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.
