Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

GazerRise Fantastic!

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

mark.waltz When a virginal bride (Stephanie Beacham) heads to her new home, she has no idea of the horrors ahead of her. Husband to be Ian Ogilvy is a wealthy landowner who is tortured by his family's past. It seems that Grandpa Herbert Lom (now deceased) committed some evil on the woodsman (Geoffrey Whitehead) and his wife, and a curse has moved onto the future generations. Unfortunately, it will be the sweetly innocent Beacham who suffers at the hands of this revenge, but the evil of the past must be avenged....This is a genuinely spooky horror film, a lot like some later mainstream horror films of the late 70's/early 80's ("The Sentinel", "The Changeling", "Ghost Story"), even if it looks like many of the horror films made by Hammer or American International from the late 50's on. Beacham, best known to American audiences for her multi-faceted role as Sable on "The Colbys" and later on "Dynasty", is ravishingly beautiful as well as a very good actress. Why she hasn't had a career in films beyond these string of horror films is as mysterious as the plot line here. (Fortunately, she's been better utilized on stage; She has a presence that takes her a step beyond the usual horror film heroine.) Lom, a veteran actor with a long career in a large variety of genres, is quite menacing as the film's villain, seen in a well-filmed flashback. Geoffrey Whitehead adds scariness and pathos to his pathetic character.Unfortunately, Peter Cushing is wasted as the doctor who comes on half way through the film to help unravel the mystery as any Van Helsing would. But there are enough chills thanks to the crawling hand (that apparently has ears to hear) and mysteriously opening windows to keep you hooked.

slayrrr666 "And Now the Screaming Starts" is one of the better Gothic horror films of the time period.**SPOILERS**Arriving at their ancestral castle, newlyweds Charles, (Ian Oglivy) and Catherine Fengriffen, (Stephanie Beacham) move in and make it their home. Almost immediately, she feels that there's a strange presence in the house, which he writes off as her wild imagination. Thinking it's more, she decides to start looking into the family's past but more strange events plague her search. When news comes that she's pregnant, the staff realizes that a dark family secret is coming out. As she continues to slip away due to the strange family curse, they eventually decide to call for Dr. Pope, (Peter Cushing) to help her condition and solve the mystery. When the legend about his Grandfather, Henry Fengriffen, (Herbert Lom) and his sordid past is finally revealed and is found to be the cause of the strange events due to a lingering curse, they take drastic steps to ensure that the legend is thwarted.The Good News: This is a highly impressive Gothic effort. The house where it takes place is incredibly creepy, and gives off a great vibe that sells most of the scares. The twisting stairs in the house are perfect for such it's collection of scenes, the large windows in practically every room are perfect for giving their scares off and the house in general is just creepy. The overall design in the house gives it the best thrills. It also has a series of really creepy scenes that are quite scary. There's a repeated image of a bloody eyeless figure wandering around, and that it's constant appearances in windows or from portraits makes it seem that much more chilling. The portrait appearances are far better, though, as there's a ghostly aura surrounding them and the times when it appears from them make quite thrilling. The window shocks are also quite chilling, as the site of the bloody, black eyes are a wonderful vision, and it stays on them just enough to make it seem disturbing without losing their impact. This also features a wide variety of wonderful suspense scenes that actually manage to chill. The constant opening of windows through invisible forces are outright creepy, and the attack on the maid is simply thrilling. The pounding pictures, the shaking furniture, the swinging chandelier and the aura of a ghostly presence makes them all the more frightening. The sudden appearance of a hand bursting out of a painting also manages to work, and the whole thing in general is quite creepy. The pacing for the film is also quite great, as this begins it's freak-outs within the first minutes they arrive, and they only escalate but at an incredibly rapid pace that is fun to watch. That this also manages a slight exploitation angle amidst the classiness. Most of the film is brought on by the results of a rape, there's a large section of the film devoted to showing all sorts of debauchery and sleaze, and the entire curse is spread because of a second rape. That it would feel so comfortable with such sleaze inside such a classy film is a nice touch. All of these features make this a watchable film.The Bad News: There isn't a whole lot here that doesn't work. One of the few things wrong is that the idea of the mystery taking so long to come out gets a little tired and repetitious after a while. They're going to, they're not, it almost came out but now it's not, it's a little aggravating to know that it's such a struggle to get it out. That drags some of the film out in some areas with the whole repetition of everything, including the visions. While it is a creepy concept and does have some great moments, far too much of it is simply a repeat of what's been done before. Either the image is from the portrait or from a window and after a while it just becomes another one just like before. The other really big problem with the film is that there's no real conclusion to what happened. They touch upon all the story lines in some way but it's still a little hazy about what happened and that brings it down a touch as well. All in all, this one didn't have all that many problems with it.The Final Verdict: With only a few small problems and some really great moments, it's one of the better Gothic exercises out there and an overall great time. Fans of Hammer or the style in general will find a lot to like here, while those who are more into the fast-paced films might seek caution with it.Today's Rating-R: Violence, Brief Nudity and several Rapes

