This little-seen film blends together a myriad of classic horror themes, such as ghosts, crawling hands, wrong doings and curses. It's a classic example of British horror, set in a standard haunted house (there's even a graveyard nearby). Early '70s fashions are sadly non-existent here, as it's a period piece and all the costumes are of the historical variety, although there's nothing wrong with that. While the plot for the film is a typical (and dare I say clichéd) one, it has plenty of incident to keep it moving and loads of different ingredients to make it enjoyable. However, the winning formula for this film is the cast.Ian Ogilvy (WITCHFINDER GENERAL), Stephanie Beacham (INSEMINOID), Patrick Magee (DEMENTIA 13), and Herbert Lom (ASYLUM) all act convincingly and enjoyably in their roles. Ogilvy doesn't get to do much but look haunted as the husband, but Beacham is on top form here, giving it her all as the screaming victim. Magee is fine as usual, while the fantastic Lom adds yet another cruel character to his resumé. As soon as Peter Cushing arrives, playing a doctor with a dodgy toupee, the fun really begins and things get even better. Cushing's performance is as usual, excellent, but all performances from a cast well familiar to the horror fan are varied and good.The sheer diversity of different ingredients in this film make it work, and I advise you to sit it through in order to witness a most amusing moment at the end, when Ian Ogilvy dashes Herbert Lom's skeleton apart against his tomb - serve him right, the nasty old man. You also get the classic "crawling hand" prop, which was reused by various studios throughout the 60's and 70's - spotting it is half the fun! AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS may not break any new boundaries in the horror genre but it's a good, solid, old-fashioned ghost story and it's very entertaining, with exactly the same quaint and brooding atmosphere as a quality Hammer horror piece.

Catherine has just married her husband Charles and moved into his family's castle and before their wedding night arrives she is seeing haunting visions and is raped by by a ghost. As she slowly unravels the mystery of her husbands' family history, anyone trying to help her is killed off. Sound like a good plot? It really should be and is about as nasty as these types of films tend to get, but the way the production is handled just does not make the most of the story and instead relies too much on poorly executed, for the most part, special effects and jump- scares. Amicus Studios, the 2nd runner up of 1960's British Horror, and most famous for their portmanteau horror films (Tales From The Crypt, Asylum, Torture Garden etc...) brings us this so-so Gothic thriller from 1973. There are some good things going for the film, including a decent cast comprised of Ian Ogilvy, Stephanie Beacham, Peter Cushing and Herbert Lom, some very nice settings and lots of interesting camera-work. Unfortunately it is also anchored down by a slow-moving story and some poorly done special effects. However, you certainly could do a lot worse than this. And if you are a fan of the Hammer/Amicus films, you will certainly want to check it out at least once.

A curse on the House of Fengriffen, due to an evil deed caused by Henry Fengriffen(a devilish Herbert Lom), a descendant of Charles'(Ian Ogilvy), to woodsman Silas(Geoffrey Whitehead, playing both men of the past and present). This dangerous scary deed, and the curse deriving from it, is discussed by no one as virginal Catherine(Stephanie Beacham, whose ample bosoms wish so desperately to fling themselves on us)experiences horrifying images of a man whose eyeballs are missing, who has a stump where his hand should be. About the Fengriffen house is a severed hand which crawls to and fro..anyone who dares explain the curse gets strangulated by it! On their honeymoon night, a terrifying occurrence may've happened to poor Catherine who is being held down by the very evil man she sees ghostly apparitions from..she's also possibly impregnated by it! As Catherine begs for answers regarding a mysterious woodsman who has a home on the land of the Fengriffen estate nearby, no one will provide them..and who is this ghost, who may've raped her, that is terrorizing her? Enter Dr. Pope(Peter Cushing), a "scientist of the mind" called in by the confused Dr. Whittle(Patrick Magee)who can not help Catherine in her present state of hysteria(..she had sliced the portrait of Henry's to pieces while also falling down the stairwell). Pope begins finding the answers Catherine sought so diligently for and they produce an ugly history the Fengriffen family would soon forget.Despite it's ludicrous premise, the flick still remains watchable thanks to a strong cast. I felt the film really starts humming once Cushing's Sherlock Holmesian Pope enters the film because he can get to the truth with little the resistance Catherine faced time and time again. The "severed hand killings" is a bit much, but when you have such a strong cast backing you, bringing a sophistication and seriousness to the rather odd material, it can still make it out somewhat with a professionalism and class most films with this hokey story couldn't. I did feel Beacham overdoes it a bit with the whole "hysteria" act especially when she encounters ghostly haunts. Guy Rolfe appears briefly as Maitland, the family solicitor, and first victim who is killed before he can assist Catherine in her goal to find out what the mystery regarding the woodsman is all about.

"And Now the Screaming Start!" is a stupid, humorous, horror flick that is a real laugh unless you are watching it at 11:45 PM (AMCs Friday Night Fright film). At that time of night it was a little hair-raising and I wondered about my blood pressure.First you meet Charles Fengriffen (Ian Ogilvy) and his bride-to-be Catherine (Stephanie Beacham). They arrive at Charles' castle where they are to wed and live happily-ever-after...not! Then we (and Catherine) are introduced to a crawling hand that attacks her. It later kills her Aunt Edith who is encouraging her to go back home.The sins of Henry Fengriffen (Herbert Lom) are revealed to us. Anything he can inflict upon the serfs of his estate he does. This includes taking the wife of a young bridegroom on her wedding night (I'll let you figure out where he takes her). When the groom objects Henry has his hand cut off with an ax. Thus we are introduced to the father of Silas the Woodsman (Silas is Geoffrey Whitehead). We are also introduced to his ancestor who gives the plot the crawling hand.Catherine is raped on her wedding night by an unseen assailant. She becomes pregnant and disturbed. We learn of that new-fangled notion of Psychiatry and Dr. Pope (Peter Cushing). He shows up halfway through the movie to save her.The doctor wants to help her but getting information is very hard. Everyone who has any notion of Henry Fengriffen's sins and story ends up dead. That includes Dr. Whittle (Patrick Magee) the family Solicitor who is on his way to tell the story behind Henry and the curse. He is struck down when that unknown assailant strikes again.By whose hand are they dying? What happens with the baby Catherine is carrying? How does this serious situation get resolved? The ending is weird...but you'll have to see it for yourself!