User reviews

God bless the internet and god bless DVD. The reason I say that is because once hidden gems like this film are now being discovered by a bigger audience. Taste Of Fear (AKA:Scream Of Fear) is produced out of that bastion of British horror, Hammer Films, it's directed by Seth Holt (The Nanny), written by Jimmy Sangster (X:The Unknown/The Curse Of Frankenstein) and stars Susan Strasberg, Ronald Lewis, Ann Todd & that cornerstone of Hammer Horror, Christopher Lee.

Shot in moody black & white by Holt and cinematographer Douglas Slocombe, and eerily scored by Clifton Parker, the story sees a young paralysed woman return to her family home in France to visit her father who she hasn't seen for years; and to finally meet her new step-mother. Upon arrival she is informed that her father has had to go away on business, which becomes a problem as she starts to see his dead body, first in the summer house, then in the lounge! The mind can play tricks, especially to the traumatised, but she's convinced that what she is seeing is real. Even the family doctor (Lee in a suitably suspicious role) thinks there are mental issues here. Undaunted she enlists the help of friendly chauffeur Bob and sets about unravelling either her mind, or the mystery that lurks at the Appleby home.

The film opens with an attention grabbing sequence as police drag a lake for a body, from there on the film becomes essentially a four character piece. Now it's been said in some quarters that this structure telegraphs where the film is going to end up. There's a tiny bit of truth in that but there are at least three twisty kickers here to steer this far away from charges of predictability. In fact the finale has a double whammy that is most rewarding. The whole film pulses with atmosphere and is cloaked in shadows and low tone conversations. The sound work here is also top quality, the constant jabber of the crickets gnaw away at the ears, while the swish of the nearby sea instills a calm that ultimately sets up a false sense of security. The acting is on the money too, be it Strasberg perfectly conveying a multitude of emotions from her wheelchair, or Todd doing a nice line in the "too good to be true?" wholesome step-mom routine. All parties ensure that the story is built up right and that the pay off provides maximum impact.

Christopher Lee once said that this was one of the best Hammer Horror film's he was ever involved with, that's a fine selling point to be sure. A different kind of Hammer Horror, one that drips with dread and thrives on its mystery elements. Taste Of Fear is highly recommended to genre fans who prefer psychological chillers over blood letting and overkilled boo jump movies. 8/10

Scream of Fear aka Taste of Fear (1961) is a marvelous, unknown (at least to me) Hammer film. The story concerns a girl in a wheelchair going to live with her Dad whom she hasn't seen in years. Upon arrival, she meets her stepmother for the first time and is informed that her Dad is away on business. That night, she investigates a strange light in the summer house and discovers here dead father. In her horrified state, she falls into the pool. After she's revived, an investigation of the summer house reveals nothing. As the strange events continue to occur, the local doctor begins to doubt her sanity. But, with the help of the chauffeur, she's determined to get to the bottom of the mystery before she is either killed or driven insane. Anymore of the story would ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen the movie.

I've seen some call Scream of Fear "predictable". While I agree to a certain extent, there are enough twists and turns in the plot to keep most anyone guessing. While I may have seen some of the events coming, I could have never guessed the ending. To me, it was an "edge of the seat" movie from start to finish.

The acting is first rate. All four of the major characters are brilliantly played. Susan Strasberg is convincingly fragile as the wheelchair-bound Penny Appleby. Ronald Lewis and Ann Todd are perfect as the chauffeur and stepmother, respectively. And, although all he does is come to dinner and talk psycho mumbo jumbo, Christoper Lee is mysterious and convincing as Dr. Gerrard.

Everything else about this film, from the beautiful black & white photography to the creepy score, is perfect. I've really got nothing bad to say.

Atmospheric Hammer thriller with great sets (including a deceptively deep pool!). It feels a little slow in the middle, as it covers familiar "Gaslight"-type territory, but the final stretch has several clever twists which are worth waiting for, and a killer ending (no pun intended). Susan Strasberg is very good in the lead; perhaps the movie's only mistake is Christopher Lee's French accent! *** out of 4.

Yes, this is indeed a very nice little horror film. It is chilling and suspense. The acting of the three major actors is really well done, they all fit the roles, and the whole atmosphere of the film has maked it rather stylish. Using Susan Strasberg for that role is a good choice. She's rather pretty charming actually, especially when compared with those star actresses of nowadays. This is a small production of the early 60's, but none of the big budget Hollywood horror films can compare with it even though they might have tried to copy part of its shadow. I do not know how to explain, but you if have watched the movie, you will feel something, you will feel the film having the style in its own way. You simply cannot find such kind of stylish production often on TV or in theaters. Like the other film fan from UK, I have recorded it down few weeks ago, and watched it in the afternoon the day after. It's good that I have not watched it alone at night. I am really glad that I have now the whole movie in its original theatrical wide screen format on my own DVD. Here I specially thank for the TV-listing information of the Dutch inter net site and the film information in IMDb. They made me have a chance to know and discover this nice film and take action to record it down. If you have a chance to watch this film, don't miss it! You will surely like it in a way!

