Genres

Visitors Review

PeterRoeder 2013-05-22 09:48:41

Great

What is up with the low rating for this one? It is an awesome horrormovie. The scenes with Nicholson and the woman are straight out of theeeriest and most mysterious horror fiction ever written. All right,it's uneven at times and the ending is somewhat abrupt - who cares? Ithas got that powerful horror feel. I saw it today and I cannot believehow good it is. I look forward to reading the other reviews to see whatpeople make of it. I think it is just great. Very good. I have nothingmuch to say about it. I just think those scenes in the nature by thesea are just astonishing. AWESOME HORROR! The scene where the woman*SPOILER* turns to dust is just SO scary. I got out of the bath and Icouldn't believe how creepy it was.

rosscinema 2013-05-21 23:57:43

Not bad for a quickie!

This is the type of filmmaking that Roger Corman is famous for. Shot inabout 4 or 5 days right after completing "The Raven". As they were tearingdown the sets Corman convinced two of the stars to stay on and make thisfilm for extra cash. So a young Jack Nicholson and Boris Karloff stay to dothis film and I guess the other actors were brought in very quickly.Nicholson's then wife Sandra Knight, Dick Miller and Jonathan Haze round outthe cast and they're all Corman regulars. I guess if you work for Corman youhave to be ready to go at a moments notice! Not bad little horror story hasNicholson as a French officer who ends up at Karloffs castle and then getscurious as to what's happening there and the history of events withKarloff's dead wife. Effective set designs create the usual mood that youwould come to expect. One of the annoying things about the story isNicholson's character who refuses to leave. What a nosy guy! Karloff'scharacter was extremely patient with him. The story gets a little convolutedgoing down the stretch but you have to be envious of how well made this filmis considering how quickly and hastily it was made. Not really scary but aneffective mood was established and the lore of the filmmaking make thisinteresting to watch.

varghesejunior 2013-05-09 17:48:17

Who will get scared of this?

A horror film set in the mid 20th century, The Terror tells the storyof a lost French soldier who comes across a ghostly woman in a villageamong people who know something about her but don't seem to be tellingthe truth and don't seem to be what they look like.The film does have a creepy nature around it..that's all. And it is notvulgar, unlike many crap horrors. Also it is not too lengthy and timeconsuming.Else it is all too fancy for anyone to get scared really - the acting,the music, the effect , the costumes, the make up ...nothing. I don'tthink nowadays anyone will be patient enough to watch this.Why I watched ? Because I am fascinated by horror films.

Bezenby 2013-05-09 10:09:41

A sure-fire insomnia cure

Ouch! This one was an endurance test. Sure, it was good to see Jackdoin' his thing in his first full length film, but The Terror bored meso much it took five attempts to watch it.Jack play a French soldier wandering about who finds a cute lady whomhe immediately falls in love with, but everyone denies she exists. Hesets out to find out who she is an runs into a witch, and BorisKarloff, and an entertaining Dick Miller (the best thing about thisfilm).But, prepare yourself for an awful lot of scenes where Jack wandersaround, looking at stuff. I fell asleep a lot during this film and wokewith vague memories of what happened, causing me to rewind a lot andfind I'd missed nothing. Pretty poor, this one. It did have a couple ofbits of gore but they were framed with talking, walking, and not muchelse. Even Jack doesn't seem to be well versed in acting at this point.

2013-05-06 08:15:01

Boris and Roger, you gotta love 'em.

For some reason, I like this film. It had atmosphere, a deserted castle, lightening and thunder, and Boris Karloff. The price of the "Master Movie" edition for this DVD is unbeatable, but then you're not getting wide screen, which is a let down. But as far as I know, there are, at this time, no wide screen editions of "The Terror" on DVD or VHS. However, the picture quality is great, and sound quality is acceptable. I'm really disappointed, though, not to see more of the Poe classic Corman films on DVD, yet, in wide screen, of course. A better buy, though a little more expensive, is "Tales of Terror". Excellent color, wide screen, beautiful sound, and of course, Vincent Price, Basil Rathbone, and Peter Lorre.

Joe Bridge 2013-05-05 11:17:05

Floating Bricks!

