Scream at the Devil (2015) User Reviews

Lost in the Screenplay

[claudio_carvalho · 3/10 · 16 August 2017]

After losing her baby and finding that her husband Gabriel Jones (Eric Etebari) has a love affair, the housewife Mirium Jones (Shari Shattuck) travels to Venice and makes a pact with the devil to become pregnant again. When she returns, she moves with Gabriel to an isolated house for a new beginning, but Mirium is unstable and disturbed with evil daydreams and visions. After a violent argument with Gabriel, he vanishes and Mirium is tormented by her neighbors. Is Mirium really lunatic or part of the Devil's plan?

"Scream at the Devil" is a film with good ideas from other movies, special effects and performance of the lead actress Shari Shattuck. However the storyline is a mess and the director / writer Joseph P. Stachura is totally lost in an awful screenplay. In the end, "Scream at the Devil" is boring but never scary. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Grito de Pânico" ("Scream of Panic")

Don't waste your time on this one

[MoviesRT · 2/10 · 24 March 2016]

I tend to only review movies that were so bad I feel I must warn others not to bother with them.

This is a good example of that. The acting is terrible, the story goes nowhere and no one seems to know what's going on. It was like a student film, and a bad one at that.

I thought the premise sounded good, so I watched it, but this movie just inundates you with one scare after another until you grow immune and after a while the "scary" parts become comical.

And these characters that show up at her door demanding to be invited in. How stupid is that? That's like the old vampire lore even though they aren't vampires. And those stupid "country" girls who can't even talk right. Why are the stereotypes always the same in junk like this? Don't these writers ever do any research?

The best part of the movie was the scenery from Venice. I guess the crew and director did the whole thing just to get a free trip to Italy, because it had nothing to do with the rest of the story.

Well, enough time wasted on this dog. There are plenty of really bad horror movies out there, but this one is so lame it makes you laugh and cry at the same time.

Dang it! Could have been good.

[iridiumtiara · 3/10 · 29 August 2016]

This movie could have been really good. It had all the elements of a great horror film; a pact with Satan, a main character who may or may not be hallucinating the horrible things in the home, creepy neighbors who seem to be demons at times (like actual demons, not like your regular annoying neighbor-type jerk demons), a Rosemary's Baby-esque Hell-spawn producing scene, etc.

But, somehow all of those ingredients were mixed together and baked, and it turned into something.....not cake.

Even the final scene, which should have tied up the loose ends and drove the whole train home, just caused some eye rolling.

I didn't take away all the stars, because this movie isn't completely beyond redemption. The lady who played Belah was pretty convincing as her role changed from hapless sweet old lady next door to the evil crone who knows more that she lets on.

And, the two cops at the end, while they seem like belonged in different movie, had a pretty good chemistry. The reason they seemed like they didn't belong in this movie is because they didn't. They belong in a *better* movie.

Don't watch it!

[Leofwine_draca · 1/10 · 21 May 2016]

SCREAM AT THE DEVIL is an awful and pointless independent horror production. The cover has been designed to make it look like your standard possession flick, but this is nothing like. Instead it's the humdrum tale of your ordinary housewife who begins to suffer from mental illness and finds herself assailed by weird, demonic visions and other phenomena.

I'm not sure what the market is for a film like this, which so obviously must have been a non-starter for those making it. It lacks a single sympathetic character in the whole cast and for 90% of the running time the viewer is saddled with the below-par acting of Shari Shattuck, an ageing former TV star who fails to hold the attention at all. Oh yeah, and Tony Todd cameos as a cop, but he's no reason to tune into this silly and pointless production.

Good idea...bad everything else

[Orpheus_Unlimited · 1/10 · 4 April 2016]

"A beautiful schizophrenic woman is pushed over the edge by her husband's illicit affairs, and when her hallucinations become reality the Devil comes to take his due."

Nothing in that description is actually true. The woman is not "beautiful" and "her husband's illicit affairs" didn't pushed her "over the edge" nor "her hallucinations become reality".

So when a movie says "the story is about unicorns" and it's actually about horses...you have a serious problem at hand.

The movie tells the story of Mirium Jones, a woman suffering from schizophrenia that decides to "leave it all behind" when her husband cheats on her with a younger woman. She also lost her unborn children due to a miscarriage. See? And you thought your life was bad.

