A Taste of Evil (1971)
** (out of 4)
Disappointing made-for-TV movie is pretty much a remake of Hammer's SCREAM OF FEAR. In this film, a young girl is raped and years later she (Barbara Parkins) returns home only to fear that someone is trying to drive her crazy. Her mother (Barbara Stanwyck) is trying to figure out if her daughter is crazy or perhaps there's someone really after her (and especially since the rapist was never caught). A TASTE OF EVIL comes from writer Jimmy Sangster who also wrote the previously mentioned Hammer movie so it's clear that he knew what he was doing. The biggest difference in the two films is that the original was actually quite eerie and that's certainly far from the case here because this entire film is just downright boring and doesn't feature a single character that you really care for. Director John Llewellyn Moxey had previously made THE CITY OF THE DEAD but he doesn't bring any of the same style or beauty to this thing. The entire movie has a very slow pace as if the director wasn't sure what he wanted to do with the material or perhaps he just knew the material wasn't all that good. Parkins is pretty good in the role of the daughter but the screenplay doesn't give her much to do outside of screaming and running around. Stanwyck is always watchable but this here certainly wasn't among her best work. Roddy McDowall was fun to see in his supporting role as was William Windom. Another problem with the film is that there's simply nothing going on that ever really keeps the viewer interested. The story is decent but nothing much is done with it and this is especially true if you've seen the original version, which was one of the best thrillers from the studio.
** (out of 4)
Disappointing made-for-TV movie is pretty much a remake of Hammer's SCREAM OF FEAR. In this film, a young girl is raped and years later she (Barbara Parkins) returns home only to fear that someone is trying to drive her crazy. Her mother (Barbara Stanwyck) is trying to figure out if her daughter is crazy or perhaps there's someone really after her (and especially since the rapist was never caught). A TASTE OF EVIL comes from writer Jimmy Sangster who also wrote the previously mentioned Hammer movie so it's clear that he knew what he was doing. The biggest difference in the two films is that the original was actually quite eerie and that's certainly far from the case here because this entire film is just downright boring and doesn't feature a single character that you really care for. Director John Llewellyn Moxey had previously made THE CITY OF THE DEAD but he doesn't bring any of the same style or beauty to this thing. The entire movie has a very slow pace as if the director wasn't sure what he wanted to do with the material or perhaps he just knew the material wasn't all that good. Parkins is pretty good in the role of the daughter but the screenplay doesn't give her much to do outside of screaming and running around. Stanwyck is always watchable but this here certainly wasn't among her best work. Roddy McDowall was fun to see in his supporting role as was William Windom. Another problem with the film is that there's simply nothing going on that ever really keeps the viewer interested. The story is decent but nothing much is done with it and this is especially true if you've seen the original version, which was one of the best thrillers from the studio.