Vincent Price as Dr. Browning in Scream and Scream Again

Taking the first drink of my Tröegs Troegenator Doublebock, I began watching Scream and Scream Again, a campy, mod Vincent Price movie from 1970.

I'd prefer you imagine me, Mangus, watching a restored film print of this classic in my private screening room with full size cinema screen. I'd also prefer that you imagine me wearing a silk cravat and being served my beer on a silver serving tray by a stuffy English butler with a name like Winslow or Cobbleton. Sadly, however, this wasn't the case. Except for the cravat.

I may be breaking an unwritten rule by acknowledging format, but the truth is many of us, myself included, sometimes watch movies in less than ideal viewing experiences removed from the theater experience the director intended. Most movies still aren't designed for watching on a television, tablet or phone, and none were ever intended for the hack and slash of pan and scan*, man It's easy to forget how different a movie will look on a big screen. Many years ago I went to a retro-horror showing of a The Creature from the Black Lagoon, complete with 3D glasses. Since a kid I had watched that movie many times on TV, but seeing the creature carry a passed-out Julie Adams on the big screen (and in 3D) was a completely richer experience, and even that viewing differed from the what some viewers would have seen when the Creature debuted in 1954. At that time, the movie used a  polarized 3D process, but the movie received a reboot in 1975 with the anaglyph process, meaning when I saw it it in the 90s I was handed a pair of old school blue- and red-lensed paper 3D glasses, a process itself that had already come and gone. The point I'm making is that seeing this classic MGM monster on screen as intended created a new appreciation for the movie.

With Scream and Scream Again,  I was watching a poor quality, unsanctioned YouTube version streamed through my Google Chromecast onto my television. The mod bright 60s/70s colors from the original Eastmancolor process had faded, and the sound was lousy. Some fifteen minutes into the film I realized the playback speed was off, and it wasn't only the mumbling and British accents making it difficult to understand the words -- it was because the movie was playing at a slightly accelerated speed, making everyone speak as if hopped up on quadruple espresso shots. This movie already didn't make much sense so needed no more help there. In fact a 1970 review from Roger Ebert said, "If I attempted a plot summary you'd suspect I have a bottle of gin in my bottom desk drawer." Enough said.

While I'll gladly watch crap horror movies, I don't like watching crap recordings of movies, although I will if don't have other options. I prefer a theater experience, but of course that's limited by showings (and prices). I of course stream through subscription services, purchase or borrow copies and tap the library (I avoid the torrents). I'll always opt for the closest experience to the original, letterbox to pick up the side action, subtitles for foreign language films so I can hear the tone and emotion of the original acting. Still, I stumbled upon Scream and Scream Again while looking up trivia on Vincent Price so never pre-planned to watch it, and since the movie wasn't running on the subscription services I use, I went freebie.

Christopher Matthews as Dr. Sorel gets cold feet, at least one foot, in Scream and Scream Again

The beer was delicious, way beyond good, bordering on sublime. The movie was incredibly fun, but the quality of the streaming was like a cinematic paper cut, consistently irritating. I thought about the great beer I was drinking. Tasting this fresh on tap would be like watching a movie at the theater, while drinking in a bottle was like watching on a television. The quality of the copy of Scream and Scream Again would compare to this beer if it had warmed up, gone flat, had ice cubes added, and then sat again so the ice cubes melted. I guess I would still be able to get an idea of how the beer had once tasted. And I would still drink the beer. Hey, I wouldn't toss out a  Tröegs.

I drank some more beer and watched a bit more movie, but the playback finally got to me. I paused the movie and searched YouTube for any other freebie versions. I found one, only to stream a screen capture version that played at the correct speed but displayed the movie in a small square in the lower right corner on my TV while the rest showed a screen saver of falling snow. Now this was a tough call. I had more beer, and tried watching that version, but seriously, this was getting silly. I returned to the speeded-up version.

Andy Fairweather-Low of the Amen Corner sings a title song for Scream and Scream Again

I was now fully into the movie and was determined to finish watching it, dammit. Let me be very clear, however. Scream and Scream Again is no Tröegs Troegenator, which could very be one of my favorite bottled beers. No, Scream and Scream Again is something else. The movie isn't good now, and wasn't good in 1970, or at very least needs to be judged against a very different definition of "good." While it stars horror movie superstars Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, the three of them don't get much screen time, particularly Cushing, who has little more than a cameo. It's simply not good. But the movie is fun. Very fun. Of course I'm biased as I will watch any Vincent Price movie and almost named my son Vincent except he didn't look like a Vincent when he was born. I was even fortunate enough to have attended a talk Price gave in the early 90s (during which he said Dr. Phibes was one of his favorite characters). There had to be a way to watch this movie.

I realized I hadn't checked Amazon movies, yet, and $2.99 later, I was back to watching the movie, without computer snow and with everyone delivering ridiculous dialogue at normal speed. The experience was salvaged. This movie might not be good in a classic sense, but wasstill completely enjoyable for me. What else did I need? I had Price, Lee, Cushing, snarky Briticisms, acid baths, and couple of very mod 1970s musical numbers from The Amen Corner. Great stuff.

Listen, I would have enjoyed this satisfying bit of 70s camp if I had needed to watch it standing in the bushes peeking through your window and watching it on your widescreen like I've done with other movies. Even so, I wish I could have seen it on the big screen. Unfortunately, Cobbleton was off for the night and I don't know how to run the projector myself.


* "Pan and scan" is a process cutting much of the edges of an original wide-screen aspect of a movie to fit on a television, which simply isn't as wide as a movie screen. As flat screens get wider, the potential exists to lose less and less of the movie. Letterbox (where you see the black bands on top of the movie image) allows all of the original aspect of the film to remain. While that probably won't matter much to drive-in schlock like The Giant Gila Monster, it can matter to other movies. If you've completely given up on movie theaters due to price, crowds or inconvenience, I suggest you return, at least for one or two titles. It's amazing how different a movie looks when viewed as the director intended.