The Movie:

Directed by Gordon Hessler and written by Christopher Wicking for AIP in 1970, Scream And Scream Again, which was co-produced by Amicus in the UK, begins when a man goes out for his morning job only to collapse. He wakes up in the hospital, his limbs cut off. From there we witness the rape and murder of a young woman followed by the murder of a high-ranking militia officer at the hands of a man named Konratz (Marshall Jones). Hoping to climb the ranks of said militia, Konratz follows up the first murder with a second, wherein he eliminates the man in charge, Major Heinrich Benedek (Peter Cushing).

Meanwhile, a pretty young lady named Sylvia (Judy Huxtable) is out at a nightclub where she hooks up with a guy named Keith (Michael Gothard). Keith, however, is not the nice guy he seems and once he has his way with poor Sylvia, Inspector Bellaver (Alfred Marks) makes the scene in hopes to stop the rash of sex crimes in the area. He sends in a sexy lady cop named Helen (Judy Bloom) to work undercover and she has no trouble catching Keith's eye. By the time the cops catch up with her, however, it's too late... Keith drinks the poor woman's blood! The cops, after some wonky detective work, tie things back to Dr. Browning (Vincent Price), a government sanctioned scientist with ties to some of the murder victims. These ties don't stop with Browning, however, they go all the way to the top of the British intelligence wing, and include the man in charge, Fremont (Christopher Lee). The only one who seems to want to put a proper stop to this is Dr. David Sorel (Christopher Matthews), a cop doctor who may already know too much!?

A weird mix of genres (horror, science fiction and conspiracy theory thriller) all mixed up in a decidedly early seventies ‘mod London' wrapping, Scream And Scream Again has trouble bringing all of its story elements together properly but it still makes for a pretty fun time at the movies. The biggest draw here is obviously the casting of Lee, Cushing and Price and to be honest, they're not used as well or as frequently as they probably could and should have been. That said, each of the three gets enough screen time here to make his own mark on the film, with Price in particular standing out as the devious scientist. Really though, their roles are supporting roles and we spend a fair bit more time with the other players. They do as well as they can, given that the script is pretty choppy, but they lack the star power of the aforementioned ‘big three.'

Saying that, the film, as erratic as it might be, is nice and quick in the pacing department. It might occasionally leave you scratching your head but stick with it, it turns out to be a fun watch. There are some sufficiently macabre moments here and a welcome bit of grue and gore in a couple of scenes. Hessler does tie up most of the loose ends as the film rockets towards a pretty satisfying conclusion, and even in those earlier, more haphazard early scenes, the movie is nicely shot and has a lot of weird energy working in its favor. Throw in a pretty great theme song, some fun nightclub scenes, lots of London location footage and, for all its flaws, Scream And Scream Again remains a pretty fun, if marginally confusing, genre mish-mash.

Note that Kino have provided both the U.S. theatrical cut of the film as well as the alternate British version of the picture. The differences are not massive but it makes for an interesting variant. It includes a scene where Bellaver throws a rock at Keith and a scene where Keith and Sylvia are making out in the car. It also features different end credits. It also has a brief dialogue sequence between Lee and Price. The U.K. version runs only ten seconds longer than the U.S. version.

The Video:

Kino presents both versions in AVC encoded 1080p high definition framed at 2.35.1 widescreen, which is the film's original aspect ratio, on a 50GB disc. The U.S. cut is cleaner and warmer looking with better color reproduction and in fact it looks quite nice. Interestingly enough, the U.K. version shows a little bit more picture on the left and right sides of the frame but it's not as nice looking as the U.S. version, showing weaker contrast and inferior black levels. Both versions are more than watchable but the U.S. version wins, with better color and nicer detail. There are no noticeable compression issues evident on either transfer, nor are there any problems with noise reduction or edge enhancement.

The Audio:

Both versions of the movies get English language DTS-HD Mono tracks, with optional closed captioning offered up in English only for the U.S. cut of the movie (none are provided for the U.K. cut). While the tracks are a bit limited in range the quality of the mixes is quite solid, as they demonstrate nice clarity throughout. There are no problems of note with any hiss or distortion and the levels are nicely balanced, though there's a little more depth and clarity in the U.S. version than the U.K. version.

The Extras:

The main extra on the disc is an audio commentary featuring Tim Lucas that plays out over top of the U.S. cut of the movie. In Lucas' typically reliable fashion, he delivers a load of well-researched information on the film and those who made it. There's lots of talk here about the not only the film's three iconic leading men but many of the supporting players as well. Additionally, he covers locations, the score, the director's work, contributions from the different cast members, the studio behind the production, the film's release history and much more.

Additionaly the disc includes an installment of Trailers From Hell featuring Mick Garris, a trio of radio spots, the film's original theatrical trailer and bonus Vincent Price trailers for Tales Of Terror, Twice Told Tales, The Oblong Box, Madhouse and House Of Long Shadows. Menus and chapter selection are also provided.

Overall:

Scream And Scream Again has its problems to be sure, but despite that it's a pretty entertaining picture made all the more interesting by the presence of three genuine horror film legends. Kino has done a very nice job bringing this one to Blu-ray with two different cuts of the film, a strong audio commentary and a few other extras that complement a solid audio and video presentation. Recommended.

Ian lives in NYC with his wife where he writes for DVD Talk, runs Rock! Shock! Pop!. He likes NYC a lot, even if it is expensive and loud.