I’ve seen a handful of the ‘Carry on’ films over the years, but, to my own shame it’s taken me until now to get around to the one where they parody ‘Hammer’ horror in their cheeky and formulaic way. Well ladies and gents. I knew what I was getting into, and I wasnt dissapointed.

Harry H. Corbett plays Detective Sidney Bung, a brow beaten cop who’s put onto the case of a series of mysterious dissapearences of young beautiful women who wander out into the park at night. both he and his colleage Detective Sloebothom eventually arrive at the door of the ‘Bide-A-Wee Rest Home’ home to Doctor Orlando Watt and his Sister ‘Valeria’. It transpires that the two…STRANGE, rest home owners have discovered a form of immortal life linked to being charged up by electricity, and after recovering a kind of neanderthal throwback that died out 500 years ago, they use their techniques to ressurect him, setting him to work grabbing women in the park…they call him ‘Oddbod’

and…thats basically the film, a cat and mouse game with the ‘Watts’ always one step ahead of the ‘Bungs’ and every Oddbod and Gardener fending for themselves.

If your familiar with the ‘Carry on’ Films you’ll more than know what you’re getting into with this one. If you not, they’re essentially slightly raunchy and cheeky british comedies in the ‘old’ sense. meaning double entendres, innuendo aplenty, funny ‘double meaning’ names and mild titilation is the flavour of the day. Cheeky, a little near the knuckle on some entries…but, this things rated a ‘PG’ in the UK which is usually suitable for childred 10 and under if accompanied by a parent. thats about as ‘adult’ as these films get. They’re silly movies, not quite to the degree of the ‘Naked Gun’ flicks, but *of* that sensibility.

As such, the script is exactly that. 96 minutes of one liner after one liner, delivered at a ‘slower than the zucker brothers’ pace and with a distinct British sensibility to them. the parodying of Hammer isnt a million miles off, but the problem with trying to pastiche the Hammer films is that they were already quite campy and self aware as it is, thus rendering a parody of them (ESPECIALLY in the mid 60s when this was released) ultimately kind of redundent.

Thats not to say fun cant be had though! the tone and sense of humour is bob on perfect for this kind of film. the pacings a little on the slow side, but does pick up across the runtime deliving a 15 minute finale more than worth the price of admission. The characters are all rich and charismatic in tone and complexity, which I really quite enjoyed. Its hardly high brow humour here and there are plenty of ‘my mother in law’ style jokes…Its a picture very much of its time and the humour is dated. But if you are old enough to appreciate that era of comedy. Then im certain you’ll have a ball with this one. im not *quite* so sure how younger folks would get on with this though.

The direction feels essentially like imitation Hammer. Which is a shame in some ways because I feel had they been able to nail the feel of hammer a little closer, it could have really let things off with a bang. But conversley, the slightly rougher around the edges look and feel ultimately makes this feel funnier. Almost like they had to make the set design up on the fly. Dont get me wrong, some of this is very close to Hammer style direction and im certain some of the props shown in this film WERE being used in Hammer films at the time. but it just doesnt *quite* capture the grandness that Hammer so often deliverd.

Direction of the cast is not an issue, most of the cast starring in this film were regulars to the ‘Carry On’ series and at this point in time the franchise had been running for AT LEAST 10 years…if not longer. A lot of the cast play to character type in all these films, so at this point, they could basically do this in their sleep, and they do a damn good job of it too.

The cine is a little rushed feeling, but again, not awful. it looks and feels like Hammer fleetingly at time. It never quite consistently nails it though. That being said the edit is razor tight with punchlines and cuts, and the colour choices for Hammer are bang on perfect. So again, i’d give it a ‘Close enough’

As for the performances? I’d say Kenneth Williams and Harry H. Corbett are the stars of the show, giving a masterclass in one liner charisma driven acting that has to be seen to be believed. They’re animate, razor sharp on delivery and just uttelry delightful to watch.

Thats not to do a disservice to the rest of the cast however. Fenella Fielding as Valeria is a long standing childhood crush with a striking look and a kind performance thats utterly watchable. Charles Hawtrey and Bernard Breslaw never fail to amuse in their supporting roles here. And theres even a frankly bizarre minor appearence from Jon Pertwee playing a mad doctor thats…honestly probably the sanest performance in the thing.

The score is pretty standard ‘Carry On’ comedy orchestral music. It actually feels a bit out of place here, it would have been nicer to have something a bit more Hammer infused thrown into the mix. Sticking to the standard stuff here not only deminishes the power of the film, but it makes it feel like they couldnt afford anything newer…which is a shame.

On the whole? I liked this one. I think if you have an eye for British Comedy and are looking for something pre-python. This will more than meet the remit. But do temper your expectations. While I enjoyed it and would recommend it, it is a little slow in places and the humour a little past its sell by. I dont think i’d rewatch this one in a hurry. But I could absolutely see myself revisiting it in future.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/carry-on-screaming/