Scream For Help

Year releasted: 1984

by Keith Phipps
September 26th, 2001

Led Zeppelin fans often have favorite phases. Some prefer the early albums' sledgehammer blues, while others champion the folk-inflected mid-period work, or the keyboard-drenched final recordings. While the group's recorded legacy can easily be divided into discrete periods, it's also filled with fascinating dead ends. What if, for example, Page, Plant, and company had taken the reggae influence evidenced on "D'Yer Mak'er" a bit further? What if it had delved more seriously into the funk influence heard on "The Crunge"? These questions remain purely academic, but another question--"What if Led Zeppelin had been more heavily influenced by the quickly produced soundtracks to low-budget movies?"--gets at least a partial answer in the 1984 film Scream For Help. John Paul Jones composed the score and Jimmy Page provided ace backup as they assisted in telling the story of a lonely teenager (Rachael Kelly) whose diary entries take a turn for the macabre when she begins to suspect her handsome new stepfather (David Brooks) of killing her mother (Marie Masters). After discovering Brooks tinkering in the basement one night, to the accompaniment of an ominously plucked harp, Kelly turns junior gumshoe to confirm her suspicions. As trumpets blare, Kelly pedals around town, joined by a "Peter Gunn"-like guitar line as the investigation picks up steam. Soon, backed by a pounding timpani, her work takes a turn for the dangerous, as Kelly takes her mother's car for a snoopy joyride and discovers that its brakes aren't working. Moments after announcing her intention to have an abortion, Kelly's best friend (Sandra Clark) is mowed down by a speeding Chrysler, as strings scream. Eventually, Kelly's suspicions become difficult to deny, which forces Brooks and his partners in crime to make their move by trapping mother and daughter in the basement, with the intention of killing them after announcing their plans and watching a little television. But a series of Home Alone-style booby traps, dispatched with the help of a thudding synthesizer, turns the tables on the attackers. Soon, Kelly can imagine a better tomorrow, embodied by the vocal stylings of Yes frontman Jon Anderson, as he performs the heroine's theme, "Christie," over closing credits that end with a special thanks to the Chrysler corporation.