SILVER SCREAM
PLOT-At a movie theater, some audience members get transported into the film and must navigate through several old b-movies to rescue a damsel in distress.
VIOLENCE-Homage is paid to several classic horror films, including faithful re-creations of the gut-munching in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and the technicolor gore in BLOOD FEAST.
SEX/NUDITY-I counted one naked female zombie booty, that was it.
WHY I WATCHED IT-Horror films are commonplace as far as low-budget filmmaking goes, but rarely do you see one that's also a musical! I've seen it done well (CANNIBAL! THE MUSICAL) and seen it done poorly too, but I'm always supportive when anyone attempts it. It's challenging enough to write a good script and film a regular movie, so it takes additional talent (and much ambition) to pull off something like this.
THE DOPE-I spent many of my high school weekends as part of a live ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW cast, and quickly fell in love with that film. It wasn't because of the rockin' tunes or the cult following, it was because it's just a really cool movie. Since then, I've seen several attempts as creating the "next" ROCKY HORROR, and the reason they fall flat is because they get it all wrong. ROCKY is primarily an homage film, paying tribute to the classic horror and sci-fi flicks of the 1950s. All one has to do is listen to the lyrics of the opening song "Science Fiction Double Feature", and it's all spelled out for you. There are explicit, clear references to THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, FLASH GORDON, THE INVISIBLE MAN, KING KONG, IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE, and many many more. Richard O'Brien had a sincere love for these movies, and it showed all throughout the music and the film itself.
While SILVER SCREAM has some things in common with ROCKY HORROR (it originated as a successful stage play too), its intentions are not to become the next "cult" musical, but is instead a wonderful, amazing celebration of our beloved classic horror films. The plot is fairly simple (two guys trapped in the "movie world" have to save a girl who's also stuck there), SILVER SCREAM shines in the ways it's supposed to: excellent music and sincere, loving tributes to everything from classics like NOSFERATU and THE WOLF MAN to THE EXCORCIST and TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. As our fateful heroes and our damsel in distress move from one incredibly composed and edited scenario to the next, I was delighted to see all the little touches that only a true fan of B-classics would notice. Simply put: just like Paul Scrabo's epic DR. HORROR'S EROTIC HOUSE OF IDIOTS, SILVER SCREAM is a monster of a movie that succeeds in everything it sets out to do, never selling out to genre conventions and staying true to what horror movies are supposed to really be about!
There's nothing more I can really say that would adequately illustrate just how cool a movie SILVER SCREAM is...you really do need to see it for yourself.
MEMORABLE SCENES-The film employs several different film styles and editing techniques, depending on what horror flick it's paying homage to at the time. My favorite part was the Herschell Gordon Lewis-inspired "gore go-go girls" sequence, a blast of color and sex and blood that's absolutely jaw-dropping.
NOTES-Go to SILVER SCREAM.ORG to purchase the DVD and the soundtrack CD. Tell 'em Gonzoriffic said so!
(May 2004)