Scream Bloody Murder

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
The menace of the hook is somewhat undermined by its wielder's bowl cut.

"See what I do for you? I get groceries and clothes and art stuff and kill people. And do you appreciate it? No!"

—Matthew

Scream Bloody Murder is a very Slasher-esque film released in 1973. Like most Exploitation Films of the era, it has a number of alternate titles, including Matthew, The Captive Female, The Claw Murders and Claw of Terror.

While a wee lad living on a California farm with his parents, Matthew decided one day to kill his father by running him over with the family tractor, crushing the old man flat. Unfortunately for Matthew, karma struck like lightning, and after losing control of the tractor and leaping off it, his hand was run over and horribly mangled by the machine. The fact that he was a bad seed now screamingly obvious, Matthew was whisked off to a mental institution, and given a crude hook to replace his destroyed hand. With her son left to brood in the asylum, Matthew's mother Daisy grows close to a helpful neighbor named Mack Parsons, and the two inevitably marry after a few years together.

Coincidentally, Matthew, now a surly teenager, is released from the institution and arrives home just after the wedding. While overjoyed to be reunited with his mother, Matthew develops an intense dislike of Mack, refusing to acknowledge him as his stepfather, and claiming that all he and Daisy need is each other. As to be expected, Matthew's dislike of Mack grows into sheer hatred, and one night, while Mack is out alone, Matthew hacks him to death with an axe, being found with the bloody body moments later by Daisy. As his mother goes into hysterics, Matthew claims that he did this all for her, and that now they can be alone together and no one has to touch her; of course, Daisy refuses to see eye to eye with her son, pissing him off and causing him to accidentally kill her by shoving her onto a rock, cracking her head open.

After taking some time to get over his accidental matricide, Matthew hits the road, hitching a ride with a young honeymooning couple consisting of Lex and Brenda after running into them at an acquaintance's gas station. Matthew is fine for a while, but after his companions decide to stop at a stream for a break, he has a meltdown, envisioning the newlyweds as his mother and stepfather when the two begin a grope fest while frolicking in the water. After smashing Lex's head in with a rock, Matthew strangles and drowns Brenda after she continually denies being his mother; with the couple dead, Matthew, still tripping out, flees the scene, and passes out for an indeterminate amount of time, eventually waking up and successfully hitchhiking his way to a small seaside town, where he runs into a prostitute named Vera.

Sparking something of friendship up with Vera after admiring her painting, Matthew can barely hide the disgust he has for her lifestyle, which causes him to murder one of her clients, a sailor. Seeing Vera as a surrogate for his mother, even going as far as calling her Daisy, Matthew decides to give her a better and purer life, spinning a tale about being wealthy and living in a mansion, which he subsequently acquires by bluffing his way into one and butchering the inhabitants, the sickly Helen Anatole, her beleaguered maid Bridey-Lee, and and her little dog too. With a mansion (and a nice car to boot) now in his possession, Matthew takes Vera on a tour of his new home, and grows agitated when she kindly turns down his offer to stay, knocking her out by shoving the woman down a flight of stairs. When Vera comes to, she finds herself tied to a bed, with Matthew stating that, whether she likes it or not, he is going to take care of her from now on, and she'll eventually learn to live with it, or else.

The film is in the public domain, and is available to view or download at the Internet Archive.

Tropes used in Scream Bloody Murder include:

Matthew: "He's being punished for chopping up the man who took his mother away from him."
Vera: "Huh, I didn't know I was such a good artist."

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