"SILENT SCREAM" had an infamous tag line, which read "When the terror is so sudden there is no time to scream." The trailer was a little longer then a minute and conjured up images of demons or ghouls in the mind of anyone that saw the trailer and it was disappointing to discover that "SILENT SCREAM" is nothing more then a standard slasher. The major difference with this picture is that it comes from the school of thought that less can be scarier.

   The film suffered severe production problems and director Denny Harris decided the film needed several shots re-done to make a more coherent picture. Jim and Ken Wheat ("Nightmare on Elm Street Part 4") were brought in to write a few scenes and they used this opportunity to convince Harris to re-vamp the entire picture. Keeping the majority of the original cast and locations, "SILENT SCREAM" started production for a second time.

   A worthwhile addition was re-casting some of the previous roles with familiar horror faces such as Yvonne De Carlo, Barbara Steele and Cameron Mitchell. Audiences had a limited time frame to enjoy their understated performances since the picture was only available on VHS from Media Home Entertainment. Luckily, a new DVD company called Scorpion Releasing launched their company with the release of this movie and "Cheerleaders' Wild Weekend."

   The premise is centered a small college town, where Mrs. Engels (De Carlo) allows her neurotic son, Mason (An excellent performance by Brad Rearden) to rent the rooms to college students in desperate need of housing. It is hard to miss the shades of inspiration from "Psycho" throughout this picture. However, the Engels have a demented daughter named Victoria (Steele) that is a ticking time bomb.

   One major flaw here is that Steele and De Carlo look similar in age and it is hard to believe that they are mother and daughter. With that being said, Steele's performance is captivating and convincing.

   Of course, the most important part is the casting of the college students (victims) in need of rooming and they are headed by Rebecca Balding, who plays Scotty. Balding is a charismatic actress and the perfect heroine for a horror movie combining brains and beauty. It is her co-stars or housemates that lack some creditability in the acting department. Doris (Judi Andelman), is the rotund but wisecracking one, Peter (John Widelock) is a hard sell as a man interested in the opposite sex and Jack (Steve Doubet), is Scotty's romantic interest that unnecessarily spends half the movie with his shirt unbuttoned or not even on.

   Some of these moments make you wish that the Satellite of Love screened a copy of SILENT SCREAM.

   SILENT SCREAM works as a horror picture creating a movie that fans of slashers will relish in but for everyone else this film leaves no distinctive mark. It just doesn't stand out from the rest of the genre, it nevertheless is a fun time-filler with some outstanding performances. SILENT SCREAM follows the cardinal horror movie rule, which is never bore your audience. It moves at a rapid pace well enhancing the plot and characters with an intense but not surprising climax.

   Scorpion Releasing has done a superb introduction into their company with a top-notch transfer of this picture. An informative audio commentary, which features actress Balding, the Wheat brothers, moderator Lee Christian and Walter Olsen.

   That is followed by a rather dull featurette entitled “Scream of Success: 30 Years Later." This has a 40 minute running time and features Balding and the Wheat brothers discussing the production on a couch. It has a few informative moments but the presentation is just bland.

   The shorter and slightly more interesting featurettes, “Silent Scream: The Original Script” and “The Wheat Bros: A Look Back” accompany the principal featurette.

   The extras are rounded out by Harris' final audio interview.. He has a childlike enthusiasm for portions of the interview and it is great that he got to talk about a picture he enjoyed making before passing away.

   Then stick around and watch the original theatrical trailer and a TV spot.

   SILENT SCREAM represents a great period in independent filmmaking that fans will enjoy and a big factor of that is because the Wheat brothers worked so hard to get this film restructured. The disc is a worthy addition to anyone that appreciates the genre.

- Anthony Benedetto

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