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DVD Review: And Now the Screaming Starts! (The Amicus Collection)
By HammerFanatic
Jun 24, 2006, 15:59

On 25 July, Amicus fans will have a trio of films released from Dark Sky Films and one of those films is the classic, And Now the Screaming Starts!. The film was originally released in 1973 and was directed by the great, Roy Ward Baker. Again, Amicus filled their film with some wonderful talent that includes, Peter Cushing (Dr. Pope), Stephanie Beacham (Catherine Fengriffen), Ian Ogilvy (Charles Fengriffen), Herbert Lom (Henry Fengriffen), Patrick Magee (Dr. Whittle), Geoffrey Whitehead (Silas) and Guy Rolfe (Maitland).

Charles and Catherine Fengriffen (Ogilvy/Beacham) are newlyweds in 1795 England. Charles takes his new bride to his ancestral home and as Catherine surveys her new home, she asks if there are ghosts to which Charles jokingly tells her that there are ghosts galore with headless horsemen, horseless headsmen...etc. While introducing his bride to his family through portraits hanging on the wall, Catherine is drawn towards the portrait of Henry Fengriffen (Lom) and then gets her first taste that the Fengriffen household might be hiding a secret or two. Things got from bad to worse when Catherine is assaulted on her wedding night by a ghost(?). Naturally, all the horrible visions Catherine claims to see are shrugged off by her husband and the household help as nothing more than hallucinations. When Catherine claims to see visions of an eyeless corpse, a disembodied hand and other odd visions, Charles can see no hope but to enlist the help of family doctor, Dr. Whittle (Magee). When Dr. Whittle can accomplish nothing with Catherine, he sends for further help in the form of Dr. Pope (Cushing). Dr. Pope feels that Catherine is suffering from a mental disorder, but does Charles know more about the visions Catherine is suffering, than he's willing to share? Is there any truth to the horrible visions that Catherine is experiencing and does the Fengriffen family have a curse upon it for some long-past horrible deeds they are guilty of?

And Now the Screaming Starts! is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1:85.1) and looks excellent. The earlier release of the film on Region 1, through Image looks quite dark and soft in comparison and with the effort from Dark Sky Films, much more detail is seen and appreciated. Audio options offer English only language (Dolby Digital Mono) along with English subtitles, only. Audio appears quite good and I didn't really notice any drops in audio volume at all. Bonus features abound with this release and include:

OK, I'll admit it, And Now the Screaming Starts! can bog down at times, but in spite of that the film is still quite enjoyable and certainly has some wonderful looking sets and costumes. The acting is solid as well and even the story is good, it just has moments where the action is slow, but those moments are far and few between and viewers are treated to a decent film. I love some of the effects for the film, especially one scene in particular.....when Catherine is admiring the portraits on the wall. The cast is something to behold, what with, Cushing, Lom, Magee, Ogilvy and Beacham all making the most of their roles......Beacham takes center stage in the Amicus film, but in no way can you really consider the rest of the cast as a simple supporting cast, as each actor brings a lot of interest and fun to their individual roles. The film really looks wonderful on this disc and with the added bonus features, it's definitely worth picking up to fans of the film and anyone owning the original release from Image, you simply won't believe how nice this print looks. The film rates a solid rental to those sitting on the fence about a purchase and those unfamiliar with the film, as well.

Pre-order And Now the Screaming Starts! on DVD from Amazon.com