Silent Scream (1979 film)

The Silent Scream is a 1979 American slasher film directed by Denny Harris, and starring Rebecca Balding, Cameron Mitchell, Barbara Steele and Yvonne De Carlo. The film follows a college student who finds rooming in a hilltop boarding house where a homicidal killer is on the loose.

Principal photography of The Silent Scream began in the fall of 1977, and was completed within a month. However, after Harris was unsatisfied with the rough cut, he chose to rewrite and recast several key roles in the film. The roles of Diane McBain and Ric Mancini, who were originally cast in the film as police officers, were recast with Mitchell and Avery Schreiber, respectively. Reshoots took place in June 1978, and the finished film retained only around fifteen percent of the initial shoot's footage.

The Silent Scream was given a limited theatrical release in November 1979 through American Cinema Releasing. After it performed favorably at the box office, its release was expanded in January 1980. It went on to become one of the most financially successful independent horror films of the 1970s, grossing $7.9 million at the box office. The film was met with mixed reviews from critics, with some finding it derivative of other horror films, while others praised it for its performances, cinematography, and visual style.