Death Screams

Slasher fans are often dismissed as an undiscriminating bunch.  But the fact is there’s nothing they enjoy more than poring over the cinematic fossil record looking for missing links between the giallo, regional drive-in fare and more popular masked killer franchises.  And something like Death Screams (1982) provides a fascinating case study. 

While a quiet little North Carolina town says goodbye to its seasonal summer business and rowdy college students headed back to school, a killer stalks those foolish enough to engage in pre-marital sex.  There are plenty of suspects...and even more victims, including the virginal Lily Carpenter (Susan Kiger) whose first date with the most eligible man in town isn’t going anything like she planned.

 

Death Screams could have been written by an artificial intelligence program fed with all the classic slasher ingredients:  sex, blood, cringey comic relief and teens who look like they’re pushing forty.  Viewed in 1982 it was likely a hot mess, but in 2021 it plays like an unintentional and enjoyably awkward spoof of the genre’s greatest hits.  The kill sequences are dark, clumsy and unimpressive; the best of them – set on a merry-go-round - wasn’t even shot by director David Nelson of Ozzie and Harriet fame, but rather a reshoot completed later.  Yet the cast of enthusiastic victims helps one overlook the film’s shortcomings and massive plot holes.   It doesn’t have the spit and polish of Camp Crystal Lake, but that’s part of the charm.

 

Arrow’s limited edition Blu-ray features a brand new 2K restoration from an archival 35mm print.  It can still get a bit murky at times – especially in that opening death scene – but looks miles better than anything previously released or streaming!  Extras include two commentary tracks, a 30-minute Making Of full of interviews and anecdotes, alternate opening titles, TV and radio spots, two versions of the screenplay on BD-ROM (which fills in many of the aforementioned plot holes) and a collector’s booklet.

 

  

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