Scream Dream
directed by Donald Farmer
starring Carol Carr and Melissa Moore
SRS Cinema
The VHS videotape offered plenty of advantages, not the least of which was the ability to view topless women in the privacy of your own home as often as you wanted. It’s rumored that VHS beat out Beta because of its acceptance by the porn industry. That’s the concept driver behind Scream Dream, and it’s a classic time capsule of late ’80s softcore porn posing as entertainment. Notionally it’s a horror film revolving around a heavy metal band, and it gives just enough plot to justify the topless scenes. While I have no problems with Melissa Moore’s breasts, the entertainment value here lies in the retro hairstyles, cheesy effects, and decent music. The band’s lead singer (Carr) called herself “Michelle Shock” on screen; it’s likely a coincidence, as the other Michelle Shocked was still about a year away from her big break when this tit-flasher appeared. Michelle is the over-the-top singer who cuts herself, worships Satan, and gives adoring fans blowjobs. Her antics appall the wooden manager of the band (Gene Amonette), who fires her and replaces her with blonde bombshell Jamie (Moore). Jamie and the bass player (Nikki Riggins) hook up, but Jamie gets infected with the Satan virus and soon is brain-munching her way through the cast. You’ve seen better horror effects at the Halloween Super Store, but the hairdos and music are great, and you can fast forward to the good parts much faster on DVD.
The technical quality of this disc is rock bottom, and that’s the biggest drawback. It looks like it’s ripped right from the orginal VHS and you can even burn through the FBI warning at the beginning. Tape artifacts haunt the edges of the film, and the audio is a bit rough, but not unintelligible. Except for Carr and Moore, the acting is sub-community theatre with band manger Amonette and fanboy Rick (Trey White), and his girlfriend (Jenny Davis) particularly laughable. While this is by no means a classic, there’s enough fun on this disc to justify the time spent watching it. Moore is a real cutie, and the backing band Rikk-O-Shay is a typical cover band, skilled with their instruments and equally at ease in clubs, weddings, and Bar Mitzvahs. The ’80s were a fun time, there was more money and less bloodshed than the ’60s, and everyone dressed for success whether in the boardroom, the bedroom, or the graveyard.
SRS Cinema: http://www.srscinema.com
