''Taste of Fear'' is a 1961 British

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by

Seth Holt Seth,; el, Σήθ ''Sḗth''; ; "placed", "appointed") in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mandaeism, and Sethianism, was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, their only other child mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible. Ac ...

. The film stars Susan Strasberg, Ronald Lewis,

Ann Todd Dorothy Ann Todd (24 January 1907 – 6 May 1993) was an English film, television and stage actress who achieved international fame when she starred in 1945's '' The Seventh Veil''. From 1949 to 1957 she was married to David Lean who directed h ...

, and

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultim ...

in a supporting role. It was released in the United States as ''Scream of Fear''.

Plot

After the suicide of her best friend, wheelchair-user heiress Penny Appleby ( Susan Strasberg) arrives at her estranged father's estate on the

French Riviera The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend from ...

. Her stepmother (

), whom Penny has only just met, informs her that the father has been called away on business. She cannot say when he will return or why he left when he was expecting Penny's arrival. Although the stepmother has made the place comfortable for Penny, the young woman does not trust her. That night she believes she sees her father's corpse in the guest cottage. When others respond to her hysterical screams, the corpse is not there. The stepmother tries to convince Penny that her recent tragedy is causing her to hallucinate, and the family doctor (

) cites Penny's history of neurotic behaviour to support that view. The family chauffeur ( Ronald Lewis) meets Penny privately to say he believes Penny did see something unusual, even if not a corpse. He offers to help her investigate. As they proceed, Penny begins to wonder if he is really an ally or if he is leading her away from the truth. When a police detective begins his own investigation, he suspects that Penny may have secrets of her own.

Cast

* Susan Strasberg as Penny Appleby * Ronald Lewis as Robert *

as Jane Appleby *

as Doctor Gerrard * John Serret as Inspector Legrand *

Leonard Sachs Leonard Meyer Sachs (26 September 1909 – 15 June 1990) was a South African-born British actor. Life and career Sachs was born in the town of Roodepoort, in the then Transvaal Colony, present day South Africa. He was Jewish. He emigrated t ...

as Spratt * Anne Blake as Marie * Fred Johnson as Father

Production

Jimmy Sangster James Henry Kinmel Sangster (2 December 1927 – 19 August 2011) was a British screenwriter and director, most famous for his work on the initial horror films made by the British company Hammer Films, including '' The Curse of Frankenstein'' (19 ...

stated that he originally wrote the film for Sidney Box who assigned him to produce it. According to Sangster, Box became ill and stopped his work temporarily, leading his work to be taken over by his brother-in-law

Peter Rogers Peter Rogers (20 February 1914 – 14 April 2009) was an English film producer. He is best known for his involvement in the making of the ''Carry On'' series of films. Life and career Rogers began his career as a journalist for his loc ...

, who was busy working on the ''Carry On'' series. Sangster then bought the film back from Rogers and sold it to

Michael Carreras Michael Henry Carreras (21 December 1927 – 19 April 1994) was a British film producer and director. He was known for his association with Hammer Films, being the son of founder James Carreras, and taking an executive role in the company ...

on the condition that Sangster would be allowed to produce. Filming occurred at

Bray Studios Bray Productions was a pioneering American animation studio that produced several popular cartoons during the years of World War I and the early interwar era, becoming a springboard for several key animators of the 20th century, including the ...

in Berkshire.

Release

''Taste of Fear'' was distributed in the United Kingdom on June 5, 1961 with an 82 minute running time. It was later distributed in the United States with an 81 minute running time on August 22, 1961 under the title ''Scream of Fear''. The film was a success in the United Kingdom and the United States and was very popular in Europe, being one of Hammer's most profitable productions which led to a cycle of similar films. In March 2013, it was announced that the film will be remade for

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

, and directed by

Juan Antonio Bayona Juan Antonio García Bayona (born 9 May 1975) is a Spanish film director. He directed the 2007 horror film '' The Orphanage'', the 2012 drama film '' The Impossible'', and the 2016 fantasy drama film ''A Monster Calls''. Bayona's latest film i ...

, whose previous credits include the acclaimed 2007 Spanish horror film, '' The Orphanage''.

Legacy

later stated that the film "was the best film that I was in that Hammer ever made... ..It had the best director, the best cast and the best story." Ann Todd contradicted him, saying that she thought "it was a terrible film. I didn't like my part, and I found Susan Strasberg impossible to work with-all that 'Method' stuff." An article in the Blacklist later argued the film still had the capacity to surprise. "We’re often told it’s hard to shock audiences these days because they’ve seen so much and society is so tolerant, but every society has things which aren’t normally seen — and one of them is still a 52 year old woman with wrinkles making out with a handsome 33 year old man on screen."

References

Sources

* *

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taste Of Fear 1961 films 1960s thriller films British black-and-white films British thriller films Films about paraplegics or quadriplegics Films directed by Seth Holt Films scored by Clifton Parker Films set in France Films set on the French Riviera Films shot at Associated British Studios Films shot at Bray Studios Hammer Film Productions films Films with screenplays by Jimmy Sangster Films produced by Jimmy Sangster 1960s English-language films 1960s British films