On her way home to California from a stay at a Swiss mental institution after a traumatic rape seven years earlier, twenty-year-old Susan Wilcox realizes that someone is deliberately trying ... Read allOn her way home to California from a stay at a Swiss mental institution after a traumatic rape seven years earlier, twenty-year-old Susan Wilcox realizes that someone is deliberately trying to drive her insane. Written by Jimmy Sangster.On her way home to California from a stay at a Swiss mental institution after a traumatic rape seven years earlier, twenty-year-old Susan Wilcox realizes that someone is deliberately trying to drive her insane. Written by Jimmy Sangster.
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Well, "A Taste of Evil" certainly doesn't disappoint and I won't hesitate for one second to recommend it to fellow horror fans, but still one of the aforementioned prominent names cheated a little bit As the story slowly unfolded and tension mounted, I suddenly became more and more conscious that the plot felt familiar. Poor Susan Wilcox returns home to her mother Miriam and the parental house, after she spent seven long years in a Swiss mental hospital to recover from the trauma of getting assaulted in her garden playhouse at the tender age of 13. Although her mother and Susan herself are determined to get her life back on track, Susan's tangled nerves are soon put under pressure again since she repeatedly spots the corpse of Miriam's second husband Harold all around the estate. She must somehow suffer from hallucinations, as Harold is very much alive, although on a business trip and corresponding with his wife and stepdaughter via the phone. Now, where have I seen this plot before? Oh that's right it's as good as identical to that of the unsung Hammer treasure "Taste of Fear / "Scream of Fear". Sneaky Jimmy Sangster must have thought that nobody in the United States ever saw or even heard about this film that already got released in 1961, so if he changed a few details left and right and gave different names to the main characters, he could cash a quick and easily earned paycheck!
And yet, I certainly don't blame Jimmy. The story is still solid as a rock and capable of evoking a handful of genuine scares and mild shocks. The build-up takes quite long and feels overly derivative, because you know of course that somebody is deliberately trying to push Susan into another mental breakdown and that her hallucinations are staged. But then the script offers not one but two twists that are surprisingly effective and quite unconventional for a made-for- TV flick. "A Taste of Evil" touches upon a few sensitive themes, like child molesting and family rivalry, and the extended climax (taking place during a good old-fashioned pouring rain thunderstorm) is action-packed and wild.
After being assaulted by someone she couldn't identify, Susan spent years in an institution trying to revere the trauma. We meet an adult version of her who is returning home for the first time since the attack many years prior. Her mother Miriam (played by Barbara Stanwyck) has since married a family friend that Susan used to call an uncle after the passing of Susan's father.
As soon as she settles in at home, she begins to think she is being stalked by someone she can't see. First she is chased by a man in the woods, and then she believes hears someone breathing in the darkness and the shadows in her large family house. The question is has the rapist come back to silence Susan or is she simply imagining someone coming after her. All is revealed in an explosive second half to the story.
A Taste of Evil is a VERY spooky and well done made for TV film from ABC. Terrific acting from legend Barbara Stanwyck and Barbara Parkins. She plays the trauma riddled Susan extremely well. We get all the beats of Susan's trauma of the rape and coming home. We also get the creepy mystery of who the assailant was years ago. There are some twists and turns throughout the film, and some eerie stalking scenes when the attacker comes for Susan. Overall, a great little horror gem from the 70's that deserves a proper DVD release.
7/10
It's always nice to see Barbara Stanwyck grace the screen and she's good as usual. Roddy McDowell is a delight! I love these old made for TV films.
6.5/10
Did you know
- TriviaWriter Jimmy Sangster says on the audio commentary for the Anchor Bay DVD of Les horreurs de Frankenstein (1970) that producer Aaron Spelling thought "A Taste of Evil" was awfully similar to the earlier Sangster-scripted Hurler de peur (1961), a.k.a. "Scram of Fear". Sangster basically admitted that it was the same script, with characters and settings changed to American ones.
- GoofsIn the outdoor pool scene with Miriam and Susan having breakfast.
- Quotes
John: I was very fond of Miss Susan.
Miriam Jennings: Fond enough to assault her when she was 13 years old?
John: You said you'd not bring that up!
Miriam Jennings: I've been quiet about that for 7 years, haven't I?
- ConnectionsFeatured in Dateline (1992)
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