The Terror (1963)

best movie i've ever seen.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I remember the first time I ever saw THE TERROR. It was an English class about mystery writers. Why the teacher ever chose this movie as a great example of that I'll never know, unless of course it was the only thing available in his budget. That being said the truth is that I is a fun movie and a great example of the Roger Corman school of film making. If you have access to a star, sets and some film stock left, make a complete feature fast! With Boris Karloff still available having just shot THE RAVEN for Corman as well as sets still standing from his film THE HAUNTD PALACE, Corman paid Leo Gordon $1,600 to write a script and the main portions of the film that contained Karloff were shot in 3 days. Additional footage was shot by Corman and a young man he employed at the time named Francis Ford Coppola as well as footage shot by Monte Hellman, Jack Hill and Jack Nicholson who also starred in the film. The end result is considered by most to be one of Corman's worst efforts but the truth is it's not all that bad.Nicholson stars as Lt. Andre Duvalier, a soldier in the Napoleonic wars who has lost his way and stumbles upon a young woman named Helen (Shirley Knight) on the beach. She disappears and when he wakes he finds himself in a cabin in the woods where an old woman and her servant live. They help him and send him to the castle on the hill owned by Baron Von Leppe (Karloff). Duvalier arrives at the castle and forces his way in demanding shelter from the Baron. The Baron agrees and has his manservant Stefan (Dick Miller) help the Lt.While talking to the Baron, Duvalier is shown a portrait of the Baron's late wife Ilsa. She is a duplicate for young Helene who helped him the day before. The Baron informs him that she has been dead for many years now. As the story progresses Duvalier continues to see Helene/Ilsa roaming the castle and nearby tombs. He later finds out that Ilsa had a lover named Eric that the Stefan killed while the Baron killed Ilsa. Now she haunts and torments him from the grave and the only relief will be in his demise.Ghosts, Barons, haunting s and lost love meld together to make a film that while not the best thing Corman ever made doesn't truly qualify as his worst. His use of already standing sets and actors to put together a film is something that few is any directors these days would attempt. Nicholson holds his own in one of his earliest performances, perhaps not displaying the prowess that would garner him an Oscar later in life but showing he was at least making the attempt to work at his craft. Karloff does an excellent job, even more so when you consider his age at the time.As with several other titles I've received from them recently, this is another public domain title that The Film Detective has determined deserved the bluray treatment. That being the case you'll find that this is one of the best prints around of this film. Many offer it but few in this degree of quality, keeping in mind it was not the most well preserved film to begin with. It's nice to see a company want to keep films like these from disappearing even if they aren't the cream of the crop for some viewers. Kudos to The Film Detective for keeping this movie alive.Here's a suggestion. Plan movie parties for Friday nights where you screen two features like this film, movies that were created with the sole purpose of playing the drive in circuit. Some popcorn, hot dogs and a soda or two while you sit and enjoy or laugh at what's on screen make for a fun night. Who knows, maybe drive-in parties will take hold. This movie is a good start to those sort of nights.

This movie deserves to be restored and re-released. I unsuspectingly bought the DVD that I own for 50 cents at a flea market, a great bargain! Sadly the print used for this DVD release was very badly deteriorated. Even with that sad I still thought it was a beautiful looking film and I would love to see a version of higher quality.The story is not very original, the plot elements are very clearly borrowed from the stories by Edgar Allen Poe, but the story was still pretty entertaining and the cast does a pretty good job, especially Boris Karloff.The DVD that I own was released under the eXtreme label by Dutch FilmWorks and World Wide Cinema. Avoid this one, it is of a terrible quality.

Jack Nicholson plays a French soldier who becomes lost and meets a mysterious woman but she disappears into the ocean. Then there's some stuff with a bird and an old woman. Then Jack finds the castle of Boris Karloff where he sees the girl again. Boris and his servant act like they don't know what he's talking about but Jack is persistent. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense and the plot is a mess but it's still very interesting and hard to stop watching. This is a rather famous Roger Corman movie that has several different urban legends surrounding its production, most of which boil down to this: Corman was cheap so he used leftover sets and/or leftover budget from The Raven to film this one quickly. Whatever the truth is, it's a fascinating movie with many obvious flaws that it manages to overcome and still be an entertaining film. Great opening credits, too.

Boris Karloff , Jack Nickolson, need I say more,, a man is lost at sea,, wakes up and sees a woman,,, then she disappears,, then re appears. at first he thinks he is having visions,, but soon he learns that she is real,, after he follows her,, he tracks her to this lowly castle where she appears in a window. later he learns that she is a Baroness,, but apparently she's been dead for 2 decades,,, so he decides to investigate,, he ends up in the castle under the care of an elderly woman,, now he has to find the Baroness,, and eventually meet up with the evil Baron,, as played by Boris Karloff,,, not a bad watch at all,, I liked it,, it's a b movie,, with no expectations,,,