I'm going to have to admit that I really like this movie, mostly onlybecause of Jack and Boris acting together (as well as Dick Miller), ofcourse, which seems like some sort of odd, rare union of two differentcenturies of film-making.The plot involves an old peasant woman who uses some sort of weirdblack magic (with a colorful kind of turning lantern set-up - whichlooks a bit too modern in my opinion) to take over the body and spiritof a young woman (who's history we learn nothing about from start tofinish) and make her "haunt" the baron to drive him to suicide, as anact of revenge. However, the two weird twists thrown together near theend don't really belong here. On the one hand, it WASN'T the baron butthe servant that killed your son, immediately followed by - but on theother hand, your son wasn't actually killed, but... ARGH! Like I said,the "twists" should have been left out!The castle is nice and creepy, even though it is only a painting.Anything involving tombs and old corpses is always creepy in myopinion. I don't care what anyone else would say.There is some sort of confusion regarding the girl's and the bird'strue identities, and the on-going business about "there is no girl"gets quite silly at times. Who do they think they are fooling? I alwayswonder about that aspect of movie scenes. People can see and hear,right? I'm somewhat surprised that there wasn't an ongoing "there is nobird" routine. Heh.There are quite a few silly lines to enjoy, like Jack (as André) saying"go ahead; it's permitted for you to laugh" and "no, not the bird, theGIRL..."And look at the floating bricks, near the end, when the water isrushing in! Haha!Silliest scene:Helene: The crypt...it must be destroyed, and with it, the dead. André:Don't speak of the dead anymore. You're with me now. Helene: I ampossessed of the dead. André: You're a warm, living woman. Who has toldyou these things? Helene: The dead...6/10, only for Jack and Boris.

tavm 2013-04-25 14:24:22

Roger Corman's The Terror provides a glimpse of Karloff near his end and Nicholson at his beginning

I finally watched this Roger Corman mash-up of sets from his previousPoe movies that attempted to provide an original story, though it'sstill a little derivative of those movies and not as successfully. Inthis one, Leutenant Andre Duvalier (Jack Nicholson) stumbles into acastle after finding out from Gustaf (Jonathan Haze) that a beautifulgirl named Helene (Sandra Knight, then Nicholson's wife) that he'ssmitten with is there. Or is she since when Andre asks about her bothan old woman named Katrina (Dorothy Neumann) and the inhabitant of thecastle, Baron Victor Frederick Von Leppe (Boris Karloff) deny herexistence. The Baron's butler, Stefan (Richard Miller, usually known asDick-a Corman regular) is no help, either. But things have a way ofcoming together...This isn't a bad movie and the cast, especiallyKarloff, can sell their scenes even with the ridiculous reveal of who'swhat at the end. And the flood climax and what comes after are alsopretty exciting. It's the middle that threatens to drag with plenty ofdialogue but nothing much happening. Still, the colors are nice andit's interesting to see Karloff near the end of his career andNicholson at the beginning of his. And the then-Mrs. Nicholson is surea stunning presence throughout. And despite those boring stretches, themovie is short enough. So on that note, The Terror is worth a look.

horrorfilmx 2013-04-24 16:41:23

Don't judge this by the available videos...

... which are mostly crap, copied from old nth generation prints fullof dirt and splices and bad sound. I never saw THE TERROR when it wasoriginally released but I did see TARGETS, which incorporated footagefrom the earlier film a few years later. The footage from TERROR wascrisp, sharp, and beautifully photographed. Seeing it when it was newmust have been an entirely different experience. On the other hand,audiences then didn't have the advantage of hindsight. They didn't knowthat the young lead would go on to become possibly the most successfulactor of his time. And they certainly wouldn't have suspected it fromTHE TERROR. Jack Nicholson is handily out-acted by virtually everyoneelse on the screen, including his then buddy Dick Miller. Karloffshines, bringing the same sly relish to his wittier lines that hebrought to THE BODY SNATCHER many years before. The guy was the king ofhorror movies, no question about it. Everyone knows the backstory: shoton leftover sets from THE RAVEN (and possibly, if I'm not mistaken, THEHAUNTED CASTLE) with plenty of stock footage from PIT AND THE PENDULUMand HOUSE OF USHER. Most amusing (to me) was the way no one could agreeon how to pronounce the name Gustav, whom Nicholson at one pointaddresses as "Gust-off" (although he comes closer in a later scene). Ifyou're a fan of classic horror (or B-movie lore) you should give THETERROR a look. Its creaky atmosphere is oddly charming.