Whenever I think of Hammer Horror, I think of bright colourful camp films; but Hammer also made a handful of black and white mysteries, and many of these stand up as some of their best films. Hysteria, Nightmare and Paranoiac are all very good films; but Seth Holt's Taste of Fear tops the lot! This suspenseful mystery draws the viewer in from the start and doesn't let go until the credits role. The film introduces the wheelchair bound character Penny Appleby; an amiable young girl who strives for independence in spite of her disability. The story picks up upon her return home to the French Riviera for the first time in ten years at the request of her father. Her nightmare starts when she begins seeing the corpse of her father at random places around the house and grounds of the place where she's staying. The friendly chauffeur Bob decides to help the girl get to the bottom of the mystery, but everything is turned upside down when it becomes obvious that nobody in the film is what they appear.

Initially, the film plays out like it's going to be quite predictable; and indeed, my prediction for what is going to happen actually does happen...but director Seth Holt doesn't show his hand too early, and there is a major twist at the end that I certainly didn't see coming. Director Seth Holt does a really good job with this film, as he gets good performances out of all his cast, the twists are well worked; and best of all, the atmosphere is scintillating! Holt continually imposes an oppressive air of foreboding over the film, and the creepy house provides a fantastic location for a film like this to take place. The film features a relatively small role for Hammer regular, Christopher Lee, who gets to don a silly accent while remaining mysterious. Lead actress Susan Strasberg is the pick of the cast, however, as aside from being stunning; she's not a bad actress either. The film works principally because it keeps the focus on the mystery, and this means that it retains its thriller intentions throughout. Overall, this might be a lesser known Hammer film; but it's not lesser in quality, and I wouldn't hesitate to name this as one of the best films the studio ever produced.

This is quite possibly the best of the Hammer films, it's labeled as 'horror', but is more of a classic psychological thriller. The plot revolves around Susan Strasberg's visit to her father's estate after a decade of estrangement. Her physical condition (in a wheelchair, unable to walk after a horseback riding accident) and the recent death of her long time companion set her up to be the 'perfect victim'.

Her step mother, Ann Todd, and the family chauffeur Ronald Lewis are oh-so accommodating and thoughtful, explaining that her father is out of town. But, Strasberg starts to see dead dad popping up all over, while Todd, Lewis, and family doctor Christopher Lee try to persuade her she's just stressed and overly-imaginative. Is she crazy? Are they gas-lighting her? Although the viewer will remain suspicious, we are wisely kept in the dark as to motives (of all the characters..) until the final twist. The black and white photography is really well done -moody, shadowy - and is probably as important as the characters which is not the usual Hammer screamer in intense shades of red.

Any fan of Hitchcock(ian) suspense and/or horror should track down this film...you won't be disappointed. This is one film where the actors really seemed to love being in their perspective roles...this is full of unexpected thrills! unpredictable twists and turns...this one will keep you guessing and watching. Don't miss it!

Back in 1973 I had a Bell and Howell 16mm projector and used to hire films to show to family and others.

This film was one of them and I can remember it scaring people back then.

Yesterday I watched it again through a modern projector, as BBC 2 had shown it recently, and thought it was just as good now as back in 1973.

It benefits from being shot in black and white, the acting is very good from all the cast, and there are some scary moments, the swimming pool being an obvious one.

It is really good to see an old fashioned horror film with no over-the-top effects, just a genuinely chilling story, well worth waiting for it to be shown again as not sure if available on DVD or video.

I have watched the movie in French..and in German,where the title is "Ein Toter spielt Klavier",meaning :A Death plays the piano. Ufortunately, or- fortunately my father allowed me to watch this movie in 1983,when I was 11 years old...maybe too young for a movie like that..but this film has rested marked in my mind forever..and maybe is the reason today, why I'm so interested in old black and white movies..today,I own more than 20 copies of the movie.Ever since,I haven't found any other movie so suspenseful..This movie will always stay in my mind, impressing me so much until the day I die!Whoever has written the storyboard of this movie,was more than smart!!Every camera setting is made extremely smart!

