By Lee Pfeiffer
Sony has reissued the 1961 Hammer Films title Scream of Fear as a burn-to-order DVD. Although the title would seem to imply this is a typical Hammer horror movie production, it is actually a real world suspense thriller. Susan Strasberg plays Penny Appleby, an attractive young woman from a wealthy European family who has led a life of personal turmoil. Her beloved parents had divorced and her mother later died. She depended heavily on the companionship of her personal assistant, who became her best friend. That young woman died tragically and Penny herself almost drowned in an accident that has left her confined to a wheelchair. Although afforded the best medical care in a private sanitarium, she longs to reunite with her father, who she has not seen in ten years. We first Penny when she arrives at the family mansion on the French Riviera. Her attractive stepmother Jane (Ann Todd) greets her warmly but tells her the surprising and disappointing news that her father has been called away for an indeterminate amount of time due to business reasons. Penny makes it clear she is heartbroken by the development. Jane treats her stepdaughter with all due courtesy but it is clear there is resentment on Penny's part toward the woman she suspects is hiding a secret about her father. When she expresses skepticism about his whereabouts and well-being, she conveniently receives a phone call supposedly from her father, who gives her reassurance that he is doing fine. The call's purpose backfires, however, as Penny makes it clear to Jane she has strong suspicions that the man on the other end of the line was someone impersonating her father. Things go from bad to worse when Penny encounters a terrifying sight: the body of her dead father sitting in a chair inside a storage cottage. By the time Jane arrives to investigate, the body is inexplicably gone. More eerie occurrences haunt Penny, from mysterious piano playing to a second sighting of her dead father. Jane enlists the help of the family physician, Dr. Gerrard (Christopher Lee), who assures the young woman that these incidents are just hallucinations brought on by stress. Soon, Penny begins to suspect that Jane and Dr. Gerrard are illicit lovers who are trying to have her declared insane. Her one ally is Robert (Ronald Lewis), the hunky family chauffeur who theorizes that since Penny is the primary heir to her father's fortune, if she js declared mentally ill, her stepmother will inherit everything. He also posits a more frightening scenario: if Jane and Dr. Gerrard had murdered her father, they might think nothing of murdering her, as well, and staging both deaths to look like accidents.
Scream of Fear was written and produced by legendary Hammer screenwriter Jimmy Sangster. The B&W production was shot on a low budget (this was Hammer, after all) and is very claustrophobic, with most of the action taking place inside the mansion house where Penny is subjected to an increasing number of frightening scenarios. In the true tradition of screen heroines, however, she dutifully investigates every one of them, wheeling herself into dimly lit rooms to see what has gone "bump" in the night. As with most Hammer movies, however, the film rises above its financial limitations due to the excellence of the cast and performances (Strasberg, who died in 1999 at age 60, should have been a much bigger star). Although Christopher Lee's appearances are limited, he is as effective as ever, and its refreshing to see him in a Hammer film that doesn't exploit him as a monster or mad doctor. Ronald Lewis and Ann Todd provide able support.
Sangster's script, directed very ably by Seth Holt (who also died young, at age 47 in 1971). The story tends to go a bit over-the-top on occasion and doesn't hold up to much scrutiny. For example, the reoccurring appearances and disappearances of Penny's dead father strain credibility when the explanations are finally offered. Similarly, the fate of Todd's character in the movie's awkward final few seconds seems tacked on and is rather unconvincing. Having said that, however, in the aggregate, Sangster provides so many unexpected plot twists and turns that viewers will almost certainly find it difficult to predict where he is leading them. The film is intelligently written, directed and acted and can be highly recommended as one of the more offbeat and effective Hammer films of the period.
The DVD is an excellent transfer. There are no bonus extras, however.
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