The Screaming Woman

With Drew Barrymore perfectly cast in the leading role, "The Screaming Woman" from Canadian director Bruce Pittman does a good job of achieving Bradbury's goal of finding suspense and terror in the commonplace.

The location photography in a suburban setting, with a handy adjacent forest to add some spookiness, is a key element in this "boy who cried wolf" tale. Drew hears sounds of a woman screaming and crying and determines that they're coming from under the forest ground. Her parents and a young friend of hers humor her but don't believe her, assuming this is coming from an overactive imagination.

Story creates some potential reality to the situation (however far-fetched) and even some suspects, with a nice clue even pointing at her so-friendly and ordinary looking dad (Roger Dunn). The solution to the mystery is quite effective.

Heather Leary (Drew Barrymore) lives in the suburb and loves to read Tales from the Crypt. While walking through the woods in the neighborhood of her house, she hears a woman screaming underground. She tells her parents but they believe it is fruit of her imagination. Heather sneaks out her room in the middle of the night and discloses the secret about the scream.

Watching "The Screaming Woman" is 2009, the greatest attraction is undoubtedly the eleven year-old Drew Barrymore. The young actress has a great performance in this good tale of Ray Bradbury, actually one of the best in this how. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "The Screaming Woman"

In a housing estate in the Burbs that was popular in American movies in the 1980s.

Heather Leary (Drew Barrymore) is young girl that likes to read Tales From the Crypt.

While she walks down the nearby woods, she hears female screams. Only her dad does not believe her. No one does.

When she goes back with another boy to dig, she is chased off.

However Heather does not stop, she is sure that a woman is buried down there. She might be walking into danger.

There is a good story here but it is lost in pedestrian direction and some bad acting, aside from Drew Barrymore.

At least the climax was tense, although a tad unbelievable.

This episode five from season one of "The Ray Bradbury Theater" called "The Screaming Woman" is one that's well done as it builds up with drama and suspense. Plus it proves it's okay to have imagination as wonder and being a little bit scared is okay as one's worries could be real. Set in the suburbs a little girl named Heather(in some early work from Drew Barrymore) loves reading horror comics(oh wow her favorite is "Tales From the Crypt") and she plays in the local woods and she thinks she hears strange screams! She's not believed by her parents the episode then starts to build drama and suspense as other characters provide clues. The end is satisfying as it proves to be real overall worth a watch for a young Drew plus the episode is entertaining with suspense.