Death Screams

Summary

“Ouah. Khanaa. Siam“ 

Over the years, Arrow Video has exposed me to an extraordinary amount of slasher films. Despite the somewhat repetitive nature of the films, I watch basically any slasher film that I get my hands on. In the case of Death Screams, Arrow has restored a film that was released on VHS in the US as House of Death and was released in the UK with the reels in the wrong order. The film was directed by former child actor and television star David Nelson of Ozzy and Harriet fame. The film was produced by Charles Ison and starred former Playboy Playmate Susan Kiger. Death Screams does not break away very far from the template of other slasher films like Halloween and Friday the 13th, but it does not improve on the formula set by its predecessors. I watched it the other night, and was entertained by the film, while not totally blown away.

A man and woman – Ted and Angie- are hooking up on a motorcycle. As a truck passes by someone wraps a metal rope around their neck and kills them. Their bodies and motorcycle are pushed into the nearby water. Karen and her friends Bob and play some softball and then go to the local bar for a beer. Ramona works at the bar and asks for a day off to enjoy the carnival that is coming into town. Lily (Susan Kiger) works at the local grocery store for Mr. Jackson. The sheriff comes by her work looking for Ted and Angie. On her walk home from work, she feels as if someone is watching her. As a train passes by she sees a local mentally handicapped man named Casey. Arriving home, Lily tells her grandmother who raised her about the missing couple. Outside the restaurant, Ramona barely misses an attacker that she doesn’t notice. Lily takes her mother to the carnival in a wheelchair. Susan and Bob are working a booth and say hello. Ramona goes to the carnival with her friends. Lily sees Coach Marshall who has just gotten back in town. She is interested in him romantically, and he reciprocates her interest. When Lily tells her grandmother about her interest in the coach, she advises her to stay away from him since his mother was a whore. The killer strikes again nearby. Meanwhile, Ramona attempts to woo the coach and is denied. As all of the characters hang out over the weekend, a killer begins to stalk and murder them.

For my taste, Death Screams was okay. For slasher fans, it is important to know going in that this film is not one of the better slashers from that era. The acting is completely unnatural and the writing is pretty bad. This film may win the award for the oldest “teenagers” ever put to celluloid. That said, if you are okay with watching films that are unintentionally funny, Death Screams has its moments. Also, the final plot twist is inexplicable and pretty amazing as far as unexplained moments in cinema go.

While the movie does not rise above other slashers from that era, I applaud Arrow Video for their work on the film. The film was released on VHS in the UK with the reels in the wrong order and has never had a good release. Their dedication to saving films like this is admirable.

Video

Arrow has done as good as they could with their new 2K transfer of the film from an archival 35mm print. That said, the source itself was shot inexpensively and without a lot of lighting. The film can be incredibly darkly lit at times and it is bysometimes still difficult to see what is happening. Despite the 2K scan, the film looks a little flat visually. The color was done by Deluxe. The print seems to have suffered some damage from over the years. It is obvious that Arrow put a good amount of time into making this release look as good as it does. It certainly is a huge leap forward from the VHS era, but expectations should be kept realistic on how good this film can actually look. 

Audio

Similar to the video, the audio has been lovingly restored but is still a little bit muffled and canned sounding. Arrow has provided an LPCM Mono track that is true to the original sound design. The melodramatic and enjoyable score by Dee Barton adds a lot of pizzazz to the film.

Supplements:

• Audio commentary with producer Charles Ison and special effects artist Worth Keeter moderated by filmmaker Phil Smoot
• Brand new audio commentary with The Hysteria Continues
• All the Fun of the Scare: The Making of Death Screams – this is an enjoyable making-of documentary featuring interviews with producer Charles Ison, special effects artist Worth Keeter, writer Paul Elliott, actors Hanns Manship and Curt Rector, actor/producer’s assistant/assistant supervising editor Sharon Alley and actor/talent wrangler Robert “Billy Bob” Melton. 
• TV and Radio Spots
• Image Galleries
• House of Death Alternate VHS Opening Titles
• Two versions of the screenplay under the original title of Night Screams [BD-ROM content]

Overall Scores:

Video – 3.5/5

Audio – 3.5/5

Supplements – 3.5/5

Overall – 3.5/5

Death Screams is a forgotten relic of the VHS era that has been lovingly restored by the team at Arrow Video. The film itself is not anything extremely special, but I respect Arrow’s continued interest in bringing as many VHS era slashers to Blu-ray as possible. The video and audio are hampered not by the work of Arrow, but from the actual source itself which was done fairly inexpensively and at times ineffectively. I enjoy watching slasher films from this era so it scratched an itch, but I would recommend a rental prior to a purchase unless you are a fan of the film or a dedicated collector of forgotten slashers.