So she decides to take a trip to Venice and goes to a Basilica (a very old and magnificent church) basically to pray to the Devil (?) for a chance of getting pregnant again. Because everyone knows that if you need to make a Pact with Satan...the obvious place to go is a church.

Then without any kind of explanation the emotionally scarred woman decides to go back with her husband, who buys a huge house in the mountains and builds a "studio" for her and her paintings.

But then...everything goes to hell when all of a sudden all the characters become like corrupted versions of themselves. Again, without any sort of real explanation.

Strange things start to happen all around Mirium and the obvious question Writer/Director Joseph P. Stachura wants you to ask is "is it all real or not?" "are all these due to the schizophrenia or is the Devil's work?". A very interesting idea (albeit not an original one at this point) that Stachura completely ruins with his awful directing job and a worse script.

The acting in this movie is an insult to the senses and not even Tony Todd is able to deliver a worthy performance. Shari Shattuck as Mirium is a complete mess and most of her performance just jumps from overacting to plain pathetic acting. The rest of the cast is just...well...let's just say "bad".

Photography is forgettable, except for the Venice portion of the movie (the first 7-8 minutes of it).

The SFX are something straight out of a B Movie. The Syfy original movies' FX are almost something out of Industrial Light & Magic compared to these ones.

Oh...and the ending completely disregards everything you see just minutes prior to it.

Seriously, this movie couldn't be any more worse even if it were 90 minutes of still pictures of grass.

Just do yourself a favor and skip it. This is probably one of the worst movies released in 2015.

I'VE BEEN BETTER

[nogodnomasters · 5/10 · 2 May 2018]

Mirium Jones (Shari Shattuck) is in Venice and prays claiming she would do anything to have a baby and looks like she has a slight case of demonic possession. However we don't know that for sure as she is a bit schizophrenic. Her husband Gabriel (Eric Etebari) likes old cars, the bottle, and women who aren't certifiable. We see Mirium going mad and hallucinating, or not, as the audience doesn't know what is real or not real. Tony Todd has a minor role and appears 73 minutes into the film which sets up for a sequel where his role could expand.

I liked the selection of the names. There are women who look like they are part of a Rosemary's Baby coven, including the token hot Asian chick (Jane Park Smith). The DVD cover picture doesn't appear in the film. We get to watch a drama of a failed relationship, that wasn't that great and then we watch a woman do crazy stuff as she walks around at night with a gun and a flashlight because she lives in a nation that allows crazy people to be armed with flashlights. She also likes to wake up in the tub and run around in a top and panties. However that was not enough to carry the film. Had potential.

Guide: F-word, rape. No nudity other than side-breast.

Disjointed.

[parry_na · 5/10 · 21 June 2018]

This is a strangely disjointed film directed, written and co-produced by Joseph P. Stachura. Shari Shattuck stars as Mirium, and Eric Etebari as Gabriel, who reunite after Mirium takes a break in Venice (where the film opens) after suffering a miscarriage. After praying for another baby, Mirium, who is not taking her medication for schizophrenia, suffers a series of strange hallucinations and scary moments. During one such episode, Gabriel, who likes a drink, disappears.

This appears to be a kind of variation of 'Rosemary's Baby (1967)', but quite oddly paced. The initially amusing Camio, Lilli and Amy (Jennifer Lyons, Amy Argyle and Corina Boettger), together with elderly Bella (Teddy Vincent) and Raven (Jane Park Smith) from 'nearby' appear to form some sort of unspecific - possibly vampiric - coven that knows more about Mirium than anyone. After the strong opening scenes in beautiful Venice, things settle, if that is the right word, into a series of scenarios that could be real/could be fantasy. After a while, it is difficult to care. Shattuck attacks her role with gusto, sometimes over-reacting to various occurrences. As if to heighten that, some of the directorial touches are sometimes heavy-handed. After a while, you get that sinking feeling that what you are watching is sadly flawed.

The two cops we meet late in the film might well be my favourite characters. Played by Candyman Tony Todd and Kiko Ellsworth, they have great chemistry and humour.

Events lead up to - although they don't, really, they just 'happen' - the set-up for a sequel. A quick look at IMDB reveals 'Scream at the Devil' to be Joseph P. Stachura's most recent filmic project, so such a concept is possible.

