Taste of Excitement

Despite the fact that director Don Sharp has a few minor classics on his name ("Kiss of the Vampire", "Rasputin: The Mad Monk", "The Face of Fu Manchu"), the coolest of his films are still regretfully neglected! "Psychomania", about a gang of zombie-bikers and "Dark Places", set in a mental asylum, both don't get the attention they deserve and Sharp's most imaginatively titled film is even forgotten completely: "Why Would Anyone Want To Kill A Nice Girl Like You?". This is a complex but very stylish murder-mystery, beautifully set in South France and starring the talented Eva Renzi as the unknowing key person of a political conspiracy. Upon her arrival in France, where she intends to spend a summer vacation, Jane Kerell is the target of attacks and strange events. She becomes involved with a local painter and together they discover that Jane, against her knowledge, carries around important evidence of an international crime network. Scotland Yard is looking for this evidence, but so are the gangsters, and Jane's life is in great danger. "Why Would Anyone Want To Kill A Nice Girl Like You?" (I love using the long title!) seems to start out as a typical Italian giallo, with a dazzling opening sequence showing Jane, in her Mini Cooper, chased by a white Mercedes on a deserted French mountain road. The musical guidance is eerie and the setting is wonderful. After about 40 minutes, the plot turns into a political thriller, but the suspense remains and there are several ingenious plot-twists and red herrings to keep you alert. Perhaps it's about time that this neat little film receives a proper DVD transfer, as I'm sure that many people would really dig it. There's a fair amount of action, a couple of really clever findings (the truth-serum, the scene in the zoo, the story about the tiger and the lamb...), and an enchanting love-story. I found my copy in an ex-rental shop for 0,50€... In case you do stumble on it one day, somehow, don't hesitate to give it a try.

Running virtually concurrently with the Italian Gialli were a handful of violent British thrillers, which often saw a female protagonist at the mercy of some maniac: titles in this cycle included TWISTED NERVE (1968), AND SOON THE DARKNESS (1970), ASSAULT (1971), BLIND TERROR (1971), FRIGHT (1971) and DEADLY STRANGERS (1974) – none of which I have watched at this stage, though I own all of them! The film under review is another one in this vein (and which I opted to check out now in view of the similarity in title to the recently-viewed TASTE OF FEAR {1961} – even if my copy actually sports the lengthy U.S. moniker WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO KILL A NICE GIRL LIKE YOU?!), but it differs from the formula in two notable aspects: firstly, there is precious little bloodshed throughout and these are mostly gun-shot wounds (usually, a more inventive weapon comes into play!) and, secondly, it incorporates an espionage subplot which suggests a more obvious link with the typical Hitchcockian suspenser (which, in this case, does not even bother to explain the nature of the "McGuffin", the object contended over by the two sides involved!).

With this in mind, the film is reasonably entertaining along the way, undeniably good-looking (though the full-frame, soft and worn-out VHS-sourced edition I acquired, complete with forced Dutch subtitles, is clearly nothing to write home about...and it is odd that this is still making the rounds when the movie has been available on R2 DVD for some time!) and definitely buoyed by a 'groovy' rock score from Keith Mansfield. Even so, despite co-writer/director Sharp's experience, he seems unsure as to how approach either style: this invariably leads to a general lack of logic (despite breaking into hysterical outbursts every fifteen minutes or so, heroine Eva Renzi is at the same time frequently shown clad in a bikini enjoying the sunshine which the South of France is renowned for!), not to mention a bafflingly tame resolution (though, interestingly, the man – Paul Hubschmid, star of Fritz Lang's "Indian Diptych" {1958-9} and Renzi's real-life spouse – whom the viewer had pinned down all along as the villain is revealed to be only a pawn in the spy game, with the real master criminal proving to be Kay Walsh – from Hitchcock's STAGE FRIGHT {1950} – as a dotty old lady{!}, only the former is actually eliminated…whereas the latter and her chief thug are merely cornered, and then the scene conveniently cuts away!).

Incidentally, another associate is a psychiatrist but his function is even less clear: since Renzi's Mini Cooper is continually being followed by a white Mercedes, coming twice within an inch of her life on a cliff-edge (the latter sequence emerging as perhaps the film's sole real 'taste of excitement'!), or otherwise nearly driven mad (to this end, even the deafening shriek of a gibbon will do apparently!), how would she then be able to supply her assailants with the vital information they are desperately seeking and which the girl is blatantly unaware of (typically, some agent had slipped her a note on a piece of paper upon feeling that his own days were numbered)! By the way, at the climax, there is a suggestion that Renzi may have been hypnotized to shoot the hero but, once more, the moment is rushed and indifferently handled! Aiding the girl, on the other hand, are a young painter (who, as it happens, is a client of the leading lady's would-be nemesis) played by David Buck, Police Inspector Peter Vaughan and Hammer alumnus Francis Matthews as an agent who gets his pretty quickly. Again, predictably, Buck's brashness more often than not thwarts the good guys' attempts to bring to book the spy ring (such as when he single-handedly saves Renzi from a kidnapping attempt outside a casino).

At the end of the day, it is essentially Renzi's appeal and more-than-fair performance (considering what she had to work with!) that make the film worthwhile; interestingly, that same year she would play a pivotal role in a top Giallo i.e. Dario Argento's striking debut THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE...

What we have here is a sort of crossover between a spy thriller and a Giallo. Both the film's titles - 'A Taste of Excitement' and the over the top 'Who Would Want to Kill a Girl Like You' would lend themselves excellently to a stylish Italian thriller, so it's not surprising that the film is a lot like a Giallo. The main influence for A Taste of Fear would seem to be the Hammer Horror classic 'A Taste of Fear', as the films have similarities both in plotting and execution. I went into this film expecting more of a horror movie, but the film couldn't be much further away from what I was expecting; this is pretty much just a spy thriller. The film focuses on Jane Kerell; a young woman who decides to spend her holiday in France. It's not long before she has become the victim of a series of attacks, and after becoming involved with a local man; it turns out that she is unwittingly carrying around evidence of an international crime network. Naturally, representatives from the network want to get their hands on this evidence, and so do Scotland Yard.

Had this film have been tackled by someone like Alfred Hitchcock, I don't doubt that it would have been great. Hitchcock excelled with films like this, and indeed all the elements needed for a top quality thriller are present. Not that I'm putting a slur on the name of Don Sharp; Sharp went on to direct the criminally underrated supernatural thriller 'Psychomania' as well as a couple of Hammer Horror's best films; Kiss of the Vampire of Rasputin: The Mad Monk before this, but he's not so great at working with this sort of material. The characters presented aren't all that interesting anyway, and Sharp doesn't succeed in putting any meat on them. Furthermore, the action is never thoroughly interesting and I have to admit that I found myself getting a bit bored on numerous occasions. The film really just plods along without a great deal of direction for the most part, and there isn't a great deal of standout moments. Discovering a forgotten film like this is always a treat, and so it is with great disappointment that I say that A Taste of Excitement isn't really worth tracking down.