When the Screaming Starts (2021)

Posted By: brian@brianschell.com October 4, 2022

Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone

A horror-comedy about a wanna-be serial killer who starts his own Manson-like murder family and the filmmaker who wants to document the whole thing. Things do not go well. This is really excellent and everyone should see it.

Synopsis

We get news reports about a dinner party massacre. Fourteen people are dead. Credits roll.

Norman is a true-crime documentary filmmaker who has found his next story. He believes Aiden Mendle is going to be the next serial killer and wants to document that. Aiden is at least an “aspiring” serial killer. He accidentally shoots a cat and acts surprised when the gun goes off. He works at the local movie theater and imagines killing the patrons. Claire is Aiden’s girlfriend, and she’s murder-obsessed as well. Even more so. She likes to take photos of dead bodies. Aiden explains how wardrobe is important, since “you don’t want people thinking you’re a terrorist when you’re really a serial killer.”

Aiden wants to kill Luke first; he was the vocalist in his band, and when he left, the band broke up. Claire tells him, “Don’t screw this up. If you kill someone, we can have sex.” Luke wonders what all the cameras are for; it’s the documentary crew, here to watch him be murdered. It goes badly when Luke chokes out Aiden and gets away.

So now, Aiden and Claire decide to start a cult instead. They interview prospective members, starting with Mickey, who’s ruled out because he’s an orphan and Claire says orphans can’t be trusted. Viktoria and Veronika, creepy twins, come in, followed by a whole string of weirdos who want to join the cult just for something to do. Amy is an insane rich girl who killed her own pony. One guy just wants yoga lessons and has the wrong address, but he doesn’t speak English so they don’t know why he’s really there. They finally settle on a small group of future cultists.

Next up is boot camp and weapons training. The yoga guy decides that something isn’t right with this group. They get a headquarters to live together and plan murders together. The plan is to find a family, do a home invasion, and kill them all, just like the Manson Family. But without racism. Aiden insists they are all inclusive.

Tonight’s the big night, their first murder. They’re all really looking forward to the slaughter. The yoga guy thinks they’re going to a retreat. They go to the house, documentary crew in tow, and get inside. It turns out that this is Amy’s parent’s house. Her parents say it’s a wonderful surprise, and then she stabs her father with a fork. They do, in fact, actually kill everyone at the party; it’s a fun time for all. Norman and the cameraman just watch in awe.

Aiden feels left out because he didn’t go with the others. Claire and Amy start to get close, and Aiden’s left out of that as well. Aiden still considers himself “The brain” of the operation so they are really his murders, but the others don’t think he did much. Norman thinks his footage is going to put him “on the map.” Amy plots a coup against Aiden. The yoga guy still likes Aiden, but no one can understand a word he says, so that doesn’t matter. They all leave him, even Claire.

Norman wants to go with Amy and the twins, but they don’t want witnesses or evidence, so they take his footage. Aiden wants to give up and go home, so Norman is now completely out of it. Aiden vows to start again, but the only one he can call is Mickey, who they didn’t want for the first group.

Norman tries to break into Amy’s house to get his footage back. He finds what he came for but then runs into Amy on the way out. Amy tries to kill him, but Norman ends up stabbing her in the eye and killing her. Of course, the cameraman gets all this on film too. Claire walks in and takes his picture, so he stabs her to death as well, not quite so accidentally as with Amy. “I always knew it would be you,” she says.

The news reporters think maybe the brutal murder of the two women is related to the murder of that family last week. Aiden hears about Amy and Claire on the news, and he doesn’t take it well at all. Aiden gets a call from Norman, who wants to meet.

Norman congratulates Aiden for killing Claire and Amy; it’s like a present from Norman. He offers to give Aiden credit for all the murders. All he has to do is admit it on camera and kill Norman too. Does Aiden really want to be a murderer? Aiden won’t do it, so the two men struggle over a knife. Eventually, there can be only one.

Norman has learned his job well. Why film it when you can live it?

Commentary

It’s a horror comedy, so none of this is serious horror. But there is some serious dark humor. It’s more about the build-up and situations than it is about the plot itself, but it gets to the murders eventually. The plot unfolds naturally, considering the silly premise, and everything makes sense. Turns out, Aiden’s about the only one in the film who doesn’t kill anyone.

The jokes are good, the acting is good, the cinematography is good, and it’s all well paced. It’s not a laugh-a-minute, but it gets the job done.