Paralyzed young woman in a wheelchair comes to stay with her wealthy, estranged father and stepmother in France; upon her arrival however, Dad is mysteriously missing ("away on business", his wife says), but the girl thinks she sees his corpse late one night in the guest house. Marvelous derivation of "Les Diaboliques", with well-written dialogue passages and terrific black-and-white cinematography. Screenwriter Jimmy Sangster plays a bit fast and loose with the details--and upon second viewing, the premise pretty much falls apart under inspection--yet the solid cast and fun denouement make up for the lapses in logic. In the lead, Susan Strasberg is quite good (though, again, the character doesn't make much sense in retrospect); still, it's probably one of the very few roles Strasberg got which managed to show off her placid beauty and vulnerability (the daughter of famed acting teacher Lee Strasberg, Susan was faced with insurmountable expectations and never found her niche in films). As the family chauffeur, Ronald Lewis commendably pulls off a tough act, behaving curiously yet with great sensitivity to the girl's plight. In the end, it all seems rather silly, but it's certainly a compact thriller which only dawdles during the confusing prologue. *** from ****

Hammer flick about a wheelchair bound young lady who comes to her father's French Riviera home after not seeing him for nine years. She's told he's out of town by her new step-mother but she keeps seeing his dead body. She and the chauffeur hatch a plot to find the culprits out. This is your usual Hammer film, i.e., no real scares and little suspense. Other than that it's an ok story only with a momentary plot twist.

I saw this movie with my brother when we were kids. It is absolutely stunning! I remember we have been so afraid about some scenes that it was hard to close the light in our room for sleeping. Some facts are revealed at the end of the movie which makes it fascinating too! A "must see" movie! Shame on the industries, cannot get it on DVD!

Scream of Fear is a brilliantly crafted thriller that deserves more attention. Perhaps it has flown under the radar for decades because it has a relatively unknown cast, aside from Christopher Lee in a supporting role. (He's great as always, but a tad underused.) For whatever reason, this film has not garnered a large following and that is a shame, because it deserves some recognition. I love how this script builds the story, and creates tension. We are puzzling through things with the main character, and must work to piece together what exactly is going on, and who is involved. I'll admit that I was fairly confident I had guessed the truth early in the film, because the plot does have some similarities to other movies I've seen in the past. Yet even though I was right about some things, there were still details that I didn't know and that made for a good surprise in the end.

Susan Strasberg is wonderful as Penny Appleby, and she brings a level of nuance that is sorely needed for this kind of role. She is great at playing the terror that comes from this ordeal she is going through, yet she brings more than just being a screaming damsel in distress. She also has smarts, and appears in control of some situations. Ronald Lewis is also great as the main confidante for the protagonist, and Ann Todd is perfect as the step-mother who appears nice at first but seems to have something to hide. Between the well-written story, and the great work from the cast, Scream of Fear is a marvelous film. It's also one of those movies that is instantly worth watching a second time because the entire movie is recontextualized when you know all the mysteries. I would highly recommend everyone take a chance on Scream of Fear, it's a winner.

Susan Strasberg plays Penny, a wheelchair-bound young woman who has been living with her mother since her parents divorced a decade ago. With her mother recently deceased, her father has invited her to move in with him and his second wife. Soon after, Susan begins seeing her father, dead, in various places around the property. Yet, each time, when she brings others to see her discovery, he is gone. Is the insane or is someone trying to drive her insane? And, why??

This is a wonderful film. I like it mostly because there are so many twists and turns in the finale...some of which you may guess but some which are bound to surprise you. All in all, a very enjoyable Hammer film...one that really works well and is well made in every way.

Penny Appleby (Susan Strasberg) gets word from her father that she is to return home after many long years. Upon arrival, she finds that he is away on business and the house is being attended by a handful of people she's never met -- her stepmother, a mechanic, a doctor and the maid. Soon, she begins getting visions of her father's corpse and suspects that he has died and there is a cover-up. Is Penny going crazy or is one of these family friends a murderer? "Scream of Fear" (released in England with the better name "Taste of Fear") is certainly one of the better early Hammer films, being a full narrative and visual force even in black and white. The corpse is subtle, yet creepy, and the use of shadows in place of colors does something to add to the eerie factor of this film, most notably in the pool scene. An underwater shot in monochrome always seems to present more of a claustrophobic atmosphere.

Christopher Lee needs to be singled out here. I have come to believe in recent days (after seeing this and "The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll") that he is one of the most under-rated actors of all time, not just in horror. He makes a fairly convincing presentation of French doctor Pierre Gerrard in this film, and while I thought it was him, wasn't completely sure until I saw the credits... the accent is really, really good.

The film needs to be viewed twice, if not more. Not just because it's a great movie -- and it is -- but because what seems like a very simple plot becomes considerably more complex as the mystery deepens. By the halfway point of the film, the viewers will have long forgotten the opening scene... yet, it is this scene that ends up being most important down the line. And trying to follow people's allegiances isn't as simple as it appears. Watching it a second time with the end result known would change the whole way one views each character.