Scarecrow-88 A curse on the House of Fengriffen, due to an evil deed caused by Henry Fengriffen(a devilish Herbert Lom), a descendant of Charles'(Ian Ogilvy), to woodsman Silas(Geoffrey Whitehead, playing both men of the past and present). This dangerous scary deed, and the curse deriving from it, is discussed by no one as virginal Catherine(Stephanie Beacham, whose ample bosoms wish so desperately to fling themselves on us)experiences horrifying images of a man whose eyeballs are missing, who has a stump where his hand should be. About the Fengriffen house is a severed hand which crawls to and fro..anyone who dares explain the curse gets strangulated by it! On their honeymoon night, a terrifying occurrence may've happened to poor Catherine who is being held down by the very evil man she sees ghostly apparitions from..she's also possibly impregnated by it! As Catherine begs for answers regarding a mysterious woodsman who has a home on the land of the Fengriffen estate nearby, no one will provide them..and who is this ghost, who may've raped her, that is terrorizing her? Enter Dr. Pope(Peter Cushing), a "scientist of the mind" called in by the confused Dr. Whittle(Patrick Magee)who can not help Catherine in her present state of hysteria(..she had sliced the portrait of Henry's to pieces while also falling down the stairwell). Pope begins finding the answers Catherine sought so diligently for and they produce an ugly history the Fengriffen family would soon forget.Despite it's ludicrous premise, the flick still remains watchable thanks to a strong cast. I felt the film really starts humming once Cushing's Sherlock Holmesian Pope enters the film because he can get to the truth with little the resistance Catherine faced time and time again. The "severed hand killings" is a bit much, but when you have such a strong cast backing you, bringing a sophistication and seriousness to the rather odd material, it can still make it out somewhat with a professionalism and class most films with this hokey story couldn't. I did feel Beacham overdoes it a bit with the whole "hysteria" act especially when she encounters ghostly haunts. Guy Rolfe appears briefly as Maitland, the family solicitor, and first victim who is killed before he can assist Catherine in her goal to find out what the mystery regarding the woodsman is all about.

MartinHafer First, I know I am probably going to irritate some readers when I mention this, but I really think the stars of the film were Stephanie Beacham's breasts. Ms. Beacham (known to most American's as 'Sable' from THE COLBY'S) has always been a very attractive and shapely lady, but in this film set at about the year 1790, the dresses she wore throughout the film were extremely low-cut and they tended to highly over-exaggerate her already ample assets. I love my wife dearly and try to never look at another woman, but it was absolutely impossible for any straight man to watch the film without staring! Oddly, while Ms. Beacham (and her breasts) are the clearly the stars of the film, she is listed fourth in the credits (and and no mention of her chest at all).Now, apart from my rather off-color remarks, let's get on to the review. This is a British horror film that is pretty ordinary for the first half. A new bride comes to the mansion and sees a lot of frightening images, though no one else sees them. Slowly, her new hubby starts to think that maybe his wife is unhinged. However, when you learn about the curse and why this is all occurring, then the story gets pretty exciting. In fact, it was nice to see that the longer the film lasted, the better it got. This combined with the relatively low budget make this film a pleasant surprise, as they sure did a lot with what they had. For the casual movie watcher, the film might only merit a 5 or 6, but for horror fans, a score of 7 or 8 don't seem the least bit out of line.