Scream of the Wolf

Rating:
Summary: Hard To Find Classic 70's Made For TV Movie
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Movie of the Week Mayhem.
Review: This made for TV thriller is okay as a watch-it-and-forget-it viewing experience. It manages to serve up some suspense for first time viewers. As things howl in the night, the plot unfolds as a murder mystery with supernatural overtones. The question is not only "whom" but "what" is doing the vicious killing. The word "werewolf" is used carelessly. Dan Curtis guides the helm as director. Curtis, back in the leisure-suited '70s, churned out made for TV horror. The script borrows freely from classic tales such as "Hound of the Baskervilles" and "The Most Dangerous Game." Clint Walker plays a macho hunter that stays strangely aloof from the local bestial horror. B movie maven, Joanne Pflug, is the lady in distress. She looks disapprovingly at Walker as he vies with her for Peter Graves' attention. One can put one's own interpretation of why Clint is so interested in Peter. Maybe it's the thick gray hair. The production values, acting, sets, etc. are mired in the typical '70s TV bog. Put it all together, and it's a harmless waste of 75 minutes. Don't expect classic horror heights and you will do fine. ;-)

Rating:
Summary: Movie of the Week Mayhem.
Review: This made for TV thriller is okay as a watch-it-and-forget-it viewing experience. It manages to serve up some suspense for first time viewers. As things howl in the night, the plot unfolds as a murder mystery with supernatural overtones. The question is not only "whom" but "what" is doing the vicious killing. The word "werewolf" is used carelessly. Dan Curtis guides the helm as director. Curtis, back in the leisure-suited '70s, churned out made for TV horror. The script borrows freely from classic tales such as "Hound of the Baskervilles" and "The Most Dangerous Game." Clint Walker plays a macho hunter that stays strangely aloof from the local bestial horror. B movie maven, Joanne Pflug, is the lady in distress. She looks disapprovingly at Walker as he vies with her for Peter Graves' attention. One can put one's own interpretation of why Clint is so interested in Peter. Maybe it's the thick gray hair. The production values, acting, sets, etc. are mired in the typical '70s TV bog. Put it all together, and it's a harmless waste of 75 minutes. Don't expect classic horror heights and you will do fine. ;-)

Rating:
Summary: Another 70's classic at a great price
Review: This one is another Curtis/Matheson quasi gothic horror with well-maintained mood and atmosphere throughout and a typically Poe-like ironic/mood elliciting ending. Peter Graves has always been a good character actor in my opinion, and he did fine in this movie. Clint Walker was quite effective as an antagonist--that's writing jargon for the "bad guy." He really seemed to enjoy the part, and I particularly enjoyed the way his character played mind games with the girlfriend of the character played by Peter Graves. The girlfriend was just a bit too uptight and self righteous for my tastes, and I found myself rooting for Walker's character. Walker's villain was somehow still a likeable one, and I found myself liking him despite myself. The writing was good except that I thought the ending was a bit of an anticlimax hence only 4 stars. The use of dark and/or foggy scenery and eerie music, all hallmarks of Curtis/Matheson, were used quite well. The movie utilized the maxim that "what you don't see scares you more than what you don't" very well indeed. Walker was an especially effective villain. It's amazing how menacing his character was able to be with just a smile, a look or a seemingly "innocent" statement or observation. This movie isn't one of my top ten; but I watch now and then on an appropriately dark night. Walker and Graves clearly had a great synergy in this movie, and I cannot imagine anyone ever pulling off this story as well as they did. Walker especially is unforgettable. I recommend this movie to any gothic,Dan Curtis or Richard Matheson fan. If you don't mind a movie that is VERY low tech, heavy on dialog, more than a bit dated and you appreciate the more traditional horror writing style from 30 years ago then this one might be for you. This movie will not appeal to the more modern horror genre fans though, and I suspect that my attraction for this movie may overlook its shortcomings simply because I saw it at an appropriately impressionable age thus this movie for me became an irrational nostalgic horror treat that I cannot justify to anyone else beyond that.