Film

Scream and Scream Again

Name: Scream and Scream Again
Genre: Horror, Science Fiction
Released: 1970
Cast: Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Judy Huxtable, Alfred Marks

A 1970 sci-fi horror oddity where a blood-draining killer, London detectives, and an eccentric scientist's sinister experiments collide. It's deliberately strange, sometimes incoherent, but stuffed with genuine menace and boasting three horror icons at the height of their powers. Made for people who prefer atmosphere and oddness to narrative clarity.

TMDb rating

2.7

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy early-seventies British horror that plays like a puzzle box, cutting between strands and trusting you to keep up, with three legendary horror actors sharing the screen and a cool, unsettled chill.

Skip it if you want a tidy, steadily building scare; its tone is cool and detached, and its jumps between threads can leave you feeling more bewildered than frightened.

What it asks of you: Keep track of several separate threads across a brisk 95 minutes, and be ready for an approach that favours mood and fragments over explanation, rather than a slow-burn build-up.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Wicker Man1973

A masterpiece of folk-horror where a cop investigates a pagan island community. It builds dread through strangeness and ritual rather than gore, with an ending that quietly devastates. British, smart, and genuinely unsettling.

But The pacing is deliberate and the mystery unfolds slowly. If you need jump-scares or rapid plot movement, this will feel static.

Quatermass and the Pit1967

Sci-fi horror about ancient evil lurking beneath London. It treats its supernatural premise with rigorous logic, blending science fiction concepts with genuine creeping dread. Cushing is magnificent.

But The focus on exposition and explanation over action won't suit viewers looking for constant momentum.

Dracula: Prince of Darkness1966

Lee as Dracula, Cushing as Van Helsing, gorgeous Technicolor, and a script that trusts atmosphere over talking. Pure gothic pleasure with a vampire who barely speaks but commands every frame he enters.

But It's leisurely and theatrical rather than scary by modern standards. Some found footage films have more urgency.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Scream and Scream Again

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Hidden Face2011

Both films deliberately mislead their audience and trust viewers to sit with confusion. Neither explains itself neatly. Scream's incoherence feels like madness; The Hidden Face's feels like a puzzle, but the effect is kin.

A Colombian thriller about a musician investigating his girlfriend's disappearance—except it's told backwards and the reveal unmakes everything you thought you understood. It's structurally brilliant in a way that echoes Scream's deliberate disorientation.

But It's in Spanish with subtitles and demands a second viewing to truly understand it. Some find that rewarding; others find it gimmicky.

Suspiria1977

Italian horror at peak strangeness: a ballet academy hiding witches, Goblin's hypnotic score, and cinematography that makes you feel unmoored. It prioritizes mood and texture over logic, and that's entirely the point.

But The plot is secondary to pure atmosphere. Subtitles required. If you need coherent narrative, this will frustrate you.

The Masque of the Red Death1964

Corman and Price at their best: a plague rages outside, nobles hide in a castle for a masquerade ball, and Death itself joins the party. Visually stunning, philosophically dark, with Price's narcissism perfectly cast.

But More theatrical and painterly than plot-driven. Heavy on symbolism and allegory rather than conventional storytelling.

Alligator1980

A giant mutant alligator stalks Chicago's sewers. It's trash cinema that's genuinely fun—cleverly made B-movie with wit, invention, and zero pretension. Sometimes the best horror just commits to its premise.

But The creature effects are obviously dated. If you need cutting-edge technical spectacle, you'll see the seams.

The Vampire Lovers1970

Hammer Films' lesbian vampire Gothic: Ingrid Pitt as Carmilla, gorgeous cinematography, and a script that takes its eroticism and body horror seriously. It's sensual and strange.

But The pacing creaks and it commits to a period style that some find slow. Sapphic subtext isn't subtle, which won't bother some and annoy others.

Madhouse1974

Vincent Price and Peter Cushing together, playing horror-film versions of themselves. It's meta before meta was a buzzword, full of clips from old Corman films, and genuinely clever about cinema and madness.

But It's more interested in in-jokes about horror history than external plot. You need familiarity with classic horror to get the full pleasure.

Frogs1972

An eccentric family faces vengeance from an army of Southern wildlife. It's camp, oddly ecological for 1972, and features Ray Milland as a despicable patriarch finally getting his due. There's something almost morally satisfying about it.

But The creature effects are primitive. It's not scary, and the premise is inherently absurd—that's the appeal or the problem depending on your mood.

Possession1981

Both films harness their low budgets and practical effects to create something genuinely weird rather than polished. Both are more interested in getting under your skin than in making sense.

An avant-garde body-horror masterpiece where a deteriorating marriage becomes literally monstrous. It's visually transgressive, emotionally raw, and Andrzej Żuławski's direction is fever-dream intensity. One of cinema's strangest films made with absolute conviction.

But It's genuinely disturbing in ways that have nothing to do with jump-scares. The infamous squid-monster scene is unpleasant. The performances are hysterical in the clinical sense.

Don't Look Now1973

Both make their incoherence a feature, not a bug. Both trust that unease and strangeness are more powerful than explanation. Scream has no idea what it is; Don't Look Now knows exactly and doesn't care if you don't.

A couple in Venice after their daughter drowns encounter mysterious red-coated figures that may or may not be supernatural. Nicolas Roeg's direction is fractured and intuitive; it's less a plot you follow than a mood you drown in. Perfect filmmaking.

But It builds to an ending some find cheap or confusing. The famous sex scene distracts some viewers. It's meditative, not action-oriented.