SCREAMS
OF A WINTER NIGHT (1979)
Directed by James L. Wilson
VCII Home Video VHS
THE FILM
Clear out! The moldy scent of pointlessness
has shuffled into the living room.
I’ll do what I can to help,
but I’m no miracle worker.
Does that sound harsh? Let me clarify.
Screams Of A Winter Night
is a PG rated, low budget anthology
horror film from first (and only)
time director James Wilson. In the
years since its limited theatrical
release in ‘79, the film has
built up some reputable steam, often
cited as a dependable provider of
late nite spooks. I’ll be
the first to admit that Screams
sets up dozens of possibilities
for solid, low budget creep-outs.
Unfortunately, reality soon sets
in. Here’s an amazing example
of a film that has everything going
for it, but can’t seem to
get past the front porch. No beginning,
no middle, no end. What’s
that spell?
After a very unnerving opening credit
sequence, things kind of go downhill.
A group of thirtysomething nerds
arrive at an old cabin, which is
said to have been haunted by an
Indian curse. Everybody talks at
once, usually over-dubbed, always
annoying. Head knuckle-brain (their
words, not mine) John decides to
scare everyone with beer-soaked
tales of urban legend-themed terror
tales. Insert three directionless
anthology tales, starring the same
actors from the wraparound footage,
but in different roles. Just for
fun, the stories go a little like
this: “The Moss-Point Man,”
in which a “little person”
bigfoot/Man-Thing terrorizes a girl
and her date; “The Green Light,”
where three frat guys in their thirties
are elected to spend the night in
a haunted hotel; and “The
Girl Next Door,” which features
the homicidal tendencies of a woman
scorned. After the stories are over,
John and pal scare the girls with
a gorilla mask, the Indian curse
rocks ‘em like a hurricane,
and the ladies screams a lot. A
LOT. Matte explosion. Fin.
Derivative, yet varied in its mashed-up
presentation, Screams isn’t
without its strong suits. Several
scenes definitely induced the shudders
-- the clever opening sequence,
the bizarre “green”
room, and the coed dorm room slaying,
to name a few. Then the mood-killers
kick in. The series of events in
each story dig ditches of emptiness,
lacking both suspense and decent
pacing for such compact sequences.
A majority of the film is padded
with awkward incidental dialogue
(“Don’t be such a turkey,”
“You’re as crazy as
a damn jaybird,” and my fave
Steve Martin crib “Well excuuuuse
me!”). Laughable smooth jazz
dominates the soundtrack and plot
confusion runs amuck. The wraparound
“story” relies on the
same tired concept over and over
until the film ends, piling on annoyance
in steady increments. I saw a boom
mic too.
Screams is here and willing,
but it doesn’t have a lot
to do. It just exists. Unless you’ve
got a really active imagination
and some spare motivation, that’s
just not enough.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Don’t tell anybody, but this
is actually a copy of the ultra-rare
VCII tape. Therefore, the already
dark and washed out print is enhanced
with a layer of analog fuzz. It
tends to help the atmosphere of
the film, but not by much. The mono
sound was surprisingly clear.
EXTRAS
About a half hour of blank tape...as
long as you hit “SP”
beforehand.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Much as I hate to say it, this about
sums things up: lots of potential,
but ultimately lifeless. Scratch
out another film on the “must
see” list and move on...”knuckle-brain”!
Thanks to Dan Budnik for providing
a copy of this film!
— Joseph A. Ziemba, 06.03.05 |
That's a good look
Gorilla POV
Feel good all the time
Blood Blinds
|
