After having seen four randomly ordered episodes, the very least I can say about "Hammer House of Mystery & Suspense" is that it has been a disappointment thus far. None of the tales are very inventive or cause any frights, and they are honestly overlong and rather tedious. "Black Carrion" is the best so far, for sure, but still nothing perplexing and most definitely not on par with the great quality of the short films in "Hammer House of Horror".
The good thing about "Black Carrion", compared to the previous three I watched, is that it has a fresh, original, and compelling basic pot. Add to this a couple of utmost atmospheric sequences and a swinging Rock 'n Roll soundtrack, and you at least have a memorable little film worth recommending.
The plot revolves around a freelance reporter and a female photographer hoping to unravel the mysterious and still unresolved disappearance of a rock band. The Verne Brothers (Ron and Ray, ... not Jules) were extremely popular in the early sixties, but then literally vanished in 1963. The search leads to a forsaken little village off the highway, but the closer they get, the more the girl begins suffering from a mental trauma clearly linked to the case.
There's a downright fantastic scene after approximately 15-20 minutes, in which an elderly couple in their car are brutally aggressed by two hoodlums in a truck. The terror-ride ends with a broken car and tangled nerves in a little village where they hope to find help, but they don't realize their troubles haven't even started yet! This scene, and a few others, demonstrates the great director skills of John Hough. The clarifications at the end don't make a whole lot of sense and leave quite a few questions unanswered, but hey, it was different from what I expected and creatively absurd.