 ""THE TERROR"-Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, Sandra Knight" | 2009-10-12 |
| - Reviewed By L. Dequesada from JAMAICA,, NY United States |
| Released in 1964, it was once said that horror films great Boris Karloff owed producer/director Roger Corman,time from the filming of a previous movie and Karloff payed Corman acting in "The Terror" co-starring the then young rookie actor Jack Nicholson as a stranded soldier in Napoleon's invading army in a coastal region of Germany. Co-starring in this thriller are Sandra Knight, Jonathan Haze, Dick Miller and other Corman's regulars. Definitely one of Corman's "B" movies, this film keeps you on the edge of your seat, its atmospheric and a gothic horror classic. This film is definitely on what I call the Roger Corman Hall of Fame, it belongs in the collection of every classic horror movie fan. |
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 "Ah, Roger Corman, what silliness you hath wrought." | 2008-11-20 |
| - Reviewed By xterminal from Cleveland, OH |
The Terror (Roger Corman, 1963)
Corman and his uncredited team of co-directors (among them both Francis Ford Coppola and Jack Nicholson) came up with one of Corman's (relatively) strongest movies here, pitting Nicholson and Boris Karloff against one another over the affections of Sandra Knight. Don't get me wrong, in many ways this movie is as terrible as anything Corman ever churned out, but at least it's jam-packed with atmosphere and scenery-chewing. Filmed just after Corman finished The Raven (he had five free days that had been budgeted for that one), Corman and his principal cast and crew knocked this out, in Hollywood terms, overnight.
The plot concerns one Andre Duvalier (Nicholson), separated from his regiment, who seeks shelter in a small house for the night after running into a lovely young woman who calls herself Helene (Knight) down by the sea. She drops hints that she can be found at the castle of Baron von Leppe (Karloff), and when Duvalier rides that way, he spies her in a window. Duvalier demands admittance, and the game is on: is Helene really a prisoner in the castle, or is she the ghost of Ilsa, von Leppe's wife, dead twenty years?
While Nicholson and Karloff do the jobs expected of them, the real lynchpin of this movie is Stefan (Dick Miller), von Leppe's servant, who's never quite sure which side he's on in this battle of wills. He doesn't get as much screen time as the stars of the film, but what we see of him makes me wonder how much fun this could have been had he ended up as the main character. Still, he lends an intriguing presence to an otherwise dull film. The rest of it's pretty useless, with nary a scare to be found and very few thrills on top of that, but it's not an awful way to kill eighty minutes if you happen to be in the mood for Corman. **
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| "Amusing Corman-factory output." | 2008-10-10 |
| - Reviewed By xterminal from Cleveland, OH |
The Terror (Roger Corman, 1963)
Corman and his uncredited team of co-directors (among them both Francis Ford Coppola and Jack Nicholson) came up with one of Corman's (relatively) strongest movies here, pitting Nicholson and Boris Karloff against one another over the affections of Sandra Knight. Don't get me wrong, in many ways this movie is as terrible as anything Corman ever churned out, but at least it's jam-packed with atmosphere and scenery-chewing. Filmed just after Corman finished The Raven (he had five free days that had been budgeted for that one), Corman and his principal cast and crew knocked this one out, in Hollywood terms, overnight.
The plot concerns one Andre Duvalier (Nicholson), separated from his regiment, who seeks shelter in a small house for the night after running into a lovely young woman who calls herself Helene (Knight) down by the sea. She drops hints that she can be found at the castle of Baron von Leppe (Karloff), and when Duvalier rides that way, he spies her in a window. Duvalier demands admittance, and the game is on: is Helene really a prisoner in the castle, or is she the ghost of Ilsa, von Leppe's wife, dead twenty years?
While Nicholson and Karloff do the jobs expected of them, the real lynchpin of this movie is Stefan (Dick Miller), von Leppe's servant, who's never quite sure which side he's on in this battle of wills. He doesn't get as much screen time as the starts of the film, but what we see of him makes me wonder how much fun this could have been had he ended up as the main character. Still, he lends an intriguing presence to an otherwise dull film. The rest of it's pretty useless, with nary a scare to be found and very few thrills on top of that, but it's not an awful way to kill eighty minutes if you happen to be in the mood for Corman. **
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| "almost unwatchable" | 2008-07-29 |
| - Reviewed By Morpho |
All the "Corman-Poe" films for AIP (House Of Usher, Pit And Pendulum, The Raven, etc.) have been released in proper widescreen edition, with good image and sound, except for this one, who's numerous cheap (and not so cheap) DVD editions seem to be based on the same bad copy circulating in the public domain. This DVD is one of them, and is almost unwatchable.