Terrible Movie

[HarleanHayworth · 1/10 · 30 April 2016]

This is one of the worst horror movies I have ever seen. I watched it because it had gotten some good reviews on Amazon but now I'm wondering who wrote those (friends of the director?)

The plot is about a woman who goes to Italy and makes a deal with the devil to have a baby. When she returns home she starts having nightmares and seeing visions of demons.

The problem is the movie is NOT SCARY and the acting is SO AWFUL. The director seems to "borrow" a lot from other horror films. There is one scene that is a complete rip-off of Rosemary's Baby.

Tony Todd (Candyman) was listed as one of the stars but he doesn't show up until the end and had a very small role. I actually felt bad he had to take this part.

I advise other horror fans to skip this movie - it's very, very BAD.

Crazy

[kosmasp · 5/10 · 28 March 2016]

I know some might think me giving this 5/10 is crazy, which is fair enough, though I was referring to the movie or its theme in general. And I do know, that the movie has flaws. Beginning with some of the acting, the shot selection and the script. Some might even take offense because this does pay tribute (read copies!) some classic horror movies (Rosemarys Baby to name just one).

But generally speaking there is appeal. There is appeal in the really out there, trip this is offering. And you don't have to be on a "trip" to get it or to like it either. It's about paranoia, it's about seeing things that may or may not be there. It's about mental health and about demons. Or just one rather than the other? But which one? If you are able to watch this, with a mindset like that, you will be entertained enough to like it (despite all the flaws)

Do you wanna waste your time with a crazy old lady?

[artyom_aa · 1/10 · 26 March 2016]

"A beautiful schizophrenic woman is pushed over the edge by her husbands illicit affairs" Let's start with the description written by the director. I am sorry but the lady is a grandma! A beautiful schizophrenic woman sounds more like a young student character not a grandma! Okay lets move to the story, narrative, and character. The main lady character acts like she was 30 years old who wants to be pregnant again when she looks like she is at least 50 years old. She also has a very annoying character. Basically a dumb aggressive old woman refuses to take her meds and instead suffers from weird hallucinations. Acting is amateur, directing is basic and the story is very simple. Overall, the movie is awful.

Harrowing portrait of madness and despair

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 16 September 2021]

Schizophrenic Miriam Jones (a strong and credible performance by Shari Shattuck) returns back to America after spending some time in Italy. Pretty soon Miriam starts to lose her grip on reality. Is Miriam going insane? Or has she become possessed by an evil spirit?

Writer/director Joseph Paul Stachuro relates the absorbing story at a steady pace, ably crafts a creepy and unsettling atmosphere, takes time to develop the compellingly troubled character of Miriam, builds a good deal of tension, and keeps the viewer guessing until the startling end about whether or not Miriam is either crazy or possessed. Shattuck has a total field day with her juicy lead role; she receives sound support from Eric Etebari as Miriam's jerky husband Gabriel, Jane Park Smith as perky neighbor Raven, Tony Todd as concerned Detective Johnson, Kiko Ellsworth as Johnson's eager partner Officer Ordonez, Bill Oberst Jr. As weird and menacing delivery man Job, and Teddy Vincent as sweet old lady Bellah. David Doko's sharp cinematography provides several strikingly freaky and unnerving shots of various grotesque demonic beings. A neat little fright flick.

Intriguing, and thought provoking.

[AlexandriaMehh · 7/10 · 2 November 2015]

I honestly didn't exactly know what I was getting into heading into this one. But to a pleasant surprise, this one surprised me. The acting in this film was solid, and I felt as if the actors really had heart for their characters they played. The characters we're given are unique, at times, however, presented on multiple levels with small shards of clichés, but overall entertaining, and unique enough to hold us off. The overall story I honestly felt it to be surprising. It had a good premise to where it introduces twists, and small surprises that satisfied. The story, and or premise also had some creative offerings, giving some eye opening take-ons. Keeping this review very short, the film overall was successful in holding the attention of us, audience. It was unique, refreshing, and for the most part the given story was thought provoking, new, and fresh. The plus-elements including the characters and such succeeded as well, adding onto the film's success. This was a great, pleasantly surprising thriller, if you can see it, I'd recommend doing so.

WORSE THAN YOU THINK!!!