2013-04-23 20:37:48

Terror-able

Sluggish pacing and some questionable shots make THE TERROR a recommendation only for those who want to see a very young Jack Nicholson and a very old Boris Karloff in something other than the immeasurably superior THE RAVEN. Director Roger Corman lays the atmosphere on with a trowel and leaves continuity, consistency and coherence far behind in his wake. Karloff plays the Baron of a dark and brooding castle and Nicholson plays a misplaced French lieutenant in circa 1805 Somewherevania. There's a long dead wife, a diaphanous maiden prowling about a crypt at night and an old crone with a falcon borrowed from the set of Alfred Hitchcock's THE BIRDS. The plot? Well, you can mix those ingredients together and probably come up with something a little more substantial than this one. Not recommended.

Infofreak 2013-04-23 06:10:19

Underrated Corman quickie.

'The Terror' is generally only mentioned in passing because of the speed inwhich it was made, which is two, three or four days depending on whichaccount you believe. One would imagine that it would be one of the biggestturkeys of all time, but if you actually sit down and watch it, it'sactually a very interesting, and reasonably effective movie. The haste inwhich it was made and the many directors involved (Corman buddies Coppola,Jack Hill and Monte Hellman all helped out) are obvious, but the movie isfar from a complete loss. Admittedly Jack Nicholson is unconvincing as ayoung lost French soldier, and Karloff is pretty hammy, but Sandra Knight(then Nicholson's wife) is pretty good as a mysterious girl, who may or maynot be a ghost, and Corman regular Dick Miller is impressive in an atypicalrole. It's also fascinating to see Jonathan Haze (of 'Little Shop OfHorrors') in a more serious and subdued role. Watching 'The Terror' Icouldn't help but think what it could have been with a bit more care putinto the script, and say, Mario Bava directing. But as it is, it's not badentertainment despite its obvious flaws. Worth a look for fans of 60shorror.

MooCowMo 2013-03-25 05:13:29

A Tepid Terror... :=8(

Quite frankly one of the most massively boring yawns in film history.Period. A film where nothing happens. Should put Sominex out ofbusiness.Yet another gem from Roger Corman. Bleaccchhhhh!!:=8P

drakon1976 2013-03-24 16:56:24

This movie sucks the big one!

I recently paid a $1 to purchase this movie on DVD at Wal-Mart. Ithought it would be entertaining like "The Raven". It wasn't worth thecost of the film used to shoot the movie with. Add 81 minutes to yourlife and another $1 to your wallet by passing on this one. Unless youhave trouble sleeping this flick won't do a thing for ya. Personally Idon't understand how the person who put this film together could showhis/her face in public again. This film put me into a trance and thenclobbered me over the head with a heavy object. It rendered medefenseless against my own eyelids towit I quickly was subdued andcarried of to a dark slumber.

whpratt1 2013-03-23 05:20:19

BORIS KARLOFF WAS HIRED FOR ONLY TWO DAYS FILMING!

Roger Corman decided to reuse the sets of THE RAVEN and make alow-budget horror film. He wrote the script of THE TERROR in one week.Corman hired Karloff for two days and he shot all of Karloff's scenes,plusmost of the interiors while the film was shot in bits and pieces over athree-month period, with co-stars Jack Nicholson and Sandra Knight.Duringthese three months, Corman sort the help of co-directors: Francis FordCoppola, Monte Hellman, Dennis Jakob and Jack Hill. Karloff saved thispicture from drowning and made it into another great film classic alongwithJack Nicholson as co-star.

LCShackley 2013-03-22 23:55:19

Fell asleep watching...in mid-afternoon

Yes, I fell asleep twice during this Corman snore-fest and it was only2:00 in the afternoon. I taped it from cable, which enabled me to fastforward through most of the movie. (There are endless non-dialog scenesof Nicholson wandering around here and there.) Fast-forwarding alsoenables you to miss the out-of-tune orchestra grinding its way throughStein's cliché-ridden score. Nicholson is boring and miscast as aFrench officer, Karloff is going through the motions, and the othercast members gamely act out their stock characters (haunted girl,sadistic witch, loyal servant). The plot makes absolutely no sense,with twists that the writers must have thought were clever but whichwere simply ridiculous. Some scenes almost seem like repeats of earlierbits...the plot was probably enough for a 30-minute TV episode, but nota feature. The color quality on cable is quite good, enabling you tosee how a corpse decays into something resembling caramel ice creamsauce.

