HackArtober #22 (Scanned With a Hook)

This one's pretty obscure, and maybe mostly deserves to be. Scream Bloody Murder is an oddball mish-mash of elements that might remind you of a number of other films, only those films weren't made until later, so maybe this is a trailblazer like Citizen Kane or King Kong or The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacobs. There's an upscale home invasion reminiscent of Badlands (which came out a year later) only with a different outcome. Since Badlands was based on the Charles Starkweather/Caril Ann Fugate 1957 murder spree it's possible that was also where the idea for the scene in this anti-Malick epic came from. Or I'm completely wrong. There's a major plot point similar to The Collector, the1963 novel by John Fowles, which may be where that stuff came from. Or I'm completely wrong. And there's a throughline bit that may have inspired the makers of the sexual dysfunction sicko slashers, Don't Go In The House and Maniac (both 1980). Or I'm completely wrong. 

I'm just typing here, to be honest. I'm getting paid by the word so I'm padding this out.

Anyway. Our main character is this schmuck-and-a-half named Matthew (we never learn his last name, this was a low budget affair and I guess surnames were cost prohibitive). Matthew is a real pain in the ass to spend time with, and he's in this a lot. Like, a lot. Scream Bloody Murder was originally called "Matthew", so, y'know, it's Matthew's movie, unfortunately. 

Matthew has many problems. He kills his dad for no reason other than "nuttiness" and "horror movie". The murder costs him a hand in a very poorly done sequence (Matthew's a bit of a born fuck-up). Our boy gets sent to a nun-run eff-up kids home for a while (well, more like, for one shot). When he's revealed as older Matthew (they can't afford the "fifteen years later" text so it's hard to tell how old older Matthew actually is. Maybe there was dialog covering it and I missed it) he has a very unfortunate haircut. It's hard to tell which of killer Matthew's design decisions is more ridiculous, the ass haircut, or the fake hook prop held in his hand to make it "look" like he's missing the hand that's obviously hidden up his sleeve holding onto the prop hook. I'm not going to go back and polish that last sentence, no matter how terrible it is. Hell, I'm not editing any of this. This shouldn't even be written.

It's dreck but it's actually a watchable movie, it's intentionally wonky and you never really know what the hell might happen next. For all you know a younger Angus Scrimm might show up as a doctor! Holy shit and bananas! This one has it all! Except a good story and solid production and acting and dialog and stuff like that. But it's acceptable junk to check out. There's a few funny sick humor lines that may have actually been intentionally written for laughs. And while there's very little plot there's plenty of goofy stuff going on as Matthew deteriorates further and further into madness and sadness. Matthew's robbery spree is pretty damned funny,  especially watching him get away with a bunch of really sloppy crimes. If a hint of realism entered this movie Matthew would have been tracked down and arrested in thirty minutes or so. Some people on the street would have taken his ass down, with his ass hair besides. Encyclopedia Brown and a slightly clever dog could have ended this before more lives were lost. 

Nothing spectacular but not the same old same old. Not exactly. laugh, cry, see people die.

I think I reached my word count on this Matthew guy.  

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