Carry on Screaming Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Carry on Screaming Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 17, 2023

Gerald Thomas' "Carry On Screaming" (1966) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint Films. The supplemental features on the release include archival audio commentary by actresses Angela Douglas and Fenella Fielding; vintage trailer; and a gallery of archival promotional and publicity materials for the film. In English, with optional Engish SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

"I've got a feeling something's watching us." "Well, good luck to him! I've been courting you a year and there's been nothing worth watching so far."

A cinematic trivia game. While not a perfect description, this seems like the most accurate description of Gerald Thomas’ Carry On Screaming. Indeed, any die-hard fan of horror cinema will instantly recognize in it the obvious intent to mock a variety of classic genre films, most of which happen to be classic horror films. This intent is the glue that holds the entire narrative of Carry On Screaming, plus it is the catalyst of all the humor that is supposed to make it easy to associate with the rest of the films in the Carry On franchise.

But while interesting, it is a risky concept for a funny film, and this should be just as obvious to anyone who is not a die-hard fan of horror cinema. Indeed, to be as effective as needed, the mockery requires a proper familiarity with the original material that is being targeted, and in Carry On Screaming -- as well as in many of the other Carry On films that do the same -- this material is unusually flexible and uneven. For example, in some areas, the mockery effectively overshadows the original material, so what needs to look funny does not. In other areas, the mocking is delivered only through a couple of lines, and if the viewer does not recognize how the original lines are twisted, the funny remains elusive.

For obvious reasons, the visual mockery is easier to appreciate. Indeed, anyone will quickly recognize the reimagining of, say, Frankenstein or Sherlock Holmes, and the different ways in which their classic profiles are distorted. However, visual mockery can be ineffective for different reasons. For example, it is not good enough to imitate the classic profiles and then proceed to mock them, or as is the case with Carry On Screaming destroy them. Before the latter occurs, these profiles need to look sufficiently credible. The environment from which they emerge needs to look sufficiently credible, too. It seems unlikely that Thomas was unaware of all these most logical requirements because Carry On Screaming does make the effort to legitimize some of its characters and their environment, but the complete film is a very underwhelming mish-mash of flexible credible and non-credible visuals. In other words, the inconsistencies in the thematic material are paired with inconsistencies in the visual material.

Carry On Screaming is set in the past, which has plenty of Victorian qualities but is not legitimately Victorian, and in a provincial area somewhere in England where beautiful girls have started disappearing. The latest beautiful girl to go missing is Doris Mann (Angela Douglas), the girlfriend of Albert Potter (Jim Dale), who was making love to her in the nearby forest. Utterly perplexed by the event and fearing the worst, Potter reaches out to detectives Sidney Bung (Harry H. Corbett) and Constable Slobotham (Petter Butterworth), who promptly arrive in the forest and begin looking for clues that can help them solve the case. Less than an hour later, Potter and detectives Bung and Slobotham reach a secluded mansion, which belongs to the sexy Valeria (Fenella Fielding) and her evil brother Dr. Orlando Watt (Kenneth Williams). After they are welcomed by a creepy butler, the three begin suspecting that the mansion may have something to do with the disappearance of Potter’s girlfriend and the rest of the missing girls.

The blending of horror and comedy, which gives Carry On Screaming its identity, must have looked appealing to a lot of viewers in the early 1960s. After all, what other films were out there that tried to do the same type of genre blending while wanting to be associated with various classic cinematic characters? Unfortunately, Carry On Screaming promises a lot more than it could have effectively delivered, and this is its main weakness. Indeed, it has recognizable characters and some humor to go along with them, but these characters are not polished well, and their relationships are quite trivial. Also, the mockery that is supposed to hold the different pieces of the narrative together lacks great wit, which is a crucial element in all good films that attempt to impress as Carry On Screaming does.

*Carry On Screaming is one of four films that are included in Carry On: Film Collection 3. The remaining three films are: Carry on Spying (1964), Carry on Cleo (1964), and Carry on Cowboy (1965).

Carry on Screaming Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Carry On Screaming arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint Films.

StudioCanal remastered various Carry On films, and Carry On Screaming is one of them. I think that the work that was done during the remastering process is very good because the entire film has a very attractive organic appearance. To be honest, I do not think that there is any room for serious improvement. I think that some minor tweaks could be introduced to ensure even better saturation levels on several primaries. Plus, some stability enhancements can be effective as well. But the rest? I just do not see any areas with obvious shortcomings. Delineation, clarity, and depth are usually very pleasing. Grain exposure is good too, though with additional encoding optimizations, it can be even better. In darker areas, of which there are plenty, shadow definition is handled very well. Highlights are nicely balanced, too. The entire film looks very healthy. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Carry on Screaming Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless track is very healthy, which does not surprise me because it was probably fully remastered when StudioCanal redid the entire film. All exchanges sound very clear, clean, and stable. I turned up the volume of my system quite a lot to see if I could detect any signs of age-related anomalies in the upper register but did not notice anything concerning. Dynamic intensity is quite good, but only in areas where the music becomes prominent.

Carry on Screaming Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary was recorded by actresses Angela Douglas and Fenella Fielding. The two ladies share plenty of memories from the production of Carry on Screaming, how the film was promoted and received, how the humor in it encountered improvisation, the sets that were used, etc. Also, there are some interesting general comments about the lasting appeal of the Carry On franchise.

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for Carry On Screaming. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Photo Gallery - a collection of vintage promotional and printed materials for Carry On Screaming. (3 min).

• Book - a 112-page book containing reproductions of the original pressbooks of the first 12 Carry On films.

Carry on Screaming Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Individual scenes can be quite funny, especially when the actors infuse their improvisations with proper energy, but the mockery that is supposed to hold the different pieces of the narrative together lacks great wit, which is a crucial element in all good films that attempt to impress as Carry On Screaming does. For this reason, while not a bad film, right now Carry On Screaming can only be effective as a nostalgia fix. This release is sourced from a very good organic master that was supplied by StudioCanal and is included in Carry On: Film Collection 3, a four-disc box set. RECOMMENDED to the fans.