Jimmy Sangster’s third film as director for Hammer, and his last for the studio, saw him return to the psycho thriller genre, where he had enjoyed much success in the 60s. Once again, there’s a young woman with a history of mental instability (Judy Geeson), who is slowly been driven mad in a creepy setting (Taste of Fear, Nightmare, Paranoiac); the action shifts in the last act away from the protagonist to two baddies, who have the tables turned on them (Maniac, Taste of Fear); they can’t find a corpse (Taste of Fear); there’s a big secret about the past (all of them); the male baddie accidentally kills his fellow female baddie (Taste of Fear).
Well, the above things may be reheated ingredients but they worked for the first time, so why not a second (or third), and there’s a very strong cast, including Ralph Bates, Peter Cushing, and Joan Collins. Geeson doesn’t really convey descent into insanity, but at least she’s pretty and likeable.
Sangster the director doesn’t do full justice to Sangster the writer – you feel Seth Holt or Freddie Francis would have extracted more juice and suspense out of the creepy school (although he does do something interesting things with editing). Sangster says in the commentary that he let some scenes drag on extra long in order to extend the running time – well, you can tell. I could have done with an extra scene at the end, wrapping up the fate of Geeson and Cushing a bit more.
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