Wizard-8 I first learned of this movie many years ago, when I was reading a film book that declared this movie as being one of the worst movies of 1984. So of course, I knew I would have to track it down and watch it to see if it deserved that dishonor. I just finished watching it now, and yes, it has to be one of the worst movies of its year. Or any year, for that matter! The script for the movie is unbelievably stupid, with characters making idiotic decisions at an incredibly rapid output. Sometimes this stupidity is, I admit, unintentionally funny, but most of the time you'll be angry at screenwriter Tom Holland's apparent feeling that the audience was beneath him. In fairness, not all of the movie's failure is his fault. The always heavy-handed director Michael Winner can't seem to inject much intelligence in this moronic story, often telling it in a rushed and not fully explained manner that suggests that there was chaos in the editing room. (As it turned out, Winner also edited the movie under the pseudonym "Arnold Crust")I must also add that the movie also has one of the WORST musical scores I have ever heard for a thriller in my life, being both strident and unsubtle. I will admit that the climatic 20 or so minutes do have a little spark and suspense, but then what good will the movie managed to build in those 20 minutes is ruined with Winner's stupid concluding scene. On the back of the video box, there is a quote from Winner stating, "SCREAM FOR HELP is one of the most terrifying scripts I've ever read". All I can conclude from that is that Winner never read many scripts in his career.

ebsmooth I saw this movie a lot in the 80's and just saw it again recently.If your looking for a suspenseful thriller don't look here.If you want to see some bad acting with some way over the top cheesy music that will make you laugh,look here. Cute(but dumpy)Christy suspects her no good step dad is trying to hurt her mom & herself.Watch as she cuts three straight days of school to follow him in his car on her bike(very funny).Watch as she drags her best friend along which leads to her death(not funny,but not sad).Watch as DAYS later she loses her virginity with her best friend's boyfriend(hilarious).The end has a final confrontation that reminded me of the home alone movies,but this isn't suppose to be a comedy.I admit I was in hysterics the way the mom was flung around in her wheelchair.This is definitely a so bad its good type movie.I enjoyed it for all the wrong reasons.If your looking for something similar but better check out The Stepfather with Terry O'Quinn.

lebong-2 Michael Winner again misses actual greatness by a light year, but achieves inadvertent greatness in trafficking crap with his slapdash approach to film-making. The dopey plot involves a high school girl (Rachael Kelly) who believes her stepfather is trying to kill her mom.The dippy sub-Nancy Drew exploits are periodically interrupted by typical Winner sleaziness including completely gratuitous nudity. The acting is uniformly amateurish, as if the cast just memorized their lines minutes before they were shot. As with most Winner movies, it's shot haphazardly and unimaginatively. The over-anxious soundtrack is almost always inappropriate and sounds like it belongs in an episode of "Charlie's Angels". And if you're a fan of bad songs, stay tuned through the credits for "Christy", one of the most laughable themes I've ever heard! Surprisingly sung (horribly) by Jon Anderson of the legendary prog-rock band Yes.All of this is not to say the movie isn't perversely entertaining. Most of Winner's movies are, for me. It's fascinating to watch such slapdash nonsense. This is the kind of movie that has you checking the cast on IMDb just to see if anyone escaped this crap and went on to anything of note. I checked. No one really did. Corey Parker is the only one who had much of a career to speak of following this mess. Though Led Zepplin's John Paul Jones surprisingly is credited for the crap score! This is obviously a travesty, but for ludicrous plotting, inane dialog, brain dead behavior from every character and a handful of sleaze, it's just the ticket.

johnboy1 I like this movie a lot. True, it's not a cinema classic, but as a "B" horror film, it rates a B+. The story, acting, and direction are much better than most films of this sort. My biggest complaint with the film is the music, which is often out of sync with the film, and at other times shrill to the point of being annoying. The actors do a fine job, particularly Sisto, in the sleasy, white trash role. The young actress who stars in this film is quite effective, and I have to wonder why she didn't get a career boost, after this one.I'd like to purchase this film, if it is ever released on DVD.