A Scream in the Streets Blu Ray Review (Severin Films)
A Scream in the Streets (aKa Girls in the Streets) is a 1973 sexploitation horror film directed by Carl Monson (Will to Die, The Takers, Never look Back, Please Don’t Eat My Mother!, and Savage Harbor). It had 3 uncredited directors besides Monson which included Dwayne Avery (Booby Trap), Bethel Buckalew (Below the Belt), and Harry H. Novak (Moments of Love). It was written by Eric Norden (Stagecoach to Fury, Apache Warrior, Ride a Violent Mile, and Will to Die). It was produced by exploitation legend Harry H. Novak (The Toy Box, Rituals, The Child, Rattlers, A Taste of Hell, Fugitive Killer, and Please Don’t Eat My Mother!).
A pair of L.A.P.D. detectives Ed Haskell (played by: Joshua Bryant from M*A*S*H, Project Eliminator, The Deliberate Stranger, Enter the Devil, and The Curious Female) and Bob Streeker (played by: Frank Bannon) hunting a transvestite psychopath (played by: Con Covert from Repo Man, The Class Reunion, Flesh Gordon, The Beach Bunnies, and The Young Secretaries) through a polyester jungle of massage parlor perverts, suburban sex fiends, and violence-crazed cops. This deranged rapist has the city fooled on his identity because he poses as a woman during his attacks. Can they stop this lunatic from this killing spree????
The marketing and promo for A Scream in the Streets kinda comes off as a 70’s slasher flick but it’s definitely not that type of feature. It’s more of a cop film with lots of porn thrown in for good measure. A Scream in the Streets is honestly barely a horror film to be honest but it definitely delivers when it comes to entertainment. The transvestite psychopath is more of a small subplot here. It’s some of the worst cross dressing in cinema history which makes it even more hilarious.
There’s a few kills but they are mainly off screen and you basically only see the bloody aftermath of them. It has all kinds of weird and interesting characters. A Scream in the Streets is all over the place when it comes to the script. The sexual moments in this are not softcore and they push the boundaries on what they can do for a feature film. It’s loaded with all kinds of eye candy that includes Linda York (Chain Gang Women), porn star Colleen Brennan (Taboo franchise), and Sandy Carey (Drive In Massacre). These girls are not shy at all in A Scream in the Streets, this one is very sleazy. This was a different than what I expecting but it turned out to be very fun and sexy. I enjoyed this sleazefest, it had a little of bit of everything in it.
Let’s talk about the high definition presentation and special features from Severin Films! This 1080p transfer from a brand new uncut 2K scan from the original negative has two different options for your viewing pleasure which includes (1.33:1) and (1.85:1). This is a massive upgrade compared to the older Something Weird DVD home release. It’s the best it’s ever going to look on home video, there’s no doubt about that. I was actually surprised how good this turned out considering it’s age and low budget. It does have print damage every once in awhile but that kinda adds to it’s grindhouse charm. The English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is solid. It’s not the boom and sound system show off type of feature. The dialogue is very clean which is very important here because this one is dialogue driven. The random chaos is elevated and the music has a nice boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. “The Peeper: Part 1” is a little over 10 minutes. It’s a porn short made from outtakes from this movie. “The Peeper: Part 2” is a little over 9 minutes. It’s a porn short that was put together from outtakes from A Scream in the Streets. It has 3 different “Trailers”. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!
