DVD Review: The Shout (1978)
One things us Brits do well is quirky horror. it might not be the bloodiest horror, it might not be the most frightening - but it's always memorable. And that's very applicable to The Shout.
Because this isn't really a horror at all, it's more of a supernatural thriller. Or if you prefer, just plain odd. The movie starts in an asylum (always a good starting place), with a young doctor asked to keep the score of a cricket match between the inmates and the doctors. Beside him in the hut is a man called Crossley (Alan Bates). In return for keeping the scores of both teams, Crossley offers the young doctor the story of how he got there.
And in flashback, we get that take - although whether it's real or not is open to your own interpretation. In the wilds of Devon, we see Crossley meet up with a musician and sound engineer, Anthony Fielding (John Hurt). He ingratiates himself and gets invited for lunch with Fielding and his wife Rachel (Susannah York). He tells the pair of his life - of spending 18 years with Aborigines, killing his children under Aboriginal law and learning their ways and their 'magic'. He also tells Anthony of 'The Shout' - a shriek that can kill all in earshot. Anthony experiences 'The Shout' and sees its destruction, then sees his wife fall under the influence of Crossley. He must break the spell or face losing his wife to Crossley forever.
It really is a bizarre film. Entertaining and engrossing and leaving you with numerous questions unanswered. Was the story real? Does he really have those powers? How did he end up in the asylum? And did he really murder his children? Most films tie up these loose ends by the final scene, but with The Shout, that final scene just confuses things further.
Bates is superb as the menacing stranger, with excellent support from York and Hurt as the couple at his mercy, adding to some superb direction from Jerzy Skolimowski, a story that's certain to capture your imagination and an early synth soundtrack that just adds to the oddness of it all. It's hard to totally recommend The Shout because I imagine it's a film that as many will hate as love. But if you happen to be on the look out for something a little different, it doesn't get more different than this.
Extras on the DVD:
Original theatrical trailer
Image gallery
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