Thriller

Mystery

Horror

The Shout

The Rank Organisation

Jeremy Thomas Productions

National Film Finance Corporation (NFFC)

National Film Trustee Company

Recorded Picture Company

United Kingdom

English

Alan Bates

Susannah York

John Hurt

Robert Stephens

Tim Curry

Julian Hough

Carol Drinkwater

John Rees

Jim Broadbent

Susan Wooldridge

Nick Stringer

Peter Benson

Graham Kingsley Brown

Joanna Szczerbic

Bill Thornhill

Jeremy Thomas

Tim Jordan

Martin Evans

Laurie Frost

John Davey

Peter Waller

David Hughes

Peter Biddle

W.C. 'Chunky' Huse

Joyce Herlihy

Patsy Pollock

Alan Bell

Bob Hedges

Ann Skinner

Tony Banks

Graham V. Hartstone

Michael Crouch

Jerzy Skolimowski

Michael Austin

Keith Pain

Wally Schneiderman

Terry Glinwood

Mike Rutherford

David Farrell

Nobby Cross

Nicolas Le Messurier

John Ralph

Mike Bassett

Jane Moscrop

William Diver

Terry Potter

Tony Jackson

Rupert Hine

Dave Paddon

Peter Butler

Adrian Start

Robert Graves

Simon Holland

Eamonn O'Keeffe

Gordon K. McCallum

Peter Verard

Arnold Schulkes

Kip Gowans

Mary Selway

Tony Hedges

Michael Saxton

John Leuenberger

Betty Glasow

Mike Molloy

Barrie Vince

Sara Jolly

I remember seeing this when it first came out (1978) and thinking it a bit overblown. Just watched it again (2020) after it was featured in a list of films containing an English cricket match (a short list; The Go Between from the same period is another one, also with Alan Bates in a similar role)

It now seems a bit better than I remembered despite some inconsistencies and plot holes. Alan Bates, for all his brooding lumbering around, never quite pulls off the surreal menace that the role of Crossley, the man with The Shout That Can Kill, demands.

John Hurt as Anthony the philandering cuckold composer, seems unbelievably weak in the face of Crossley's invasion of his life, but that's what the role as written demands. Tim Curry as Robert Graves (not the real one!) listens to Crossley's tale with suitable wide-eyed innocence in the hut as they are scoring the locals versus loonies cricket match at the asylum.

The cast features many well known English actors of the period, including Susannah York getting her nipples out as usual and a young Jim Broadbent ripping his kit off to prance about in his pants in the thunderstorm that terminates the match, and the film. The Devon locations are an added bonus.

All in all an entertaining 90 minutes although not a great film by any means. (and there isn't that much cricket!). Worth 3/5 or 4/7 if you prefer a finer grained rating system)

Directors Daniel Kokotajlo and Mark Jenkin on Jerzy Skolimowski's The Shout | BFI Q&A

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Alan Bates

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