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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Best Pete Walker I've Seen, January 9, 2008
I have to disagree with the other reviewers here and praise this film. Maybe part of the reason I got so much out of it was that I wasn't expecting much and got pleasantly suprised. I wasn't expecting much because I'd recently seen a couple other of Walker's films (House of Whipcord and another) and thought they were completely without artistic merit. But this one is really quite a good film. Much like an Italian Giallo, there is a nice combination of spine-tingling suspense, cool outfits and set pieces, and softcore sexuality. The story is quite compelling, Susan George is great as the sexy and troubled go-go dancer on the run, Judy Huxtable and the guy who plays the evil father are palpably hateable . . . This is a Pete Walker film that actually has a story worth paying attention to, and a mood that takes you in from the first scene and doesn't let you go until the final credits.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great Title, So-So Movie..., July 26, 2008
As far as Pete Walker movies go, DIE SCREAMING MARIANNE is nowhere near as good as his classics, FRIGHTMARE or HOUSE OF WHIPCORD. However, it's not as bad as the awful FLESH AND BLOOD SHOW either. The story is about a care-free go-go dancer named Marianne Evans (Susan George) who must stay one step ahead of her odd, insane family, including her looney dad (Leo Genn) and her homicidal sister, Hildegard (Judy Huxtable). Marianne has something that they want, sitting in a Swiss bank account. While I wouldn't go so far as to call this movie exciting, it does have some semi-interesting plot twists, a handful of colorful characters, and a (tiny) bit of tension. The finalé is pretty satisfying as well. The fact that DSM is thought of as a horror film is ridiculous. This is a thriller, though it's not all that thrilling! With it's long-winded storyline, sporadic "action" sequences, and overall atmosphere of desolation, DSM can be a chore to watch. Still, the payoff is (almost) worth the effort...
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Die Yawning, Moviegoers, December 8, 2008
DIE SCREAMING, MARIANNE has essentially none of the gore and skin for which auteur Pete Walker would later become famous, so fans of horror and thriller cinema are likely to come away disappointed. Unfortunately, it is often the outre use of stage blood and T&A that makes Walker's films so compelling and memorable, and without them, DIE SCREAMING, MARIANNE is a rather boring film by any standard. The story itself is a cliche tale involving the young heir to a fortune and the jealous family members who want to kill her and get their mitts on the dough. It's all been done before...and with better results.
The film is not totally without merit, however. As the young heiress, cute and perky Susan George is a delight to watch. Most of the supporting cast is pretty good, too, especially Barry Evans as Ms. George's love interest. Walker's direction is adequate, though it's not his best effort, and there is some very interesting camera work, specifically a couple of split-screen shots that predate Brian De Palma's masterful perfection of the technique by a few years.
As with the other Pete Walker offerings from Shriek Show, the source print used for the digital transfer of this DVD isn't the greatest, although it is arguably the cleanest of the lot. There are a few scratches and instances of color shift, and the print looks faded and washed-out overall, but the copy is watchable. The only bonus feature on the DVD, beside the theatrical trailer, is a commentary with director Walker and author Jonathan Rigby.
All in all, this one is only of interest to fans of Susan George and to Walker completists. All others are likely to experience an hour-and-a-half of intense yawning.
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