I do not recommand to buy one of them, but rather to wait for a proper edition. I suppose there is a legal reason why The Terror is out of the serie edited by MGM Entertainment. We should aske them to do something for this very great movie. |
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| "The Terror ? More Like The Boredom" | 2008-01-18 |
| - Reviewed By mr.movie expert from Miami FL |
The only reason I would recommend watching this is to see a much younger Jack Nicholson ,the rest is a boring story that will surely have you falling asleep in the first 15 minutes. Unfortunately I forced myself to stay wake and give the movie a chance.
The films begins in 1806 with the story of a lost French soldier (Nicholson) who has been separated from his group, he stumbles upon a strange young girl who seems sort of possessed, the soldier tries to ask her for directions, she does not answer she simply disappears on him. The soldier tries to find his way through until he finds a castle, in it lives an old man and a butler who seem very mysterious. And there is something very mysterious because the old man is much very connected to the strange young girl. The story of the movie is quite interesting but it lacks excitement. What I mean by that is that the movie is very slow, to a point that is unbearable. I forced myself to stay awake through the whole thing. Also the conclusion is quite unsatisfying
MY PERSONAL RATING 2 OUT OF 5
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 "Mixed Bag of Boris and Nicholson" | 2007-10-03 |
| - Reviewed By The Review's the Thing from Columbus, Indiana, United States |
Roger Corman, the king of schlock, finished "The Raven" ahead of schedule and decided to make another film on the same set. Corman and four other directors filmed "The Terror" in four days. The result is mixed and horror movie fans are divided as to whether this film is a cult classic or another schlock horror film of the early 1960's.
The story is relatively simple. Lt. Andre Duvalier (Jack Nicholson) has become separated from his unit. He encounters a beautiful and mysterious woman on the beach. He eventually learns her name is Hellene (Sandra Knight). After wandering about, Duvalier encounters an old lady who is mysterious in the way of old ladies in horror movies. The old lady insists there is no beautiful and mysterious woman wandering about in this area, but Nicholson was in love so he went off to the nearby castle. The castle is a suitably creepy place inhabited by Baron Victor Frederick Von Leppe and his assistant Stefan (Dick Miller, who appeared in movies such as "The Howling" and "Small Soldiers," and continues to act as of the date of this review).
Duvalier quickly realizes that the castle is a creepy place. His mysterious woman appears and disappears. There are secret rooms. There is a dead body in the basement. Baron Von Leppe and Stefan are always skulking about. The unfortunate part of this portion of the movie is that it is all about atmosphere and very little about advancing the plot.
The movie picks up in the last 15 minutes or so, and a lot of questions get answered. Unfortunately, there are some new questions asked and some questions never get answered fully. On the other hand, the action picks up a lot near the end of the movie and the movie has a surprise or two for its audience.
On the plus side, Karloff is incredible in this film. He is mysterious and moody and you sense there is something driving his character, Baron Victor Frederick Von Leppe. The castle is also great, which is probably why Corman decided to film another movie in it after "The Raven." Sandra Knight, then married to Jack Nicholson, was also great as Helene and the ghost of the Baroness.
On the negative side, Jack Nicholson still had some things to learn about acting. Nicholson often rushes his lines and his overacted character is almost a distraction. I wonder what would have happened had Nicholson's character been written out of the movie. The other partially negative aspect of this movie is the almost total lack of plot. I say partially because the lack of plot makes this movie a moody atmospheric film. I got the feeling that Baron Von Leppe's story had been going on for some time and Lt. Andre Duvalier (Nicholson) had arrived late in the final chapters.
As I noted above, people see this movie one of two ways. Some people see this movie as a dragging, plotless bore. Other people see this movie as an artistic, moody period piece with masterful acting by Karloff. You will have to watch this movie to decide how you interpret this movie. I liked the moody aspects of the film, but I also thought the movie focused too much on atmosphere and too little on plot. This movie may be a cult classic, but I am not a member of that cult.
Good luck!
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