And Now The Screaming Starts Movie Review

And Now The Screaming Starts is a 1973 horror movie directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Peter Cushing, Herbert Lom,Stephanie Beacham, Ian Ogilvy and Patrick Magee.

A married couple, Charles Fengriffin(Ogilvy) and Catherine(Beacham) move into his ancestral home. Catherine sees a portrait of Charles' grandfather, Sir Henry(Lom). She is drawn to it. A bloody hand comes out of the painting. Catherine is very upset. Charles sees nothing. Strange things begin to happen. Catherine gets locked into a room and something is in there with her. The portrait is haunting her. A hideous man's face comes out of it. Catherine runs off and she finds an old graveyard. She sees Henry Fengriffin's grave. She sees a strange woodsman and she asks Charles about him. She goes to his stone hut and talks to him.  His name is Silas(Geoffrey Whitehead) and he tells her that her husband's grandfather gave him the land where he lives. Catherine asks Charles about this.

Catherine wants to know why Henry Fengriffin gave the land to Silas and she goes to the family solicitor for answers. The solicitor promises to find out and talk to Charles. He gets thrown from his horse and dies before he can do anything. Meanwhile, Catherine thinks that she is going mad. She discovers that she is pregnant also. She is not happy with the news. Mrs Luke, the housekeeper goes into the library and she gets an old book to give to Catherine. Something tries to stop her. She sees an old man and a ghost hand pushes her down the stairs. Catherine finds her and she finds the book also.
Charles decides that Silas needs to get off the land as he thinks Silas is responsible somehow for his wife's behaviour.

Charles offers to give Silas money to leave, but he refuses. Catherine cuts up the portrait of Henry.
She ends up falling down the stairs. Doctor Whittle(Magee) thinks that she has mental problems. He knows a specialist called Dr. Pope(Cushing) who is in London. He calls him in to look at Catherine.
Pope arrives and he talks to Catherine. She tells him all that happened. He sees that she is reading a book on demons. Pope asks Whittle about the Fengriffin house.  Whittle is going to tell him what he knows when he is killed. Pope goes to see Silas but he doesn't get far. Pope asks Charles to tell him the secret that haunts the Fengriffin family.

Charles tells him that fifty years ago, Henry Fengriffin used the house as a den of debauchery. Silas' father, the woodsman, had a new wife and Henry went to see her. He and his pals burst into the house and Henry wants to have sex with the wife. When the woodsman tries to stop him, there is a fight.
Henry rapes the wife. The woodsman attacks him but ends up getting his hand cut off by Henry.
 The woodsman curses Henry. Henry tried to make it up to him, but the woodsman would not allow it. Henry gave him the land to have his house on. Silas is the woodman's son and he has been waiting for revenge.

Pope talks to Catherine about the demon book. She goes into labour. Her son is born. Charles looks at it and he runs off in horror. He goes to see Silas and he has guns. He shoots Silas and kills him. He destroys Henry's grave. Pope tries to stop him. It turns out that the baby has a birthmark the same as the woodcutter and it has a stump!!! A weird ending makes this film fun. It is an entertaining movie with some good scenes. I liked the cast and Cushing is good, as always, apart from a rather dodgy hair piece!!Beacham is all heaving bosoms and angst. Ogilvy does well as the husband and Lom is fun as the obnoxious Henry. This is a decent 1970's horror and there is a lot to like. I recommend it! I will give it a 6/10.