The Oblong Box / Scream and Scream Again (1970)

THE OBLONG BOX SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN

Vincent Price

I just love watching Vincent Price. You must add these to your collection if you really enjoy him. June 4, 2008

These Vincent Price Movies Will Definitely Make You Scream And Scream Again

"The Oblong Box"/"Scream and Scream Again" is an excellent pair of Vincent Price horror fare from MGM. Price is in top form and, in both movies, he stars with horror icon, Christopher Lee, who is most notable for his Dracula role in the Hammer productions. Unfortunately, however, they only share one scene in each film.

"The Oblong Box," based on an Edgar Allan Poe story, is gothic horror sent in 1865 and is the best of the pair. This is the tale of the two Markham brothers who own an African plantation. A native boy is seriously disfigured in a riding accident. The tribal voodoo witch doctor curses Edgar Markham with a disfiguring illness that drives him insane. Upon returning to England, Julian (played by Price) keeps his brother Edgar locked in the attic. Edgar escapes by feigning death and is buried alive. His co-conspirators betray him and do not dig up his grave. Meanwhile, Lee is an evil doctor who needs fresh bodies for his experiments. His ghouls dig up Edgar's grave. Donning, a red hood, Edgar begins killing those who betrayed him.

"The Oblong Box" is a good slasher film and a good mystery for those who love gothic horror. The plot is intricate, the acting is good, and the throat slashings are graphic and gory.

"Scream and Scream Again" is another high body count horror film set in the "groovy" sixties. A new political Communist-like party has taken over England; they utilize strong, ruthless mad men who are robots (i.e., composites) to carry out their evil plans. Price is a government funded scientist who created the composites. Lee is a politician who wants to cover up Price's projects because one of his earlier experiments has been murdering beautiful young women and draining them of blood like a vampire.

The plot for "Scream and Scream Again" is very complex, almost too complex, and it has too many villains. There is never a dull moment as the bodies begin piling high. Three horror icons star in this movie. One of them, Peter Cushing, has a cameo. Christopher Lee is underused . The lead character appears to be the young medical examiner who performs the autopsies on the "vampire" victims; he investigates Price. The ending was a little disappointing, almost contrived as if the writers were struggling about how to wrap it up.

This movie double feature is a must have for fans of gothic slashers, Vincent Price, and Christopher Lee. Neither feature has any extras except for the trailers. April 18, 2008

Two Interesting Movies

The Oblong Box is a good movie loosely based on the story of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe. Honestly, it is probably my least favorite of the Price-Poe movies, but that still means that I enjoy it. I think that Vincent Price and Christopher Lee are good in their roles, but the movie moves along a little slowly for my taste. It is an interesting take on the story and real fans of Poe and Price will most likely enjoy it.
I hadn't seen Scream and Scream Again until I purchased this DVD. I was expecting something along the lines of Dr. Phibes or Theater of Blood. I was a bit surprised when Price only appeared for a couple of minutes in the first hour, but he returns at the end to tie things together albeit loosely. It did seems strange that one of the longest sections that didn't jump around between different characters involved a long car chase. Now, I must admit that it is kind of a fun car chase, but it seemed a little long for this movie. I really don't understand why the police wouldn't shoot the guy after he had attacked several officers, but that's just me. It definitely has an interesting twist that I don't want to give away. If you are watching it for Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee I have to give you a warning. They are both brilliant in their parts, but their screen time is incredibly short. I doubt that either movie will really scare you, but the stories are interesting enough that I recommend giving them a chance. Everyone's tastes in movies change so these movies will appeal greatly to some and completely not interest others. September 15, 2007

OBLONG BOX: Stylish, Complex, and Senselessly Violent!