[shannondaly-84633 · 1/10 · 18 August 2018]

Scream at the devil... More like scream at my mother for making me sit through five minutes of this before I decided to leave the room, pack my bags and flee the country. This movie had me more confused and turned off than ever. I'm flabbergasted this made it to picture... Like nobody thought... Wait what were making is garbage and the effects are not building suspense but making the viewers laugh? 2.5 is not a low enough rating and I wish I could rate lower than 1 because I have no words.

I've never seen a rating this low from IMDB...2.5.

[ravenhair702 · 1/10 · 6 September 2016]

I'm watching the last of the movie as I'm typing this. I just can't take anymore of this pile of garbage...and believe me...I want to use much worse language, but I'm trying to be classy. First clue was putting it into the DVD and seeing it go straight to PLAY MOVIE. No trailers of any kind. RED FLAG. A movie is like a new book. If the first chapter doesn't grab you, the rest of the book never will. I kept an open mind, but after the first 45 minutes...and let me remind you that this movie is only 98 minutes long...I kinda gave up. Like in looking around and wondering how much longer I'd have to endure this. I also wondered how this piece of dung was green lighted in the first place. How does something like this ever make it to a group of people who put their money into something that if the screenplay is read out loud that they don't leave the room at that very moment! The only reason I gave it a 1 is that they don't have a zero! I DID see one person I knew in the film...the guy who played in the film Canyman. God...he MUST be on hard times if he actually said yes to this steaming pile of....manure. Sorry. Tried not to use that kind of language, but every man has a limit. Don't watch this trash. Don't rent this trash. Try to not look at it when you see it in the Redbox. It isn't worth your time. It's 98 minutes and a $1.60 I'll never get back. I'm gonna go get drunk and try to kill the brain cells that carry the memory of this movie!

Paraphrasing Jay Sherman's words on The Simpsons: It stinks.

[matialv · 1/10 · 20 August 2016]

It's easily the worst movie I've ever seen in my life. It doesn't make any sense, it's poorly executed, the plot is not clear at all, and some scenes are extremely awkward, both because of the dreadful acting and because of how silly the dialogue is.

The plot felt uncoordinated, some shots are way out of place (i.e. unnecessary slow motions), the scene where this diabolical fly chases her, the music felt out of place sometimes, some of the effects were really cheap and/or crappy. I'd love to find something redeeming about it, but I just can't. It's not worth the time unless you want to know how a really bad movie looks like.

I'd choose The Room over this one any day.

2 hours of my life gone forever

[ruairisean · 1/10 · 23 March 2016]

I watched this in its entirety because i was stubborn, even though i could tell in the first ten minutes it was going to be absolute cinematic dirt. The 2 people who liked it must have been high or worked on it because it had no redeeming qualities, though the set was a beautiful house on the hills (though the couple were supposedly poverty stricken, why not buy a mansion so?) bad overacting,bad effects, bad actors, awful awful film.It was almost like a bad rip off of Rosemary's baby, more like Rosemary's baby gone bloody wrong. So upset at myself for sitting through it. Once again i have not enough lines to submit a review, so I shall go on about how bad the film was, Bill Oberst who can be good, albeit rarely, was underused in the film, he just had a weird rapey vibe about him. The triptic of art students completely laughable. So much muck

Was that Candyman?

[tmdarby · 3/10 · 29 March 2016]

Well it wasn't all terrible. There were some creepy scenes to be honest, but the over all plot had a lot to be desired.

The main character was interesting, but wasn't done well. I'm not sure if it was the writing or acting or both. Either Shari Shattuck over acted, a lot, or the writing was bad and her reactions were often too much for the scene.

They never really developed characters much in the movie either. Not that you have to have that, but here it would have been helpful. It was obvious you aren't supposed to like the husband, and they elude to some affair, but never expound upon it at all. He acts like a jerk a few times to make sure you don't like him, but that's pretty much it.

The main character plays crazy well enough, but I don't know, it just lacked something.

Oh and Candyman makes an appearance to show people how acting works.

This movie stunk

[puffs268 · 2/10 · 21 March 2016]

Argh even though the 3d effects were OK, the movie stunk. A story line that made no sense and I was bored throughout the entire movie ready to turn it off on numerous occasions. Gabriela? I don't get it him. Why was he even in the movie. The actor just dragged the movie down and added nothing to the plot. Nothing in the movie made sense, the main actress's artwork was awful even though that was suppose to be her profession, many cameos by 2 bit actors haunted me and their lines were laughable changing from humans to non-humans were poorly done. I was really agitated towards the end of the movie and came to the conclusion that I wasted 90 minutes of my life when I could have been watching Archer reruns.