I'm pushing this film. I watched it in a four film collection of Hammer films, and I would recommend this method to others. The other films (the "Jekyll" film mentioned above, for example, or "The Gorgon") are pure greatness. So many films have been made poorly and long forgotten. But then, so many good films have been made and forgotten. These are in the second group... and shouldn't be passed over for newer, lesser fare.

Multiple reviews, and even the BBC announcement voice-over, are stating that "Taste of Fear" is arguably one of the greatest films Hammer Studios ever brought forward. This is quite a challenging enunciation, as Hammer were responsible for an incredibly long list of genre classics, varying from old-fashioned monster films to thought-provoking Sci-Fi movies and psychological thrillers. "Taste of Fear" definitely belongs in the last category, but personally I wouldn't say it's their absolute best film. The quality and execution of Jimmy Sangster's screenplay is on par with their similar films "Nightmare", "Paranoiac" and "Hysteria", but since "Taste of Fear" came out a handful of years before those titles, I suppose it's entitled to a little bit of extra admiration. But still, the concepts of all these films are derivative of the French masterpiece "Les Diaboliques", so we can only really praise Hammer for imaginatively imitating the original milestone at least four times. "Taste of Fear" is an atmosphere-driven and convoluted black & white chiller, but the direction of Sangster's script is slightly too predictable and it waits only until the climax before surprising the viewer with a couple of truly awesome and unexpected twists. The wheelchair bound Penny Appleby travels to her parental house in the French Riviera, supposedly at the request of her father but he isn't even there to welcome her when she arrives. According to her exaggeratedly friendly stepmother and the housing staff, her father is away on a business trip, but Penny soon begins to spot his lifeless body at several places on the estate. There are never any witnesses and the local doctor as well as the stepmother thinks she's hallucinating. With the help of the charming chauffeur Bob, Penny assumes that her father is really dead, and that it is the stepmother's plan to drive her insane and subsequently claim the inheritance. But before they can go to the police, she'll first have to proof that her father got murdered. Seth Holt masterfully builds up a brooding suspense and ominous atmosphere, but the pacing is a little too slow and the film lacks a few efficient shock elements to keep you attentive. However, there are some creepy images to enjoy, most notably the times when Penny spots her father's corpse around the house. The last 10 minutes are downright brilliant and definitely compensate for the rather tame middle section. Douglas Slocombe's camera-work is utterly stylish and surely contributes to the film's macabre atmosphere. Even though Christoper Lee always remains a truly reliable performer, the French accent isn't his strongest point.

Crippled Susan Strasberg goes to France to visit her father (who she hasn't seen in 9 years) and her new stepmother (Ann Todd). When she gets there she's told her father is away on business. Suddenly, she starts seeing her father's dead body all over the house--but no one else does. Is she going mad or is her stepmother trying to drive her crazy and swindle her out of her inheritance? Handsome chauffeur Ronald Lewis tries to help her find out.

The plot is old and some of the twists have become predictable since 1961, but this is still a very good suspense film. It's well-acted, there are some very scary moments (I jumped three times) and it's imaginatively directed in eerie black and white by Seth Holt. A scene done in a pool is downright horrifying. An early Hammer horror film that's been unfairly neglected. Also, there's an interesting scene with Lewis in a very skimpy bathing suit--surprising for its time and especially for Hammer-- they usually pushed female sexuality, not male.

Considering the movie is essentially a single set, 4 actors, and a "dead man", it's a heck-uva good little thriller. Credit should go to writer Sangster, director Holt, and 4 excellent performances, especially Strasberg's vulnerable young woman. Okay, the whole story is pretty contrived with a number of unexpected twists, but the measure of a thriller is how well you're glued to your seat, and this one uses epoxy.

So, what's up with Penny's (Strasberg) dad. He keeps turning up in odd places like the bottom of a pool. For a guy who looks dead, he sure gets around. And what's with step-mom Jane (Todd) always fussing around in the background, along with her friend the doctor. If I were Penny, I wouldn't let Christopher Lee's doc anywhere near my neck. Good thing Penny has the handsome chauffeur Bob (Lewis) on her side, because that wheelchair keeps going off- track. For some reason, the movie, especially the rancid pool, kept reminding me of the French classic Les Diabolique (1954).

I'm rather curious, however, about actor Ronald Lewis, a strong presence, and perhaps the only actor of the period to appear in a male bikini. He was a suicide at a relatively young age, suggesting a backstory of some kind—too bad IMDb couldn't provide more. Anyway, the movie manages to prove that sunny new mansions can be just as creepy as old dark ones, and that the ritzy French Riviera may not be a good place to vacation, especially if you're trying to get an ocean view from the cliffs.