And Now the Screaming Starts (DVD, 2002)

This period horror movie has all the right ingredients to be a success. It's got atmosphere, nice sets, Peter Cushing, an experienced horror director, a severed hand with a mind of it's own...but despite all this, it just doesn't work as it should. The principle reason for this is the plotting. It's slow, very slow, and there aren't a lot of things going on in the film. In fact, the film is so slow that even when there is something going on; it feels like there isn't, and this doesn't do the film any favours at all, as it feels like you're stuck in a time warp while watching it. It's a shame this isn't very good, as the cast and crew are experienced in the horror genre, and these guys together should have ensured a better film. I mean, we've got one of the legends of the genre; Peter Cushing, along with two of the smaller stars; Patrick Magee and Herbert Lom, and these guys are directed by one of Hammer Horror's big guns: Roy Ward Baker. How could the resulting movie end up so tragically miserable? You wouldn't think it could, but it did.

The plot follows a house that is under a curse due to some wrongdoing in the past. When the master of the house moves his virgin bride in, she starts experiencing various forms of horror. Like ghosts, severed hands, pregnancy...stuff like that. The first half of the movie is dismal; hardly anything happens, and the stuff that does isn't very interesting. Thankfully for the movie - and the audience - things pick up in the second half when a silly haircut wearing Peter Cushing enters the fray. He doesn't inspire the plot to do anything exciting and/or interesting really, but his screen presence is vast and it's hard to be bored when he's on screen, even if the rest of the movie sucks. The atmosphere and the sets are nicely done however, and this ensures that the dull plot has a nice area to inhabit. It's something of a waste, though, as a better story could easily have moulded around this setting; but at least the movie has some good points. None of the credible actors impress really, and it's more than evident that Cushing is on autopilot. But then again, that's all he needs to be on. If you have a desire to see every horror film ever made, I recommend this movie. Otherwise, it's maybe best to skip it.