The Shout

The Shout
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jerzy Skolimowski
Produced by	Jeremy Thomas
Screenplay by	Jerzy Skolimowski Michael Austin
Story by	Robert Graves
Starring	Alan Bates John Hurt Susannah York
Music by	Tony Banks
Cinematography	Mike Molloy
Edited by	Barrie Vince
Production company	Recorded Picture Company
Distributed by	The Rank Organisation
Release dates	June 1978 (1978-06) (UK)
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The Shout is a 1978 British horror film directed by Jerzy Skolimowski, based on a short story by Robert Graves that was adapted for the screen by Michael Austin. The film was the first to be produced by Jeremy Thomas under his Recorded Picture Company banner.

Plot

Crossley (Alan Bates), a mysterious travelling man who invades the lives of a young couple, Rachel and Anthony Field (Susannah York and John Hurt). Anthony is a composer, who experiments with sound effects and various electronic sources in his secluded Devon studio. The couple provides hospitality to Bates, but his intentions are gradually revealed as more sinister. He claims he has learned from an Aboriginal shaman how to produce a "terror shout" that can kill anyone who hears it unprotected.

Cast

• Alan Bates as Crossley
• Susannah York as Rachel Fielding
• John Hurt as Anthony Fielding
• Robert Stephens as Chief Medical Officer
• Tim Curry as Robert Graves
• Julian Hough as Vicar
• Carol Drinkwater as Wife
• Jim Broadbent as Fielder in cowpat
• Susan Wooldridge as Harriet

Production

The North Devon coastline, specifically Saunton Sands and Braunton Burrows, was used for the bulk of the location shooting. The church of St Peter in Westleigh Bideford used in church scenes

Producer Jeremy Thomas later remembered his experience making the film:

Because I had a great director, and a quality piece of literature I managed to get a wonderful cast such as John Hurt and Alan Bates. Skolimowski had a sense of shooting style then, this was the second director who I had worked closely with, and it was fascinating watching Skolimowski work. He came from a Polish tradition, the Wajda Film School, he had a different background to other directors I had been working with in the cutting rooms or elsewhere. And it made the film much more creative to me. I saw it more as an artistic endeavour by him.

The film went to Cannes and won the Grand Prix de Jury. We were incredibly lucky and the film was appreciated by the jury. It was a very small festival then, nothing like the Cannes Film Festival of today, it was a small event in a cinema of 800 people or so.^[1]

The film's soundtrack is by Michael Rutherford and Tony Banks of the rock band Genesis. The central theme "From the Undertow" features on Banks' album A Curious Feeling.

Accolades

The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival and received the Grand Prize of the Jury,^[2] in a tie with Bye Bye Monkey.

In popular culture

• In The Guard (2011), Sergeant Boyle (Brendan Gleeson) is seen watching The Shout on television.

References

External links

• The Shout at the Internet Movie Database