A Scream in the Streets is 1973 sexploitation film about two Los Angeles detectives Officers Ed Haskell and Bob Streeker (Joshua Bryant and Frank Bannon, respectively) that are assigned to track down and arrest a brutal rapist-murderer terrorizing the city. The assignment is a bit tricky because the killer disguises himself as a woman. While the search goes on, there are plenty of tantalizing scenes of fornication to hold your interest.
This picture is your basic sleazy 1970s film with a plot that blends in with sexually explicit scenes. There is really nothing to this picture which consists of the two officers making some arrests intercut with couples making love. One of the highlights of the movie is a decent car chase scene that takes place near the film’s climax! The performers do an adequate job with their lines, but low-budget sexploitation films are not intended to be known for the acting.
A Scream in the Streets is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer. On this release, you can watch the film in two aspect ratios, which are widescreen 1.85:1 or in full-frame 1.33:1. On the back of the Blu-ray, the film is said to be “scanned uncut in 2K from the original negative”. I thought that the image no matter which ratio you view it in is satisfying. There are some print damages, blurriness, speckles and other blemishes during the viewing experience, but the colors are vibrant and strong for the most part. Outdoor scenes look sharp with some detail. All in all, for an obscure film with elements that probably were not well taken care of the picture quality is remarkable.
A Scream in the Streets audio track, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono is perfectly fine with dialog, the catchy seventies style music and other noises coming in clearly. None of the audio is too aggressive or timid and is pleasant and consistent throughout.
The extras are a bare minimum for this release. There two features, The Peeper: Part 1 and The Peeper: Part 2 which is nothing more than porn outtakes of the films. The other extra is three trailers for the film.
Severin Films has once again dug into the obscure films graveyard to unearth a film that is sure to please sleaze addicts and those who enjoy erotica from yesteryear. The audio and video quality should satisfy. The lack of extras should not deter those in picking up what I would call a recommended release!
A Scream in the Streets
Director- Carl Monson
Cast- Joshua Bryant, Frank Bannon, Rosie Stone
Country of Origin- US
Distributor – Severin Films
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date- 3/27/2021