A Scream in the Streets
Two Los Angeles detectives are assigned to track down and arrest a brutal rapist-murderer terrorizing the city. Their job is complicated by the fact that the killer is able to avoid capture because he can pose as a woman.
Why it matters
A Scream in the Streets delivers a gritty, grimy grindhouse thriller that wrestles with identity and urban dread in early ’70s L.A.
- Early example of gender disguise used as a sinister plot device, predating broader queer representation in horror.
- Raw, unpolished atmosphere captures the city’s seedy underbelly with a documentary-style immediacy.
- Fans of exploitation and crime-horror hybrids will find a brutal, no-frills chase narrative with unflinching violence.
- Performances are rough but earnest, fitting the era’s low-budget drive and adding to the film’s uneasy tension.
Directors
Cast
Horror DNA
Gore
14
Slow Burn
33
Psychological
57
Supernatural
0
Creature
18
Disturbing
67
Fun Factor
0
Cerebral
14
Survival
33
Serial Killer