boscofl 2013-03-18 05:42:05

Worth One Look

I watched The Terror recently because I have always been a big BorisKarloff fan and had a morbid curiosity to see Jack Nicholson in anearly role. I had also read about the slapdash way in which this filmwas cobbled together and, as I had surmised, the back story is muchmore interesting than the finished product. The plot details have beenhashed and rehashed in numerous reviews so I won't bother with themhere but I do want to record some of my observations of this film.It seems to me that every AIP horror flick from this era involves a madnobleman, a crumbling castle (the same set used over and over), a buxomfemale beguiling an old horror star, a homicidal bird, and possessedpeople that ultimately end up decaying before our eyes. These filmsalways endure on the strength of a star presence, usually Vincent Priceand here Boris Karloff. Nicholson is the main character and displaysnone of the charisma that would make him an all-time icon; he isn't asbad as some of the reviews would indicate but this film certainly didnot help his stature. Karloff is very good but not outstanding; hisperformances are always solid and as usual he transcends the cheapnessof the overall product. Everyone else is forgettable (even SandraKnight's ample assets).I love the overall cheesiness of the film. The shoreline shots remindedme vividly of Planet of the Apes which I'm sure was filmed in the sameplace. The matte shot of Karloff's castle on the sea cliff has to beone of the worst ever; mercifully the shots are short. The sequence ofthe poor slob who gets attacked by the rogue crow is comical; his eyesare apparently gouged out and he wanders mindlessly off a cliff, takesa bounce off some rocks, falls some more, and yet is still alive togive Nicholson some useless information before finally kicking off. Theexplanations at the end are pretty confusing; especially when we areled to believe Karloff is the son of some middle-aged witch. Karloffmust have been around 76 years old when this picture was made and theactress playing his supposed "mother" looks maybe 60 when in realityshe would have to be around 95. Some plot point was revealed earlierregarding a cradle in the late Baroness' room and whether or not shehad a child. Unless I missed it this question was never answered northe true identity of Helene/Ilsa revealed (Daughter? Ghost?Miscellaneous Possessed Peasant Girl?).If nothing else the film is still fairly entertaining. The pace wasslow in the beginning and I could have done without some of the typical60's LSD moments (spinning camera, garish colors, etc.). It was nice tosee Karloff lend dignity to the proceedings and the opening creditssequence is very atmospheric. Overall worth a look but not a repeatviewing.

wotanet 2013-03-17 12:40:21

A bad classic

with a decadent Boris Karloff and a too young Jack Nicholson who cannotsavethe movie from the abyss this is a bad terror classic, with a papercastle,bad effects and a very very bad script. The other Karloff movies arebetter.

verna55 2013-03-15 06:25:31

Not scary, but still interesting

Shot in just three days, this noticeably low-budget picture features JackNicholson in an early starring role as a young soldier who traces abeautiful, but strange girl(Sandra Knight, then Mrs. Nicholson) to a creepyold castle inhabited by a crazed Baron(Boris Karloff). It's not up to thenumerous Roger Corman/Edgar Allan Poe adaptations, but then again, it neverreally tries to be. It also never quite lives up to its title, though thereare some effectively eerie scenes, and Karloff seems to be enjoyinghimself.

2013-03-14 20:41:27

About Jack Nicholson

He was, in my opinion, the best actor in the whole movie. Of course can't beat Boris Karloff. But, once again in my opinion, one of Jacks best old movies! BRILLIENT acting Jack. And GOD rest your soul Boris Karloff.

sheeshlord 2013-02-22 07:36:51

Great for insomniacs

I bought the DVD for the Little Shop of Horrors and was pleasentlysurprisedto find it was a double feature with The Terror. I watched it with noexpectations and ended up enjoying the movie. If this were a modern daymovie, all involved would be laughed out of the box office. Their attemptto throw in a few catsup filled gore scenes and several lame twists at theend made it comical enough to sit through. And how about that young anddapper Jack Nicholson?! This is one to watch in the middle of the nightwhen you can't sleep, and it's worth watching at least once. I had to knowhow it would end.

2013-02-22 00:08:46

A funny fair tail

The terror is more a funny story, than a horror film. It was interesting to see young JN in tandem with Frankenstein-man Boris Karloff. The movie is not too long, so its not so boring that it could be.