Some people just can’t mind their own business.

It’s 1806 and Lt. Andre Duvalier (played by a 26-year-old Jack Nicholson), a soldier in the French army, has been separated from his regiment. He winds up on a beach somewhere where he meets a mysterious woman who says her name is Helene (Sandra Knight, Nicholson’s then-wife). After the woman vanishes, Duvalier is attacked by a bird and passes out. When he wakes, he finds himself in the shack of Katrina, an old woman who insists there is no woman named Helene. Her son Gustav, however, indicates otherwise and prompts Duvalier to seek the truth in the castle of Baron von Leppe (Boris Karloff).

Duvalier makes his way to the castle, but finds the Baron no more forthcoming than the old woman. And the Baron’s valet Stefan is a big roadblock as well.

Determined to get to the bottom of the mysterious woman--literally, as it seems the only thing Duvalier truly wants is some action--the lieutenant stops at nothing to uncover every secret of the Castle von Leppe, even if it means damnation for all involved.

You know, you think you’ve got a good thing going. Your checkered past is where it belongs, in the past, and you’re doing a good job of putting it all behind you. You’re not hurting anyone. And then one day some stranger bursts in and, without so much as a by-your-leave, proceeds to tear down every wall you’ve built to keep those secrets hidden. Just to satisfy his libido.

As it happens, Helene is really Ilsa, the Baronness von Leppe, whom the Baron himself killed twenty years earlier when he returned unannounced from the war and found her with her lover, Eric. However, as Duvalier later discovers, even that isn’t the end of the story. Soon Katrina’s motives, Helene’s desire, and Stefan’s secrets are all revealed as the crypt beneath the castle floods, leaving the Baron with his guilt and his tortured soul.

THE TERROR? Only if you intend to make me sit through it again, because I will hurt you. It’s so hard to imagine this movie was made with any serious intent. Then again, it’s a Roger Corman movie, made on the heels of his movie THE RAVEN, using the same sets and actors, filmed in only a few days because, well, he had the sets and the actors for a few days more, why not shoot another movie?

The result answers that question for itself. THE TERROR is all the proof you need that, just because you’ve got the resources at hand, doesn’t mean you need to make a movie. What’s worse, there are FIVE directors credited with this movie (only Corman appears in the credits, but apparently he had help from Monte Hellman--now that’s a cool name, HELLMAN!--Jack Hill--one of the “writers” of this thing--as well as Jack Nicholson and friggin’ Francis Ford Coppola). Five directors? That’s gotta be some sort of typo, because I was hard pressed to find evidence of even one director. For large chunks of the movie, I got the feeling the cameraman hit record and sat back to have a sandwich and only happened to get a few shots of people running through a dry--and I mean DRY--read. This movie was obviously made before Nicholson had taken up acting, and apparently long after Karloff had given it up. Honestly, I half-expected the credits to be chock full of Alan Smithees. With FRANKENSTEIN and THE SHINING on their respective resumes, Karloff and Nicholson are horror legends. THE TERROR begs the question whether that’s a genre-wide distinction or just a case of these actors having happened to make two very popular horror movies, because there is absolutely no spark of greatness from either in this movie.

Nicholson’s Duvalier is not only wooden, but also a very unlikable character. He’s intrusive, arrogant, nosey. He spends the majority of the movie skulking around Castle von Leppe, going through rooms, searching every corner and cranny, even refusing to leave when he’s ordered to--TWICE!

And the dialogue these people spout. Sweet Christmas!

Here’s an excerpt I took from IMDB between Duvalier and Helene:

Helene: The crypt! It must be destroyed, and with it the dead.
Andre: Don't speak of the dead anymore. You're with me now.
Helene: I am possessed of the dead.
Andre: You're a warm living woman. Who has told you these things?
Helene: The dead.

Now read it again, only this time remove any indication of emotion or wakefulness and you’ll get a clue as to the delivery the actors gave. Try taking a valium before you read it, that ought to help.

I know better than to watch a Roger Corman movie with anything other than the least of expectations, but come on. At least CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA was funny, and it seemed intentional. THE TERROR’s not even that. It’s just 81 minutes of BOR-RING!!!

A horror classic? That depends on what kind of influence it may have had on what came after it. Considering it’s been said that even the crap is educational because it teaches you what not to do, then, sure I can see THE TERROR having some kind of influence; what filmmaker in their right mind would ever want to make something resembling this? However, if you’re talking honest horror genre influence, as in people saw it and, not only wanted more just like it, but wanted to be responsible for making it, then no, I can’t see that.



other Horror Classics
Carnival of Souls: http://www.epinions.com/content_403446140548
Atom Age Vampire: http://www.epinions.com/content_403512856196
Creature from the Haunted Sea: http://www.epinions.com/content_403596349060
Nightmare Castle: http://www.epinions.com/content_404037799556
Black Dragons: http://www.epinions.com/content_404796575364
The Invisible Ghost: http://www.epinions.com/content_405221379716
One Body Too Many: http://www.epinions.com/content_405861076612
White Zombie: http://www.epinions.com/content_405939326596
Attack of the Giant Leeches: http://www.epinions.com/content_409233493636
The Screaming Skull: http://www.epinions.com/content_414279896708
The Beast of Yucca Flats: http://www.epinions.com/content_414752214660



Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older