A Taste of Evil (1971)

On her way home from a stay at a mental institution after a traumatic rape, a woman realizes that someone is deliberately trying to drive her insane.

Director:

John Llewellyn Moxey

Writer:

Jimmy Sangster

Stars:

Barbara Stanwyck, Barbara Parkins, Roddy McDowall

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Barbara Stanwyck	...	Miriam Jennings
Barbara Parkins	...	Susan Wilcox
Roddy McDowall	...	Dr. Michael Lomas
William Windom	...	Harold Jennings
Arthur O'Connell	...	John
Bing Russell	...	Sheriff
Dawn Frame	...	Young Susan

Storyline

On her way home from a stay at a mental institution after a traumatic rape, a woman realizes that someone is deliberately trying to drive her insane.

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Plot Keywords:

rape | mental institution | abc movie of the week | victorian era | asylum | 

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 October 1971 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Hauch des Bösen

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aaron Spelling Productions, American Broadcasting Company (ABC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

73 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Writer Jimmy Sangster says on the audio commentary for the Anchor Bay DVD of The Horror of Frankenstein that producer Aaron Spelling thought "A Taste of Evil" was awfully similar to the earlier Sangster-scripted Scream of Fear, a.k.a. "Scram of Fear". Sangster basically admitted that it was the same script, with characters and settings changed to American ones.

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Goofs

At one point in the film, it is established that Susan Wilcox took a short drive around town in the station wagon. It would be implausible for Susan to have any driving skills, much less a driver's license, since she spent the past seven years in an institution, where she was admitted at age 13. She was also catatonic during many of those years.

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Connections

Featured in Dateline NBC (1992)

User Reviews

Barbara Stanwyck Chiller

Although I've only seen this film once, it lingers in my memory: I saw it at age 1O in 1971 when it was originally broadcast on television. Although the rest of the cast, i.e. William Windom, Roddy McDowall & Barbara Perkins, etc. did fine jobs with their roles, it's Stanwyck's playing of Miriam Jennings which lingers in my memory: talk about an unsympathetic role for an older Hollywood star to take! If fans of Davis and Crawford doing their bits in the macabre thought Stanwyck stopped with THE NIGHT WALKER, think again! This is definitely her tour-de-force in the thriller genre. Although it probably looks a bit tired and dated today, I remember the diabolical twist as being memorably sadistic and cruel plus there was a helping of LES DIABOLIQUES in the plotline. The atmosphere was creepy - thunder and lightning and all - and I remember sinister Barbara dismissing her gardener (Arthur O'Connell) thusly: "You have until noon"...