The Shout

source: The Shout

Trailer—The Shout

The Shout

... interesting one, this. Possibly one of the best films made. Sumptuous music, courtesy of Messrs Banks & Rutherford. Idyllic Devon locations. Hot, liquid afternoons; a game of cricket watched by 'mad' trees, the air punctuated by the cries of peacocks and a terrifying story of a man from the outback, who exercised the right to kill his children and who can kill anyone with the Terror Shout. A man (Alan Bates) who infiltrates the lives of a couple who live in a remote cottage by a rocky coast. A man who takes the wife (Susannah York) as his own property leaving the husband (John Hurt) utterly powerless, until he finds the man's soul trapped in a pebble. The shout itself is extremely well done and it sends shivers down the spine as a maelstrom of noise hits the senses. The ending brings both the story and the the cricket game together in spectacular fashion. At the close of play, you realize you've witnessed a straight horror story that is grounded in mundane reality. Mmmm...

Something strange is going on at the cricket match: Alan Bates tells Tim Curry a story about Bates' relationship with a musician (John Hurt) and the musician's wife (Susannah York)and about Bates' supposed ability to "shout" a man to death . . . is Bates re-telling a true story or making things up as he goes along? This movie has perhaps one of the most extraordinary endings on film: the disconnected and confusing events that have been swirling past suddenly fuse, and become understandable, in the wordless final scene (you have to have been paying attention, though). Kudos to Bates, Hurt, York, and director Jerzy Skolimowski for a hypnotic tale that unfolds partly like a mystery, partly like an anacrostic-and which feels all the more satisfying once you've worked your way through it.

Previous commentators have remarked upon the similarity of the framing story of this film (that reunites the author and star of 'I Claudius') to 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'; but no one yet seems to have noticed the resemblance to Pasolini's 'Teorema', in which Terence Stamp rocks the boat of a bourgeois household with a similar mystical droit du seigneur to that exercised by Alan Bates over a youthful John Hurt's luscious wife Susannah York (who at one point has a remarkably feral * scene on all fours), despite his unkempt appearance and army greatcoat that recall Davies from 'The Caretaker' more than Bates' earlier saturnine romantic leads. Most reviewers seem also to be taking this tall tale of bucolic rumpy pumpy with more of a straight face than it's actual makers may have been. But it clearly needs to be seen (and listened to) more than once.

This is a wonderful film and Polish born Jerzy Skolimowski clearly most enamoured by the North Devon coast, the village scene and the cottages that he shoots it so lovingly. These sequences together with the similarly shot cricket match with the insane asylum participants and 'mad' trees that bookends the film encourage us to be less wary than we might when a stranger comes to town. I am not a great fan of John Hurt in the 70s and Susannah York seems just a little too naive and yet Skolimowski uses this to his advantage and by the time Alan Bates has taken centre stage we are not I the least surprised to see York's character salivating at his feet. This has a slow pastoral beginning but once it kicks off there is no room for compromise and a full size horror extravaganza is before us. An element of folklore about all this and I can understand comparison with Don't Look Now and Wicker Man. This is, however, a very fine film in its own right, no matter how underrated it remains.

And I really do mean 9/10. This film is a superbly made, wonderfully acted, deliberately under-stated fantasy masterpiece. The sense of conviction, of the truth being portrayed even when the paranormal erupts into the world, is unnerving. Yes, the film as a whole is unapologetically high-brow, full of cultural allusions that many will miss (The dry psychoanalytic cracks, the Francis Bacon-inspired compositions, the inversion of Orpheus), but all that can happily be missed without in any way detracting from the film. For those who love metaphysics, the incredible thrill of the possibility of magic, this should not be missed. (The current DVD release, MOST Regrettably, has been sub-optimally re-mixed. However, for those new to the film, it shouldn't matter too much. For those who have, turn that shout up loud!!!)

This is a strange film about a sinister man named Crossley (Alan Bates) who invades the lives of a man (John Hurt) and his wife (Susannah York) in a sleepy English town. He tells the story to a fellow scorer at a cricket match (Tim Curry), and we are left to try and disentangle it. Crossley tells the couple that he spent eighteen years in the Australian outback, and that he killed his children when they were born. He also tells them he met a magical man in the outback, who taught him how to shout to kill. The scene when Crossley 'shouts' on the sand dunes is good. The shout kills sheep, birds and a shepherd. The sound is good too. The film was made in Dolby system sound, which is rare for that time. During the 'shout' the effect is impressive. The ending is rather weird. Alan Bates is good as the creepy Crossley. It's an odd film, that is curiously compelling to watch.

Anthony and his wife Rachel (John Hurt and Susannah York) invite a bizarre drifter named Charles (Alan Bates) into their home for lunch. Charles claims to have spent the last 18 months in the Australian outback. He also says that he's acquired the ability to kill by merely shouting. Anthony doubts the story, so, Charles takes him out and proves it to him. Unfortunately for Rachel, Charles has even more wickedness up his sleeve. THE SHOUT is a magnificently odd little film about magic, madness, and death. It's told via flashback in a mental institution. Highly recommended for fans of the dark and different... Be sure to watch for Tim Curry!