The Silent Scream

There are two movies called Silent Scream. One of them has Cameron Mitchell (!!) the other ... ... probably had Cameron Mitchell.

Rebecca Balding rents a room in a big Victorian house owned by Yvonne De Carlo. De Carlo's son and a few other students also live in the house. After miscellaneous violence occurs, we realize DE Carlo has a crazy daughter (Barbara Steele) locked up in the house. A perfectly average late 70's slasher. It's not very sleazy or violent. It's not really poorly acted. The pacing is slow without being very dull. If anything, it's unmemorable.

There's a pretty evident Psycho influence, but unfortunately this never quite hits the same notes. The cast is stacked with talent in DeCarlo, Steele, Schreiber, Mitchell, & the underrated Rebecca Balding (who also did The Boogens), & the first half is actually quite good, but then it gets goofy & goes down the same tired path as so many others. The killer's motivation (& most of their backstory) is nonsense, the ending is lame, & the detectives aren't really needed. Decent, but nothing special.

This is closer to a "Psycho" style thriller than a proper slasher, but it's still competently made and has a nice atmosphere. The pacing is quite slow and there are few kills which are not that gory. The scenes with Cameron Mitchell feel a bit unnecessary. The location is great - massive house/estate on a hill facing a beach. It's nice to see Barbara Steele - albeit in a silent role.