Scream (The Outing) - Pepper Martin

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "The Outing" or "Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker")

directed by Byron Quisenberry
USA 1981

NOTE: This DVD of Scream is compared to the Blu-ray HERE

A rafting tour visit a ghost town and find themselves trapped there as a possibly supernatural presence starts picking them off one by one. That's really all there is to it. Stunt man Byron Quisenberry got some money together, rounded up some name cast members (including Woody Strode, Pepper Martin, Hank Worden, and Alvy Moore) he had worked with on films as a stuntman (along with Ethan Wayne, youngest son of John). The film lacks the expected gore, sex, and nudity and is cast of characters is composed of believable-looking tourists rather than obnoxious teenagers. There's a lot of standing around (one of the commentators points out that it seems like "Waiting for Godot... to kill you"). There also seems to be a lack of coverage that renders most of the scenes in master shot and medium shot with only a couple characters warranting a close-up (usually in the stalking scenes) but the film achieves an odd, detached atmosphere that becomes almost surreal once Strode makes his special appearance (a thought-provoking appreciation of the film can be found HERE). Purchased by Vestron for home video in the eighties, its cover was adorned with more conventional slasher artwork (a hand holding a sickle) and popped up in just about every video store I can recall. More seasoned slasher fans will want to catch up with this one if only for a change of pace.

Eric Cotenas

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Theatrical Release: 1 January 1981 (USA)

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DVD Review: Media Blasters - Region 1 - NTSC

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Media Blasters Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	1:22:42
Video	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 9.8 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono)
Subtitles	none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Media Blasters Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Audio commentary by director Byron Quisenberry moderated by Marc Edward Hueck • Theatrical Trailer (16:9; 1:26) • TV Spot (4:3; 0:28) • Still Gallery • Trailers for JUST BEFORE DAWN (16:9; 2:30), EVILS OF THE NIGHT (4:3; 0:56), KILLING BIRDS • (4:3; 2:35), and COP KILLERS (4:3; 1:44) DVD Release Date: 16 February 2010 Amaray Chapters 12

Comments

NOTE: This DVD of Scream is compared to the Blu-ray HERE

Amazon lists this disc as discontinued but Media Blasters has confirmed that it simply missed its February 16th street date and should begin shipping next week. Media Blasters gives the special treatment to this bewildering slasher/supernatural the Code Red treatment (the film was initially slated for that company). Transferred from the 35mm internegative, the dual-layer, progressive anamorphic transfer looks good for a 16mm-35mm blow up (the director's stated aspect ratio is 1.66:1 but the film would have been matted off to 1.85:1 for theatrical showing and the film was shot theater-safe so the 1.78:1 framing looks balanced). Grain and speckling do make themselves known throughout but it does not detract from the presentation (which is encoded at an extremely high 9.8 Mbps).

Director Byron Quisneberry provides a frank audio commentary in which he states that his attitude towards shooting a low budget horror film was to "wing it." A theatrical trailer and TV spot as well as a still gallery are on hand.

- Eric Cotenas

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