The Thing in The Attic: The Silent Scream (1980)

The Silent Scream (1980)
Rating: **1/2
Starring: Rebecca Balding, Cameron Mitchell and Avery Schreiber

I never really wanted to see The Silent Scream (1980). The sound of the title alone is uber-cheesy with a hint of forced sophistication but, seeing that I run this labor of fan-hood love of a site, I took a chance and watched it some night ago with little idea what it's about. In a fair twist, I came to enjoy this psycho-drama, all the while nitpicking on a few details.

Scotty Parker (Rebecca Balding) is a transfer student who finds her only hope for campus accommodation is at Timber Cove Road, where a beautiful yet gothic-looking house overlooks the tiding waters, owned by a geeky teenage boy and his mother. With the company of three other students, Parker begins to take notice strange things around the abode, not knowing that within this near-rotten estate, deep in the attic, a figure with a large kitchen knife has ripped through the wooden boards that kept it prisoner for so long. As soon as it got out, the bodycount starts...

While it has a high-class feel to it, Silent Scream (1980) was more in touch with the likes of gothic set-pieces such as Psycho (1960), Fulci's House By The Cemetery (1981), or even the superior The Unseen (1980), with just as much take on the teen-slasher as many others titles during its time.

Sadly, the clichés of the plot is momentously tired and the usual get-up of a twist in the middle was a certified presence.  I do come to appreciate its humble atmospheric feel; the creaky floorboards and the use of shadowed corners has the film's mood purposely straight with zero cheese, which is something I can applaud for as it's not everyday I get to see a slasher film that stays true to its purpose to scare. The opening itself is a view-getter for me, got me watching the moment them cops inch away in slow-mo to an apparently hinted conclusion. Ironically for a slasher, the count in this is low when it comes to the actual murders (not counting the ones in the climax, there's around two stalk-and-slash worthy moments), but they're jolty enough to keep a fan satisfied.

So does this make it a good film to watch? Yes. And Am I a fan now? Hardly. While the heart is in its bloody place, it didn't really raise much of a bar for my viewings. Still, it's a half-way decent cult film, so I think I'm just happy enough to at least have seen it.

Bodycount:

1 male knifed to death

1 female knifed to death

1 female shot

1 male shot through the mouth

1 female knife stabbed on her gut

Total: 5

I'm sorry, but I just had to post this. XDDD