SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

chaosHD Between Death Wish II and Death Wish 3, Winner made this quickly forgotten thriller with a no name cast. It has the same over the top approach as his much more famous works, with so many memorable scenes and dialogue written by Tom Holland, best known for Fright Night and Child's Play. It's easily one of the most watchable bad movies of the 80's, so it's a huge shame that this is not on DVD. I would buy it immediately and play it for everyone i know. If you like R rated politically incorrect Nancy Drew mysteries that were made by your perverted uncle.... If you like Lifetime Original Movies on crack... If you want to see an even more outrageous version of The Stepfather, then this movie is for you.

Jonathon Dabell While watching Scream For Help, one can't help but wonder if the film is intentionally inept or just hopelessly inept. The overbearing music, the ridiculous acting, the laughable plot developments, the risible dialogue… all these things surely point to some kind of bad joke at the audience's expense courtesy of director Michael Winner? It's hard to believe anyone could accidentally make something so perfect in its wretchedness. But then, if the film IS a deliberate exercise in bad taste and terrible film-making, one must wonder what is the point in it ever having been made at all? Angry teen Christie Cromwell (Rachael Kelly) lives in a huge suburban house with her mother Karen (Marie Masters) and her new stepfather Paul (David Brooks). Christie keeps a secret diary chronicling what is going on in her life, and her latest entries are dominated by suspicions that Paul is, in fact, plotting to murder her mum. With everyone dismissing her theories as paranoid fantasy, Christie decides to gather more evidence so she starts following Paul everywhere he goes. Soon she discovers that he is having a torrid affair with Brenda Bohle (Lolita Lorre), and the plot thickens when she overhears the pair of them discussing their plans to murder Karen and Christie. She even discovers that Brenda is secretly married to a slimy crook, Lacey (Rocco Sisto), and the devious duo are merely using Paul to carry out the murder for them. They plan to pocket whatever fortune Paul inherits, and then blackmail him for the rest of his days for his part in the crime. Christie finally succeeds in convincing her mum that her life is in danger, but it looks like her warnings have been heeded too late when the three scheming villains besiege them in their house, locking them in the cellar and vowing to kill them before dawn.There's no reason why Scream For Help couldn't have been a decent little thriller. Handled effectively, the plot could have quite easily led to an updated version of "Suspicion", with modern-style sex and gore and a degree of teen interest. Unfortunately, Winner doesn't handle anything in his film effectively at all. There isn't a single believable moment in the entire movie – the bad guys are thuggish idiots who could barely plan a pool-party, let alone a murder; while Christie is an impossibly resourceful teenager who takes everything (including life-threatening danger and her own impending murder) coolly in her stride. Every performance in the film is astonishingly amateurish, and the story leaves no cliché unturned as it progresses to its over-the-top denouement. At least the film has a remarkably fitting title – Scream For Help, indeed! That is precisely what most viewers will find themselves doing, not out of fear but out of teeth-grinding despair at the incompetency of the whole thing.

mamamiasweetpeaches Almost so bad its good............ALMOST. A goofy 80s My-Diary-type of horror flick,told with a young girl narrating. Sort of comes off as an AfterSchool Special. Rachel Kelly stars as an Ami Dolenz look-alike who dresses like a Valley Girl who REALLY needs style counseling. Her rich rich rich mother marries a no good scheamer who is plotting to kill them to get thier wealth to split with his mistress. Only the young girl knows this and no one wants to believe it. Despite thefact the girl can drive she decides to do alot of her investigating on a bicycle,which leads to some of the more outlandishly funny scenes of the movie,with hysterical music pounding away as she bicycles around with fear in heart. This movie has some real groaner moments. for example,there is a blackout in the house,and all the clocks still very obviously are working! and stuff like that. theres also a totally unbelievable love interest, but I wont waste time talkin about that. Just when you think this might be a safe one to watch with the kids,they throw sex into the mix....about 3 times...no wait: its 4!!!! so its not even the goofy kinda Mother daughter fun like,say "Deadly Friend". if you do wanna see a cheesy minor-cult-status movie,by all means rent SCREAM FOR HELP. just make sure you have plenty of beer on hand when you do!

mcfly-31 Why does everyone bash this movie so much? What's wrong with the acting? What's wrong with the music? I thought it was nicely done, and became one of my favorite thrillers over the years. A teen girl suspects that her step dad is trying to off her mom so he can inherit her millions. The girl turns into a Nancy Drew type and starts tailing him over a period of days to see if she can get some dirt on him. She discovers he's having an affair and becomes the girl who knew too much as the step dad begins to go after her. It all leads to an awesome climax set in the family home, as the step dad and his lowlife cohorts hold the mother and daughter hostage. But the young schemer devises a way to thwart her captors and really turns the final half hour into an exciting finish. Beware though, the film is very graphic, both sexually and violently, but it's kept at a reasonable level (like two shots of Lorre topless, only one shot of Clark's gigantor boobs). As far as all the cast bashing goes, I really don't understand it. To begin with, Kelly is a beautiful, gifted actress whose career really should've taken off with this. Ok, so I had a crush on her, but still she carries the film perfectly. Brooks is sauve enough to pull off the step dad role and when he turns sinister in the end, he's great. Sisto nails his grungy, dirtbag character nicely, and Lorre is a gorgeous manipulator/femme fatale. Your only problem will be obtaining the film, which is very obscure and difficult to track down at video stores. But if you should find it, it should have no problem holding your attention, even if you (for whatever reason) laugh at it like these others have. Though I wont blame you for rolling your eyes at the sappy end credits song.