Screaming, The (Blu-ray Review)
Director
Jeff LeroyRelease Date(s)
2000 (May 12, 2026)Studio(s)
Thorton Productions/Sterling Entertainment (Visual Vengeance/Wild Eye Releasing)- Film/Program Grade: C-
- Video Grade: C
- Audio Grade: C
- Extras Grade: A
Review
The Screaming is one of those fun bad movies that Visual Vengeance (VV) excels at putting out on Blu-ray. Straight to video and meant for late night parties where it can play in the background or with the funny friends who can Mystery Science Theater it. When a flick is this bad and still fun to watch, it really doesn’t matter what it’s about. This one is a shaded comment on Dianetics commercials and Scientology as a whole. It stars Vinnie Bilancio as a college student who falls into a series of events started by him renting a room from a beautiful landlord who takes an interest in him and starts to better his life: helps him quit smoking, go on jogs, and learn to focus his mind. All that would be great if she wasn’t a cult member who feeds on blood in the service of a demon-like alien. It’s stupid, but fun with some serviceable performances and cheap but adorable effects (claymation and tentacles abound). I’m very much enjoying these VV releases, and you’ll probably see quite a few reviews of their library from me. The films (for the most part) are classic shot on video fare, and the packages are jam packed with extras.
Video and sound quality are fine. Listen—these are not the ones you review for that. So, I’m not going to pretend to give you an expert review. It looks like it came from a VHS master, and looks and sounds as good as it ever has in its fullscreen 1.33:1 presentation and stereo sound glory. English subs are included as an option. You didn’t buy this because you wanted a reference disc.
The extras I mentioned start with the packaging. The first pressing release has a nice slipcase and comes with the requisite “Stick Tour Own” stickers and a mini-poster. There’s also reversible sleeve art and most of the VV releases come with a physical extra like 3D glasses or something theme related. Here, that extra is a CD soundtrack of the original score by Jay Woelfel, and it’s a great addition. The music serves the film well. I’m not sure if anyone will be jamming to this score on a long road trip, but maybe—and now you have the option. On the disc, after the VV auto play trailers of Rat Scratch Fever, Werewolf in a Woman’s Prison and Witch’s Sabbath—all by Jeff Leroy, this film’s director—you’ll find a commentary track on the film by Tony Strauss of Weng’s Chop Magazine, who truly loves these types of films and drops a lot of facts and affection. It’s a good commentary. There’s a short documentary-ish featurette Screaming and Screaming Again: The Making of The Screaming where director Jeff Leroy, producer Dave Sterling and star Vinnie Bilancio discuss the film and its making in and amongst filming locations. Composing a Cult Classic is an interview with Jay Woelfel who talks about his influences and gives insight into some of the themes he crafted and why. The most interesting video extra is The Screaming: Reborn which is a remastered edition of the film Leroy did in 2008 that swaps out some music cues, adds some razzle editing and replaces the charming hand done effects with glitchy video game engine CGI. It’s Leroy’s preferred version of the film, but frankly, the original version has more charm and will be the one people like more. Joining this version is a chaotic commentary with Leroy, Sterling and Bilancio talking over each other and repeating a lot of what was said in the making of. Rounding it all out is an image gallery, a series of trailers for the film in original, VV’s cut and a trailer for Reborn flavors. That’s a lot of stuff and most of it is good. If you enjoy bad movies, this is a good one to dip into.
- Todd Doogan