in front of a deep red background is very striking indeed, although it is probably in fairness the best bit in the entire film. The main issue with this one is its pretty poor script which meanders about somewhat with a definite lack of focus. The first half of the film which is set in England is the better part with some intrigue and character set-ups but once the action relocates to Portugal things grind to a bit of a halt and it does get a bit boring. It's kind of unfortunate, as the bare bones of the story has got at least some potential but there is something very half-hearted in how things are ultimately played out. Seemingly Walker had some issues with the young cast members during the Portuguese section and this may account for the results on screen being less than impressive. Whatever the case, this is still worth seeing if you have an interest in Walker's movies as it does at least showcase some of his recurring themes such as elderly villains interfering with the lives of the younger generation. But, despite its director and cute leading lady, it has to be admitted that this is not essential stuff by any means. With its cool title and nice cover art it will look good in your film library though and that's not such a terrible thing I guess.

I foolishly bought the DVD of this without checking out the reviews first ...won't do that again! One thing that surprises me is that while many IMDb reviewers mention that Die Screaming, Marianne is a waste of Susan George's talents, nobody has commented on the fact that the former Oscar nominee Leo Genn had been reduced to appearing in this tawdry, inept trash. In fact, poor Leo ended up doing uncredited bit parts in a couple of films after this (though neither was actually as bad as Marianne). I remember as a kid, when this film played for three mights at my local fleapit as the bottom half a double bill, the it was incorrectly titled "Ice Cream and Marianne" in the local paper! Still makes me chuckle ...

That summary may sound a little harsh, but it's not far off in describing Pete Walker's "Die Screaming, Marianne". The biggest problem is that for a supposed psychological "thriller", this comes up awfully short on *thrills*. It works as an amusing, soap opera style melodrama, but is much too leisurely for its own good. And, to be perfectly frank, it's not terribly well written. The absolutely stunning Susan George plays Marianne, a poor little rich girl on the run who is practically forced into marriage by a stranger named Sebastian (Christopher Sandford). However, his plan goes awry when the name of his friend Eli (Barry Evans) mistakenly ends up on the marriage certificate. Sebastian drops out of the picture, if only for a bit, while Eli eventually has to be told the truth about his new bride: she's due to inherit a sizable sum upon her 21st birthday, which is imminent, and there are those in her family who want either revenge or to get their hands on the money and / or incriminating documents. Said relatives include a father (Leo Genn) who was a crooked judge, and a venal and nasty half sister (Judy Huxtable). "Die Screaming, Marianne" doesn't offer more than moderate entertainment. It does feature some impressive location work and scenery, and fine supporting performances by all, but its main drawing card - which is good enough of a hook - is its showcasing of the luscious young George in the leading role. She's often dressed quite provocatively and, in fact, Marianne likes to dance in a bikini. Ms. George makes this whole thing worth sitting through, and Evans is very likable as the true innocent of the piece. One can't help but feel some disdain towards the character of Marianne for being too cagey and not telling Eli the whole story when it would have helped him more; besides, she was doing nobody any favours by delaying the inevitable set of confrontations. The movie really could have used *some* more action, and only starts to get good near the end. It makes the mistake that a fair amount of movies make by being too talky and stretching out things too much. It's a pity - this easily could have been more fun. But Walker would only get better as he went along, creating such fine entries in the British New Wave of horror as "The Flesh and Blood Show", "Frightmare", and "House of Whipcord". Five out of 10.

Pretty much everything I want to say about this movie has already been stated in other reviews. I want to reiterate several points in the hopes of preventing others from making the same mistake as those of us who spent time on this one.I watched this right to the end, so I won't say that it is entirely boring--it had me wanting to know how it would resolve. However, every plot point was absolutely wasted--everything that happens to each character is anti-climactic. More than anything else, it is poorly written.Yes, Susan George is nice to watch, but that is about it. It is falsely marketed as horror, and I blame IMDb for allowing it to be categorized as such. It is almost entirely drama, although it aspires to be a thriller. I don't think it could have been less effective at building tension if it was a Disney Channel original. It's just not a good story. There are moments when they could have had the characters do something much more nasty, but I just thought their choices were lame.To give you an idea of where I'm coming from, I like a lot of low-budget, obscure, and independent productions. I enjoy bad movies when they are entertaining. I saw the low rating and thought that's what this movie is, but if you read through the comments, you'll see most of us thought it was just boring.