Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Scream, Pretty Peggy Blu-ray Movie Review

An entertaining movie of the week is newly restored.

Scream, Pretty Peggy is an entertaining movie-of-the-week television film. The feature was produced by Lou Morheim (The Outer Limits, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms). With a gothic tone and an impressive cast, Scream, Pretty Peggy is well-worth checking out for horror film fans. An under-the-radar film that has been newly restored.

Peggy Johns (Sian Barbara Allen) is a beautiful college student who decides to earn some extra cash by taking on a housekeeping job at an old mansion. Upon visiting the estate, Peggy meets artist Jeffrey Elliot (Ted Bessell). Jeffrey has a habit of making horrific and disturbing sculptures. As young Peggy spends more time at the estate, she begins to be creeped out by strange occurrences in the large mansion. The house is also home to Jeffrey’s elderly mother, Mrs. Elliott (Bette Davis). There are surprises in store. Can Peggy survive her job?

The cast is excellent and that is reason enough for audiences to enjoy Scream, Pretty Peggy. The performances helped to carry the filmmaking well. Considering the low budget nature of the TV production, the cast are relied upon heavily to help enhance the storytelling and the actors all adequately delve in to their respective roles. Of course, Bette Davis is the most impressive. A wonderfully surprising performance by the beloved actress. Sian Barbara Allen gives a solid performance as well and imbues the role with a sense of curiosity and whimsy. Ted Bessell is also noteworthy in his role and he provides the part with a sense of mischief that is compelling to watch.

The production has surprisingly excellent art direction by Joe Alves (Night Gallery, The Sugarland Express). The art direction is certainly top-notch and one of the best elements of the filmmaking. Television movies can range quite a bit in quality and yet some of the golden-age of television productions are especially notable (such as this feature). The art direction highlights the quality environmental elements – the mansion making a big impression on the scope and scale of the filmmaking. The set decorations by Hal Overell (Hawaiian Eye, 77 Sunset Strip) are also worthwhile. There are several creepy art statues throughout the film and these make the story much creepier and more immersive.

The costumes by Burton Miller (Earthquake, Airport ’77) are well-done and fit the characters in the story nicely. Though the costumes don’t stand out as being particularly grandiose, the costumes are down-to-earth and feel well thought out for these characters and their environment. The effort is commendable. Miller certainly made sure that the characters feel authentic in their costumes.

"Perfection."

The editing by Larry Strong (Mission: Impossible, 21 Jump Street) is one of the best strengths of the film and something that excels expectations for a made for television feature production. The editing is an asset to the filmmakers and the pacing of the story is spot-on. The film is never a bore to watch and carries itself on a decent pace through to the final frame of the story. A good effort by Strong.

The original score by Robert Prince (The Bionic Woman, The Name of the Game) is reasonably engaging and fits the material well. Though the score doesn’t stand out as one of the best elements of the film, the music nonetheless engages and works well with the gothic material. The score certainly is much better than standard TV more fare.

The cinematography by Leonard J. South (Family Plot, Hang ‘Em High) is outstanding. The filmmaking shines with great visuals. The film looks every-bit as impressive as a theatrical feature-film and this certainly aids the entire viewing experience. South is an excellent cinematographer and his work certainly exudes the same sensibility from his experience working alongside Alfred Hitchcock and others.

Written by Jimmy Sangster (Fear in the Night, The Maniac) and Arthur Hoffe (in their only screenwriting credit), Scream, Pretty Peggy is not the best written script around but it certainly is decent enough that audiences will be interested in the story and seeing the direction it heads in. Though far from a horror classic, the concept and execution is solid for a television film. The story is mostly relegated to the mansion and the screenwriters do a solid job of focusing on character moments. The dialogue is impressive.

Directed by Gordon Hessler (Scream and Scream Again, Pray for Death), Scream, Pretty Peggy is well directed and far better than expectations. The filmmaking is cinematic and engaging (and the film doesn’t ever feel like something that should be relegated to simply being a movie-of-the-week). Impressive work by Hessler. Fans of genre films will certainly want to give the film a spin.

Scream, Pretty Peggy Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber, Scream, Pretty Peggy is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.33:1 full frame. The release comes from a new high-definition master (which was sourced for the presentation). Kino has done an excellent job with the release. The scan is surprisingly crisp and clean. The print quality is outstanding. There is an exceptional degree of detail in the image and the print looks naturally filmic and does not suffer from digital noise reduction and the like. The print looks remarkable for the age of the television film and the material was clearly well preserved. The encoding is also solid and has a high bit-rate. Good job, Kino.

Scream, Pretty Peggy Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented in English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo. The lossless audio quality sounds crisp, clear, and engaging. Dialogue is well reproduced and easy to understand. The original score is similarly well emphasized and reproduced for the release. The audio track never suffers from any egregious hiss, crackle, pops, hiss, and clicks. A solid encoding and audio preservation by Kino.

Scream, Pretty Peggy Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Audio Commentary by Film Historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson

Scream, Pretty Peggy – TV Spot (HD, 00:34)

Fear No Evil – TV Spot (HD, 1:35)

Ritual of Evil – TV Spot (HD, 1:38)

Kolchak: The Night Stalker (Bad Medicine) – TV Spot (HD, 00:34)

Scream, Pretty Peggy Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

 Scream, Pretty Peggy is an interesting made-for-television film. The concept is compelling (with the spooky mansion backdrop) and the screenwriters have fun with the story. The cast is one of the core reasons the film works so well. Bette Davis is especially impressive as Mrs. Elliott. The direction is solid as well. The Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber is sourced from a brand new high-definition master and is an impressive presentation for the feature. The release also includes a lossless audio sound presentation. Recommended.