★ 7 / 10
RELEASED IN 1963 and directed by Roger Corman
Wuchak
RELEASED IN 1963 and directed by Roger Corman & Francis Ford Coppola (with the help of a few others), “The Terror” stars Jack Nicholson as a young officer in…
RELEASED IN 1963 and directed by Roger Corman & Francis Ford Coppola (with the help of a few others), “The Terror” stars Jack Nicholson as a young officer in Napoleon's Army who is infatuated by an intriguing woman (Sandra Knight) he meets on the coast of the Confederation of the Rhine. After a run-in with a witch (Dorothy Neumann) he tracks the mysterious girl to the castle of an elderly Baron riddled with guilt (Boris Karloff).
INTERESTING BEHIND-THE-SCENES INFO: After the shooting for Corman’s “The Raven” was completed, the castle sets were still available for a few days before demolition. Corman acted quickly to concoct a script via Leo Gordon and enlisted 75 year-old Karloff, who costarred in “The Raven.” Boris later said it was amusing the way Roger dashed around with him & the other principles filming scenes just two steps ahead of the wreckers.
After a few days of shooting, Corman couldn’t film the rest of the movie himself due to union legalities, so he enlisted several young filmmakers to assist, including sending Coppola up to the Big Sur area for eleven days. Sets from other AIP movies were also used, notably “The Haunted Palace” with Vincent Price.
COMMENTARY: I’ve heard people complain about the story supposedly not making sense, but I found the plot easy to follow and even had it figured out by the halfway point, not including the dubious curveball thrown-in at the end (you’ll know what I mean).
As my title blurb points out, “The Terror” is very Hammer-esque, albeit made in California and on a lower budget than the typical Hammer flick (which weren’t expensive films by any means). So if you like haunting Gothic horror with mysterious castles, ghosts and witches in the mold of Hammer flicks you’ll probably like “The Terror.” It’s particularly reminiscent of “Dracula, Prince of Darkness” (1966), which came out three years later. As far as 60’s spooky MOOD goes, this movie’s superb, which includes the Gothic score (Ronald Stein). Unfortunately, Nicholson’s voice is noticeably incongruous and his lines are sometimes delivered in a stilted manner, but that’s a minor quibble.
THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hours & 21 minutes and was shot in Los Angeles (studio), Santa Monica, Point Lobos & Palos Verdes Peninsula, California. WRITERS: Gordon and Jack Hill. ADDITIONAL CAST: Dick Miller (Stefan) and Jonathan Haze (Gustaf).
GRADE: B/B-
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★ 5 / 10
Rubbish is rarely this good
The_Void
For a film calling itself 'The Terror', Roger Corman's unpolished and critically hounded horror film isn't very terrifying. In fact, by the time the credits…
For a film calling itself 'The Terror', Roger Corman's unpolished and critically hounded horror film isn't very terrifying. In fact, by the time the credits role there's a good chance that you'll sit there bewildered asking yourself what, exactly, you've just spent the last eighty minutes of your life on. There's a good reason for this, as The Terror is an almost complete waste of time; it offers nothing in the way of intrigue, invention or influence on the genre, nor does the plot have any kind of point and, to be honest, it's not all that interesting anyway. However, The Terror gains points for protruding that lovely Roger Corman style quickie sort of atmosphere, and for excellent performances from classic horror icon, Boris Karloff, and a man that would go on to set the acting world on fire a decade later; the inescapably excellent, Jack Nicholson. The film has an awesome amount of camp and cult value for these two performances, Nicholson especially as it's always fun to see a highly rated actor in an early, and much less highly rated role.The point of The Terror would appear to be the classic Roger Corman 'point' "let's make some money!" and the penny-pinching style that Corman perfected over the years is evident in just about every cheap looking scene. The plot follows a French solider (Jack Nicholson) who travels to the castle of the resident baron in search of a girl he met while stranded in the local village. While there he discovers a lot of terror (or not) as we find out that the baron is harbouring a secret. The secret can be guessed within the first half of the film, and that's another area where the film fails, but it's kept alive by a constant stream of ridiculous goings on, and as the film moves closer to it's climax and the lines get more terrible and the plot becomes more ridiculous, you cant help but treat yourself to a good laugh. People that rate films objectively will hate the Terror, but for the cult fans and Roger Corman fanatics; this will fill a gap, and although it's instantly forgettable; there's worse ways to waste your time.
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Many people had a hand in directing this movie. Nicholson was one of them. Nicholson shouldn't receive sole credit, but it also wouldn't be accurate to say that it was directed by just Roger Corman.