Die Screaming Marianne: The Best of British Collection

Pete Walker had an interesting and varied career that saw him direct many different types of film from sleazy exploitation to interesting horror. Die Screaming Marianne caught him almost at the crossroads in his career and shows evidence of both the skin flick in his past and the innovative horror that was to come.

Susan George plays Marianne, an erotic dancer who doesn't seem to mind who she shares a bed with and just happens to be the daughter of a disgraced judge who is living the life of Riley in Portugal whilst he is sitting on £50,000 in ready money. Marianne meets a guy who she quite likes and, on the spur of the moment, agrees to marry him. The ceremony is a bit of confused affair with an old woman practically dragged off the street to act as a witness and whilst they are celebrating in the pub over the road, they realise that Marianne is actually married to the best man!

This is basically a plot device to introduce her father, wonderfully played by Lee Genn, and his spacious villa in the Algarve. As Marianne is going to inherit all his money, plus some incriminating evidence against her father, when she turns 21, there are a number of shady characters who all want a piece of her so that they will be in line to share in the money when daddy pops his clogs -- something that will happen by fair means or foul.

Die Screaming Marianne is all about Susan George. She is beautiful and practically embodies the 1970s zeitgeist, moving from the swinging sixties to something more cynical and dangerous. As an actress in great demand, the casting was something of a coup for Pete Walker and the film entirely revolves around Marianne, and therefore around George.

It is rather is unsurprising that the film is dated as there are so many visual signifiers of time and place, from magazine covers, to cars and clothes and haircuts. The fashion is very 1970 with some quite amusing hairdos yet Susan George looks fantastic in those clothes and it seems that she was born in exactly the right time. Although it is visually dated, the film could just as well be made now as all of the plot points and the narrative would work in a contemporary setting.



It all takes a while to get going, almost beginning like some sort of farce, but Walker increases the tension as different characters are introduced, all with an ulterior motive that involves Marianne's downfall. It isn't really until the last 20 minutes that the film moves into genre territory with some suspenseful scenes but these work because so much time has been spent establishing characterisation and place.

Die Screaming Marianne isn't the best of Pete Walker and is, to put it bluntly, a fairly average film but I enjoyed it and it is full of well composed scenes and orchestrated scenarios. It wasn't made with the biggest of budgets and some of the scenes look a little cheap but this doesn't really matter as it isn't a film that is meant to look expensive. It helps that Walker didn't need places to be dressed or altered a great deal before filming -- he could basically just show up with his DP, light the set and then start filming.

The Disc

Extra Features
There is a 17 minute interview with Pete Walker who talks at length about the film and casting, location shooting and what he thinks of it now with the benefit of hindsight.

The crowning jewel in the extra features is the audio commentary where Pete Walker is joined by film critic and author Jonathan Rigby and the two enjoy a good rapport which comes across well as Walker is all too keen to chat about his film and even discuss the bits that don't work so well. When points are put to him, he answers them fully and corrects some misinformation that has been doing the rounds for years.

You also get a stills gallery, theatrical trailer and several trailers for other Best of British releases from Odeon Entertainment.



The Picture
If this was a school report, I would have no hesitation in writing 'could do better' as a summation. The picture quality varies wildly with some scenes looking pristine, as if they had been restored, with others showing the effects of being stored for the last 40 years and are badly damaged. They aren't unwatchable by any stretch of the imagination but it is just the wild inconsistency that is so maddening.

The location shooting is terrific as Pete Walker used his home in the Algarve as a base for the Iberian shooting so you have lovely shots of the beaches, sea and the landscapes as a backdrop for murder most foul.

The Sound
The Dolby Digital Mono soundtrack is fairly unspectacular and there is little to demand a 5.1 mix. The soundtrack itself is fairly clear although the sound levels aren't as consistent as they should be with some lines appearing quieter than others although the sound levels are good and dialogue is presented well. The score isn't really anything to write home about as it does its job pretty well without standing out as a major feature.



Final Thoughts
I watched this as a Pete Walker double bill with Frightmare and Die Screaming Marianne is clearly the inferior of the two films but is a perfectly watchable film where the suspense builds nicely to a satisfactory denouement. The low budget is evident both on the film and the DVD but this is a good release of the film that most people would have considered lost.