Silent Scream

Year: 1980
Director: Denny Harris
Writer: Ken Wheat, Jim Wheat
Genre: Horror: Slasher

With a name like Silent Scream, it's hard for a film to stand out. Although it feels more like a retro title than most, it also doesn't do much to distinguish itself. Either way, I've come to realize that name means absolutely nothing when going into a movie. All it does is possible make me go in expecting nothing and then come out with a positive opinion.

So what's the film all about? It starts us off with a college-aged gal who is looking for a place to rent out. Everywhere she looks doesn't work out though for one reason or another. SO when she finally comes across a nice house by the beach she snaps it up immediately. Of course her choice is probably the worst she could choose as there's some really messed up characters lurking in the home.

What follows is a pretty standard slasher in regards to young people, sex, and death. However, I found myself enjoying the whole movie quite a lot. It had a bit of intelligence with scares, and helped to build them up until there was finally a death. I like this method more than movies which will just do a brief build up and have the tension release immediately with a quick kill.

Something else that really stood out about this movie was simply the characters themselves. They're not particularly likeable, but they're good enough. They all seem to be real enough and have natural-sounding conversations and reactions to the events around them. I definitely always appreciate when characters don't sound like they're forced into a situation and seem removed from reality.

If you're a slasher film this seems like a simple classic with a lot of charm. It doesn't really go to any extremes and aside from a few elements is down to earth. I'd suggest watching it back to back with other under-appreciated slashers such as The House on Sorority Row.