original
Spanish title: L'OMBRA DELL'ASSASSINO [Shadow of the Killer]
also known as PSYCHO SEX FIEND and THE HOUSE THAT DISAPPEARED
director:
Joseph Larraz
starring: Andrea Allan · Karl Lanchbury · Maggie Walker
· Peter Forbes-Robertson · Judy Matheson
In
1972, independent Hallmark Releasing successfully distributed LAST
HOUSE ON THE LEFT, capitalizing on a wildly effective promotional
tagline: "It's Only A Movie, It's Only A Movie (etc)".
Two years later, hoping to recapture the 'Last House' audience,
the U.S. company secured rights to Joseph Larraz's British thriller SCREAM
AND DIE, changed the title to include the word House,
attempted to tie it to the Wes Craven film by asking "Is it too soon
to talk about '72?" and then branded it with the same tagline [see
print ad to the right]. Maybe Hallmark never even saw SCREAM
AND DIE before embarking on this embarrassing [and misleading]
campaign, but the dramatic failure of this film on the Grindhouse circuit
put Hallmark out of business and relegated this movie to an unfortunate
obscurity. SCREAM AND DIE is not a bad film, but
it's not Last House. It's not a blunt sadistic gross-out
thriller. Rather here is a haunting atmospheric sleazy Giallo.
Young
model Valerie and her petty-thief boyfriend find their way through the
British fog to an isolated remote mansion in hopes of looting it. What
they find instead is bloody murder, resulting in a missing boyfriend and
Valerie stalked by a black-gloved killer.
This
motion picture is one from the British period of Joseph Larraz (aka
Jose Ramon Larraz), along with VAMPYRES,
SEXUAL
RITES OF THE DEVIL and STUDENTS OF MADAME OLGA. Director
Larraz died September 3, 2013 in Andalucía, Spain at age 83.
A British/Spanish
film in English language; fullscreen format, fully uncut version (98 min.),
DVD encoded for ALL REGION NTSC WORLD FORMAT, playable on any American
machine. Extras include original British theatrical trailer.
Violence/Nudity/Drugs/Adult
Material:
Intended for Mature Audiences
In
1972, independent Hallmark Releasing successfully distributed 
