[7]
A wheel-chair bound young woman named Penny (Susan Strasberg) returns to the cliffside home of her estranged father, who she hasn’t seen in over ten years. But when she arrives, she’s told by her stepmother (Ann Todd) that her father is away on business. Soon Penny catches frightful glimpses of her dead father all over the estate. The stepmother and the family doctor (Christopher Lee) assure her she simply needs rest, but the visions persist. Only the chauffeur (Ronald Lewis) believes Penny — so the two begin a search for her father’s body… and they find it.
Scream of Fear feels like a predictable mystery at first, setting up certain characters to be trustworthy and others to hold at arm’s length. But once the father’s body is discovered, the film becomes wonderfully surprising — another fine psychological mystery/thriller from the fine folks at Hammer Films. The plot and its mechanics are the remarkable force at play here, with some assist from the beautiful Cannes backdrop and spacious interior and exterior sets. None of the characters are especially sophisticated or engaging, but the cast do a good job keeping us guessing where their characters’ allegiances lie. There are a few memorably visceral moments, including the underwater reveal of Penny’s dead father.
Directed by Seth Holt, with moody cinematography by Douglas Slocombe (Rollerball, Raiders of the Lost Ark).