Scream – and Die! is a 1973 British horror thriller film about a female model and her petty thief boyfriend who find their way through the English fog to a backwoods manor in hopes of looting it. What they find instead is murder.
The movie was directed by Spanish filmmaker José Ramón Larraz [as Joseph Larraz] (Symptoms; Vampyres; Deadly Manor) from a screenplay by Derek Ford (Corruption; Don’t Open Till Christmas, The Urge to Kill). Promoted as Scream and Die. It was produced by Diana Daubeney (the director’s wife).
The movie stars Andrea Allan, Karl Lanchbury, Maggie Walker and Peter Forbes-Robertson.
Blackwater Film Productions specialised in ribald comedies and this was their only offering in the thriller genre.
The BBFC cut the UK release for an ‘X’ certificate on 30th August 1973, although their website provides no details of the censorship.
Plot [includes spoilers]:
London fashion model Valerie Jennings travels into the countryside with her photographer boyfriend, Terry, who is searching for an abandoned house; he intends to find something there, but does not tell her what it is. They discover the house at nightfall, and while exploring it, Valerie discovers numerous women’s passports in a bedroom.
Another couple — a woman and an unseen man — enter the house. Panicked, Valerie and Terry hide in a closet. They watch as the woman is brutally murdered with a switchblade.
While the killer washes his hands in the bathroom, Valerie flees, unaware that Terry is not following behind her. When she finds the keys to their car missing, she runs into the woods, and the killer chases her into an abandoned wrecking yard where she manages to evade him by hiding inside a car.
The next day, Valerie reaches a road and hitchhikes back to London. She enters her apartment, and while standing at the kitchen window, sees Terry’s car parked on the street. She finds it unlocked and, inside, discovers her modelling portfolio with a photo missing. Perplexed, she goes to Terry’s apartment but finds he has not returned home. Panicked, Valerie visits her friend Mike and his girlfriend, Stella, who urge her not to go to the police, fearing she will implicate herself in Terry’s burglary.
Later, at a modeling shoot, Mike introduces Valerie to his friend Paul, a young and shy artist who makes masks for a living. Paul invites Valerie over for dinner, but they are joined by his domineering Aunt Susanna. After Valerie leaves, Paul and Susanna have coitus.
Still concerned over Terry’s absence, Valerie agrees to bring Mike and Stella to the house. She leads them to the wrecking yard, where they inexplicably find Terry’s ravaged car. Despite their efforts, they are unable to find the house.
Back in her apartment building, Valerie becomes unnerved by the presence of Mr. Hornby, an eccentric new neighbour who moves in below her, and who keeps pigeons in his home. She is relieved when her flatmate Lorna, also a model, returns from an out-of-town job. One night, while Valerie is out with friends, an intruder breaks into the apartment and after sexually assaulting her, he murders her.
Unsettled by Lorna’s murder, Valerie is invited to go out of town with Paul, to which she agrees. He takes her to a remote manor house owned by his family. While there, he confesses to her that his father committed suicide in the home.
At night, Valerie hears noises coming from upstairs, but Paul assures her no one is there. She goes to investigate and notices a taxidermied animal identical to one she saw in the house she entered with Terry; she realizes she is in the same house as before.
In the bedroom upstairs, she discovers a bloodstained bed. Hearing someone come up the stairs, she again hides in the closet and sees Susanna enter the room, calling for Paul and chastising him. In the closet, she discovers the bodies of Terry and the first victim. Valerie flees downstairs, where she is attacked by Paul. Susanna encourages him to kill Valerie, but he turns on her, stabbing her to death. Valerie runs outside, where she is met by the police. Inside, Paul sits in the hallway in silence.
“This is one of those illogical thrillers where you want to throttle the characters because of their stupidity. There is so much gratuitous nudity that eventually you may find yourself saying, “oh, no, here comes those boring boobs again.” Then again, you might not.” Gary A. Smith, Uneasy Dreams: The Golden Age of British Horror Films, 1956 – 1976 book
Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com
“A dreary and unconvincing dud that is as absurd in its use of red herrings and tawdry sexploitation footage, as it is in the predictability of its final outcome.” John Elliot, Elliot’s Films on Video book
“If both the languid and the lurid were not so creative and effective, perhaps The House That Vanished would be, overall, more effective for viewers. If one were played down, the other could dominate, and most viewers could easily categorize and subsequently digest the film. Visually, Larraz is without equal in his unique images.” Cathal Tohill and Pete Tombs, Immoral Tales book
In the United States, Hallmark Releasing distributed the film theatrically in 1974 as The House That Vanished after an initial release as Please! Don’t Go in the Bedroom. To capitalise on the recent popularity of Wes Craven’s Last House on the Left (1972), the poster used that film’s popular tagline, “It’s Only a Movie”. The film was re-released in 1977 under the titles Psycho Sex Fiend and Psycho Sex.
Choice dialogue:
“They were in the shadows the whole time.”
“A lot of people dislike old country houses.”
Cast and characters:
Andrea Allan … Valerie – Dead of Night [TV series]; Vampira
Karl Lanchbury … Paul –Whirlpool; Deviation; Vampyres
Maggie Walker … Susanna, Paul’s Aunt
Peter Forbes-Robertson … Mr Hornby, Valerie’s neighbour – Island of Terror; Night, After Night, After Night; Doctor Who
Judy Matheson … Lorna, Valerie’s friend
Annabella Wood … Stella
Alex Leppard … Terry, Valerie’s boyfriend
Lawrence Keane … Mike
Edmund Pegge … Kent, a Photographer
Daphne Lea … Mrs Dabney, the Landlady
Richard Aylen … Inspector Matheson
Barbara Meale … Victim #1
Joshua Leppard … Peter
Raymond Young … Car driver
Technical specs:
1 hour 36 minutes
Audio: Mono
Aspect ratio: 1.85: 1
Filming locations:
19 Blomfield Road, Little Venice, London, England
Essex, England
Hertfordshire, England
Terminal 2, Heathrow Airport, London, England
Free online on YouTube as The House That Vanished [1080p HD]:
Poor 240p quality:
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