Arrow Video: Death Screams (1982) - Reviewed

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Courtesy of Arrow Video
 
Most know David Nelson as the child star from The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet as well as being the brother of famed singer Ricky Nelson.  A prolific actor and part-time producer whose last film project included starring in John Waters’ Cry-Baby, David Nelson also occasionally dabbled in film directing.  In 1982 he approached Playboy centerfold and playmate turned porn star Susan Kiger in what turned out to be her final theatrical film as an actress, the regional slasher horror flick Death Screams. 

 
Released in the US on VHS tape as House of Death as well as a botched UK DVD release with the reels out of order, Death Screams is an unusual pairing of child-star turned film-director and porn-star turned film-actress which could only be seen for years on faded videotapes.  Thankfully the good folks at Arrow Video have righted that wrong with a new 2K digital restoration from the last surviving 35mm theatrical print with a plethora of new extras, making this otherwise obscure cult horror favorite available to cinephiles and horrorphiles for the very first time!
 
Set in small-town North Carolina, a young couple is murdered while making out by an unknown maniac brandishing a machete before tossing their bodies into the river.  While the town prepares for its annual carnival unaware of the killer in their midst, a group of teenagers go on a camping trip including a pit stop to the local cemetery to tell ghost stories.  Unbeknownst to these horny and stoned teenagers, they have walked into the epicenter of a walking death trap eager to slit throats and slice off heads as he goes. 
 
Chock full of gratuitous nudity, small-town regional exploitation charm, hacked off limbs and heads, a head that flies apart from one gunshot wound and Susan Kiger as the film’s absurdly voluptuous scream queen, Death Screams is a little-seen yet highly sought-after drive-in flick has a little bit of everything we’ve come to expect from this specific subgenre of horror movies.  Though the film is loaded with gaping plot holes, some less than stellar effects work and more nudity than a Friday the 13th film, as such Death Screams comes off as a fun little sendup of the slasher genre tropes.

Courtesy of Arrow Video
 
Acting-wise and technically speaking this is somewhere between similarly designed low-budget horror fare like The Prey (also rescued from VHS obscurity by Arrow Video) and regional exploitation fare ala William Grefe or Bill Rebane.  Still, as such it packs an undeniable charm and plays almost like a snarky parody of the whole thing.  Effects wise it has some inspired kills including bisected bodies and the original orchestral score by Dee Barton is startlingly effective.  Mostly though, it features an unlikely scream queen at its helm and seen today it plays a bit like a porn parody of some of our favorite slasher flicks from the 1980s.  Not exemplar of skillful filmmaking or acting but damn it is a lot of fun!

--Andrew Kotwicki