The Silent Scream 4K 1979

One of the trailers that caught my attention in the ‘42nd Street Forever’ compilation was ‘The Silent Scream’. After briefly reviewing the information about the film, I decided that it was worth watching, even though the producers did not like the first version, shot back in 1977, so they had to organize additional filming and reshoots.

In any case, Denny Harris's film is far from perfect, but it is a solid piece of work that you would not think was made by a debutant—everything is in its place, the characters are not stereotypical, and there is atmosphere. It's not even clear why this film was Harris's only work in the world of cinema (and considering the solid box office for such a project, it's doubly unclear). Of course, Denny didn't escape the pitfalls typical of a debut project, and we'll discuss below which ones he fell into and which ones he avoided.

A young student arrives to study at a new university. Since there are no places left in the dormitory, she rents a room in a large, respectable house by the sea, where three other young people also live. The company is just right, no one bothers them, the owners of the house—an old dignified lady and her bespectacled, timid son—don't grumble, what more could you want? But a little later, it turns out that the lady also has a daughter—a madwoman who hides in the basement, occasionally coming out and killing everyone she meets.

Horror films, as is customary, must rely either on spectacular murders or suspense, or better yet, both at once. Harris focuses on creating atmosphere and even plays a little with the narrative timeline (at the very beginning, we are shown the ending, and all that remains is to watch until the end and find out whose bodies the police found), but behind all this lies a lack of budget—but just enough so that it doesn't descend into outright cheapness. Yes, as usual, the murders are often taken off-screen and covered up with blood, but, so to speak, in moderation, so that the viewer does not feel cheated.

The plot is quite simple and offers only one surprise, concerning the family tree of the owners of the house. Otherwise, there are no frills, but the characters are well-developed, which is pleasing. However, I would have liked to see more action, because due to the notorious budget shortage, the director shamelessly drags out some scenes, and at such moments you feel not tension, but banal boredom.

The main question I asked myself throughout the film was, “Why did you cast a thirty-year-old actor as the schoolboy son of a noble lady?” And in general, I wouldn't call the cast excellent — the actors are not bad, that's all. Not bad. But nothing more. The only ones who truly succeeded were Yvonne De Carlo (Miss Engels, the old lady), Barbara Steele (her maniacal daughter Victoria), and perhaps the investigators played by Cameron Mitchell and Avery Schreiber, but they were given very little screen time.

Not bad... A thriller. I was expecting a slasher, but got a thriller with slasher elements. Of course, it's not a perfect movie, and it could use a little more spectacle, but for a debut, it's quite confident and quite interesting. Coupled with good cinematography and a decent soundtrack, it's a perfectly functional machine that nevertheless has no place in an elite fleet.