Strasberg’s doe-eyed dedication to her role and Douglas Slocombe’s brilliant black-and-white cinematography counterbalance the film’s increasingly ridiculous plot turns, which nonetheless have a crude, jaw-dropper effectiveness.
Full of mysterious twists and turns, this expertly crafted thriller casts Strasberg as the wheelchair-bound step-daughter of Todd.
70
The Guardian
The Guardian
The plot is nicked from Henri-Georges Clouzot's Les Diaboliques, full of guttering candles, bumps in the night, and the kind of little shocks you hate yourself for jumping at. [08 Nov 2008, p.53]
70
The New York TimesDave Kehr
The New York TimesDave Kehr
Though clearly influenced by Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 Psycho, Scream of Fear is closer to Orson Welles in its baroque visual design and delight in style for style's sake. [21 Oct 2008, p.C4]
30
Village Voice
Village Voice
No thrill, no suspense, no direction, bad in every way. [31 Aug 1961, p.8]