The opening premise of THE OBLONG BOX is almost identical to the Peter Davison DOCTOR WHO story, "Black Orchid". A man returns from Africa, cursed by tribal magic, disfigured & insane, and kept a prisoner in his own home by his family. But whereas on the WHO story that was the punch line, here's it's just the springboard. Said victim secretly pays some friends to help him escape his brother-- Vincent Price-- who comes across as much nicer than most of these films, but all the same seems to be hiding something. Via more witch doctor "magic", the man fakes his own death... but then things go astray. SERIOUSLY astray. He's buried alive, then his "body" is stolen by grave-robbers in the employ of an unscrupulous medical adventurer. (One expects Peter Cushing in such a role, but NO! --it's Christopher Lee!) WHY his "friends" failed to follow-thru on their plan is a complete mystery to me-- I blame an unpolished script. It would have been a much more entertaining (and sensible) twist if they'd actually TRIED digging him up only to find the grave-robbers got their FIRST...! But no. The result: in addition to wanting to find out WHY he had a jungle curse put on him, Price's brother now wants REVENGE on everyone involved. Armed with a mask and a VERY sharp knife, his antics in the film's 2nd half make this seem like a Victorian-era installment of the HALLOWEEN series!!!

I understand the late Michael Reeves was scheduled to direct; this may explain why Price, Rupert Davies (DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE) and Hilary Dwyer (CRY OF THE BANSHEE) are all together again following WITCHFINDER GENERAL-- and why there's so much pointless VIOLENCE in the story. While that film disturbed me in the EXTREME each time I sat thru it, OBLONG BOX is a LOT more "fun"-- if you can get past the growing number of bodies, most of which were killed in particularly brutal and senseless fashion. 2 interesting things I noticed about this plot, as it goes on nearly every character seems to be BLACKMAILING somebody (it seems EVERYBODY has some secret they don't want known), and the sympathetic-yet-INSANE victim/SLASHER only seems to kill people who've done wrong. (The sweet, innocent housekeeper gets terrified and dragged thru the woods, but nothing REALLY happens to her!)

Interesting cameos to watch for: Colin Jeavons (Inspector Lestrade on the Jeremy Brett HOLMES series) plays a police inspector, as does Ivor Dean (Inspector Teal on the Roger Moore SAINT series!).

With this film, producer Louis M. Heyward & director Gordon Hessler began a string of collaborations, all of which were somewhat iffy. Like WAR-GODS OF THE DEEP (which Heyward produced) OBLONG BOX feels like the script could have used to fine-tuning. (WHY did Price do what he did before the picture started? HOW was it nobody at his brother's viewing realized the body on display was SOMEBODY ELSE? etc.) All the same, I find it more watchable than most of these. August 16, 2006

Two For The "Price" Of One

It's hard to give an accurate star rating to this dvd considering one film is good and the other is not so good. I figure three stars will be good enough. The Oblong Box is a cool little number in the Price tradition. While Price and his brother are in Africa, a voodoo priest puts the wammy on Price's brother and he ends up disfigured. Back home, he lives chained up in Price's mansion coz he, like Mrs. Bates, goes a little mad sometimes. A series of events leaves Price's brother literally buried alive, and when he gets out he's understandably pissed, and he's out for a little payback. That's the general idea, I spared you the details. It's a good movie. Not Price's best by a long shot, but worth the time.
Scream And Scream Again on the other hand isn't so good. It's got a great idea behind it, but it actually ends up being quite boring, especially in a sequence where police chase a killer. This scene goes on waaaayyyyyyyyy too long. In this film, we have a creepy organization that plays Frankenstein by trying to create a race of synthetic, perfect human beings. And the cast is an eye catcher-Price, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. How can you turn that down? Well, don't expect to see much of either three stars in this film. Price pops up in two short scenes and in the last 5 minutes or so. Cushing has only one scene!!! I wonder why he even agreed to do it at all. And Lee's in about three short scenes. Pretty disappointing that these three horror giants would be in such throwaway roles. It's worth watching to say you've seen it. Hell, I might even give it a second chance and watch it again.....but not anytime soon. September 6, 2005

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