Before there was the billion-dollar Scream film franchise, there was writer/director Bryon Quisenberry’s 1983 horror entry, Scream, which has all the classic genre elements firmly in place (save one).
Although filmed on a micro budget in May of 1980, with Lake Piru and the old Paramount Ranch in Southern California doubling for the Rio Grande and a long-since abandoned ghost town, Quisenberry was finally able to finish the film in post-production and get it into theatres on a regional basis beginning in early November of 1983 (bicycling what prints he had). Where, and these things are always a tad sketchy, it appears that Scream actually made money.
In any case, Dark Force Entertainment, LLC, with sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has a new 4K Ultra HD edition — restored from the original 16mm camera negative — lined up for delivery on June 13.
As for the film itself, it has the requisite victim pool, in this case a dozen campers on a rafting trip, with two guides and, later, two dirt bikers, the “haunted house” (which can take many forms) — in this case an entire ghost town — and a mysterious (unseen) killer, but sadly, there is no final girl … multiple "girls" actually survive the slaughter.
There’s one other twist, after seven of the campers — all male — are slaughtered, a mysterious “ghostly” good-guy figure, Charlie Winters (played by Woody Strode) appears, fills in the backstory and manages to kill the malevolent being (also a ghost) before any more campers can be murdered.
Over the years, despite its shortcomings, Scream has managed to build something of a cult following. Now a 4K Ultra HD edition … bring it on!!
Bonus features appear to be limited to commentary with Quisenberry, which is moderated by Comedy Central’s “The Movie Geek,” Marc Edward Hueck and William Olsen.
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