Customer Reviews

Scream of the Wolf [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is your movie if you liked watching Kolchak:The Night Stalker back in the mid-70's. It is produced and directed by the same creative force behind that one, Dan Curtis. This movie relies much on atmosphere and great spooky music that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end. SCREAM includes great acting by its stars Peter Graves and Clint Walker(who also delivers some of the most classic lines of a hunter gone mad). So, if you want to return back to the 70's and see a classic made for tv movie, I highly suggest you check this one out. Five out of five stars.

I have always loved werewolves, but this one has a twist. Won't give the movie away, but Clint Walker spent 20 years playing goody two shoes roles in Hollywood, like WB's and ABC's "Cheyenne" and he did a lot of great films where he wasn't quite the good guy, "Fort Dobbs" sticks out. But overall, he played a Saint. This movie he doesn't. He's a bit older in it and so is Peter Graves. But the movie is well worth seeing. I loved every chilling moment of it, with the shocking ending. I suggest you buy it if you are a fan of Walker's, Graves' or Werewolf genre.

I won't go into the whole plot of this movie but I will say that there is a twist at the end.

If you grew up with Curtis's other classic flicks such as The Night Stalker, The Night Strangler, and The Norliss Tapes, then you'll appreciate the job he's done on this film. A bonus I didn't even know about until I saw the opening credits was Richard Matheson did the teleplay for this made-for-TV movie.

But I have to agree with the other reviewers that the video quality is pretty weak. A fair amount of grain and other digital artifacts can be found throughout the film. Not enough to get on a person's nerves, though. But, at least Brentwood/BCI released this classic on DVD.

Here's a tip: Don't buy the more expensive title above with the wolf on the cover. Buy Brentwood's "Beasts of Terror" package which gives you four movies for under ten dollars! You get "Scream of the Wolf" included plus some other interesting horror films. Makes sense. Right?

Thumbs up! I only wish they'd pull out all the stops one day and release a comprehensive package covering Dan Curtis's horror films. Maybe one day while I'm still around. ;-)

I have seen all of Clint Walker's films and tv series. The reason I like this film is it shows a distinct contrast in his other "good guy" films and Scream of the Wolf. His subtlety in portraying a psychotic hunter when compared to let's say, the good law abiding homesteader in Night of the Grizzly is fun to watch. I think he does an excellent job with this role as well as his other films.

The only gripe I have is the quality of the dvd. I guess due to the flaws in the original master tape there are some of pops and clicks and some of the frames jump. The frame jumping may be due to my dvd rom drive in my computer ( I don't have a dvd player for the tv), but for 5 bucks you can't go wrong. The picture quality is still very good.

The 1970s was a Golden Age of TV horror, most of it broadcast on ABC.

SCREAM OF THE WOLF does have some good creative lineage. Written & directed by Dan Curtis. Music by Robert Corbert (both men were behind DARK SHADOWS and NIGHT STALKER). For that matter, SCREAM OF THE WOLF also features Jo Ann Pflug, the female lead in NIGHT STRANGLER.

But SCREAM OF THE WOLF is not one of the better 1970s TV horror films. It's not even supernatural horror. I won't spoil the ending, but there's nothing supernatural in this "werewolf" film. It turns out to be a suspense film.

Of course, many supernatural horror fans also enjoy suspense films (e.g., PSYCHO). But SCREAM OF THE WOLF is not a great suspense film, either. It's okay, but very low budget, not too surprising or original, and not very interesting.

And this DVD leaves much to be desired. It looks struck from an old 16mm film print, the kind distributed to TV stations. Scratch marks show up throughout the film. There are even GREASE PENCIL MARKS!

What are those? Editors would often write on film strips with grease pencils. Notations, such as where to trim, or fix a broken or torn film. They wrote with grease pencils, because the grease could easily be erased afterwards.

However, this DVD's SCREAM OF THE WOLF transfer still has those grease pencil marks, which flash by on occasion, along with the scratches. This is not a clean, digitally remastered print.

I've seen this film selling on Amazon -- this very same DVD -- for over $70. Please! Save your money. It's worth a few bucks if you're a hardcore horror/suspense film fan. Or a completist for any of the principal creative people involved. But this is not a seminal work in horror film history. It's hardly the best of the genre, or even of the genre's period. Buy it for a few bucks, otherwise wait a decent price.

SCREAM OF THE WOLF opens with a guy in a convertible being attacked and mutilated (in our minds) by a growling "creature", that tears through the rag-top and smashes out the car windows. Not a bad beginning for a made-for-tv movie from the silly seventies. Dan Curtis (Trilogy Of Terror) seemed to be able to make things scary and suspenseful, even under the ridiculous constraints of network television. Peter Graves (Mission Impossible, Airplane) is John, a man brought in by the sheriff to figure out who or what is killing people in a small california beachtown. Clint Walker (Killdozer) is John's misanthropic friend Byron. Byron hates people because they're weak. He has more respect for the animals he kills than for modern man. John tries unsuccessfully to get Byron to help him find the murderer. Byron would rather wax philosophical about our pitiful species. So, the rampage continues, with some fairly frightening (for 70s tv) stalking / death sequences. Will John figure things out in time? Is a werewolf really causing these murders? Will Byron ever loosen up? Watch and see...

Cool music, cool Corvette Stingray,
interesting characters,
spooky atmosphere and scary goings-on.
What's not to like.
This is a very nice murder mystery.
I'll watch it again.
I'm glad that I have it.

I first watched this alone at night when I was a teenage college student and it scared the HECK out of me! Of course it doesn't have the same impact 30 years later, but if viewed in the context of the time period and cinematic limitations of TV in the pre-Disco era, it is a well-done horror flic with Dan Curtis's inimitable mark on it (and Robert Colbert's unmistakable albeit a tad repetitive soundtrack: virtually identical to The Night Stalker, The Night Strangler and The Norliss Tapes - now THAT needs to come out on DVD!!!). The 'bad guy' is clear-cut from almost the very beginning - no surprises there, but the nighttime cinematography is excellent, and it's always a pleasure to see the cars, clothes and hairstyles of my old college years. Now, Hollywood come on: PLEASE get the wonderful suite of Movies Of The Week onto DVD, like Norliss, The Love War, Night Slaves, etc. - the nostalgic Baby Boomers are primed and waiting!! :)

Outstanding Fright Flick! Clint Walker is as good at acting as the heavy in this movie as he is at being the good guy Cheyenne Bodie in the old TV Western.

Clint Walker as the bad guy ? That's a 180 turn from his usuall rolls. Rest assured he does it very well.