And Now the Screaming Starts! (1973)

"Headless horsemen, horseless headsmen", 28 July 2006

What a disappointment. With a cast that features Peter Cushing, Herbert Lom, Patrick Magee, and Stephanie Beacham, I expected a whole lot more. The film gets off to a great start. Within the first 10 minutes, we see body parts coming out of portraits, a severed hand creeping across the floor, and a new bride attacked in her bed by an eyeless man. Unfortunately after the great start, the movie settles into one of the most ho-hum, mundane stories imaginable. A friend of mine described it as "comfortable". I suppose I agree to a certain degree, but comfort isn't always that exciting. The mystery behind what's going on is annoyingly hinted at without much in the way of clues to help figure it out. And when the clues do finally appear, the storyline does a 180 degree turn and becomes too predictable. It doesn't help matters that Cushing doesn't show up for the first hour, Lom has about 10 minutes of screen time (unless you count the extraordinary amount of time his portrait is shown), and Magee is on screen less than Lom. All you're left with is an incredible ineffective male lead and a constantly screaming Beacham. Unless you're idea of a good movie is listening to Beacham caterwauling with impunity, it's difficult to really enjoy And Now the Screaming Starts.

5/10