Love Shari but hate this kind of movie..

[RMS1949 · 3/10 · 26 March 2016]

After about the 4th or 5th "is she dreaming or not " scenario,, you just don't care any more..!!!! Movies based on constant "fooling" the audience are just cheap shots at film making, especially in the horror/thriller genre... It means you the viewer are meaningless in their whole process.. They don't care about you,,, as they don't need to have reason, continuity or plot development.,, they can just cruise to an end with the old "is it real or not" nonsense.... Love Shari as she always made a vulnerable heroine... shame she just didn't have more to work with here.. Hopefully will she in another starring role soon....

Don't waste your time.

[jordondave-28085 · 2/10 · 3 April 2023]

(2015) Scream at the Devil HORROR

The movie opens with Marium Jones (Shari Shattuck) taking photos and painting while walking around Venice. As it turns out she is taking a break, away from her cheating husband Gabriel Jones (Eric Etebari). Viewers are unfamiliar with the circumstances, but that is the set up. And by the time she decides to come back, her husband Gabriel tries to make amends by giving her own art studio and so forth. It is during at this point her mental condition worsened, when she sees things that are not there. Her husband makes some effort trying to convince her to take her meds, viewers are clueless what Marium needs medication for, until the very end.

Spoil Because Marium is not in her meds she ends up killing 3 to 4 different people viewers are oblivious when nor how she was able to kill those people before dumping those victims into the swimming pool. That she was always a schizoid. A person with multiple personalities, pregnant at the same time while in a strait jacket, and it does not help if the synopsis reveals to viewers what she is suffering at the back of the DVD movie. Don't waste your time.

A truly great schizophrenic thriller!

[JStachura6064 · 10/10 · 21 March 2016]

'SCREAM AT THE DEVIL' is a psychological SCHIZOPHRENIC THRILLER, revolving around a paranoid schizophrenic who believes her own tormented imagination. This wonderful film is really a look into the mind of a severely deranged woman that refuses any help. 'Scream at the Devil' takes the audience on a wild ride through the same emotional battle as the lead character Miriam, experiencing extreme confusion, intense paranoia and the constant terror of believing her own imagination. The details of every picture or horror film that she has ever seen, every book that she has ever read, every person that she has ever met gets twisted into a series of demonic attacks in Miriam's tormented mind. Or is it possible that people who our society calls insane are able to see a world that the rest of us cannot? Do you believe in the Devil?

Interesting.

[tiskec · 6/10 · 26 May 2021]

I think this film is under-rated. Everyone keeps looking for a "script." This type of movie was produced to make you wonder. You're never supposed to know If it was schizophrenia or the devil. At the end, was it the devil's baby or her husband's? Did she actually kill all those people? No one really knows, not even the woman. Was her miscarriage real or was it even a thing that happened.

All of this is intentionally left unclear in my opinion. Not even the main character is sure. It shows her at some point dump her meds down the sink, which again contributes to the wonder of events. There's nothing confusing about this movie. It was set up this way. I think people just need to broaden their views.

All in all, if you are on board with the film it really isn't bad. It's extremely suspenseful. There is some predictable parts in the movie. Otherwise, the acting is good. I rather enjoyed it.

Give me back my time!

[mohdameerbukhqari · 1/10 · 5 February 2022]

Where do I begin? The show itself is an absolute horror. Bad cinematography, bad plot, and most obvious is the bad acting. And what's with the sound effects? Don't even waste your time on this.

Had me on the edge of my seat!

[latool · 10/10 · 8 April 2016]

If you have a brain and are over 25, this film will appeal to you. "A beautiful schizophrenic woman is pushed over the edge by her husband's illicit affairs" is indeed the perfect description of this terror film. Shari Shattuck is brilliant as Miriam. One cannot help but to fall in love with her electifying performance.

Filmed in Venice, Joseph P. Stachura has taken the beauty of that City and made it really creepy.As Miriam returns to the States, things really go wrong and that's where one really has to have a certain level of intelligence to "get it". I won't spoil it for you but SEE THIS FILM!!