Carry On Screaming

Remarkably, it is not until the 12th film of the series that Bernard Bresslaw appears in his first Carry-On, playing the sleepy butler in a haunted mansion. Screaming is a wonderful spoof horror, that mercilessly ribs the popular Hammer Horror collective of the 1960’s. This is the only movie which mocks horror films, which is surprising considering how many Carry On’s were made.

The plot is set in the Victorian era and follows Detective Sergeant Bung, (Harry H. Corbett) and Detective Constable Slobotham, (Peter Butterworth), who are investigating the disappearance of several women. When the boyfriend of one of these women, Albert Potter, (Jim Dale), comes to meet the detectives one evening, they ending up in the haunted mansion in the middle of nowhere, in which they find far more than they had bargained for!

This Carry On is probably best remembered for the sultry performance of Fenella Fielding as the seductive and less than understated owner of the mansion, which in my opinion is the most memorable part of the film, she really does steal the show. The costume design and make up for some of the spookier characters is also excellent. The majority of the film follows the exact same formula as many of the other Carry On’s set in their particular era. This one is no different, although I did find the opening song to be seriously annoying. However it is still a really fun film. My favourite part is the last 15 minutes, particularly the last scene which goes in a direction that I personally wasn’t expecting. Most of the Carry On’s made between ’65 and ’75 attempted to do this as they searched for an unconventional ending to each film, something which Screaming really achieves.

8/10 – Calum Roberts