Silent Scream

A college student named Scotty Parker arrives at her university after the other students have settled in, so she takes a room in a large old house by the sea rather than in a dormitory. The house belongs to Mrs. Engels, who keeps mostly to her attic room, while her son Mason looks after the boarders. Three other students already live there. When one of them is killed, the police investigating the case start to uncover a secret the Engels family has been keeping, and the remaining students find themselves in danger.

Silent Scream was directed by Denny Harris, who wrote the screenplay with Wallace C. Bennett and Ken Wheat; Ken Wheat and Jim Wheat produced. Rebecca Balding plays Scotty, with Yvonne De Carlo as Mrs. Engels, Barbara Steele as Victoria Engels, Avery Schreiber as Sgt. Manny Ruggin, Steve Doubet as Jack Towne and Brad Rearden as Mason Engels. The film runs 87 minutes and was released in the United States in November 1979.

It took about 16 million dollars worldwide, a strong return for a low-budget independent horror release of that period. Audiences are divided on it: on IMDb it holds 5.7 out of 10 from roughly 2,500 votes, and on TMDB it also sits at 5.7 out of 10, from a much smaller base of 57 votes.