The Terror (1963)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Roger Corman

Writers:

Leo Gordon (screenplay) and
Jack Hill (screenplay)

Release Date:

16 May 1964 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

There's No Rest For The Wicked...

Plot:

A young officer in Napoleon's army pursues a mysterious woman to the castle of an elderly Baron.

Plot Keywords:

Castle | Sea | Bird | Horse | Extramarital Affair

Cast

Boris Karloff	...	Baron Victor Frederick Von Leppe
Jack Nicholson	...	Lt. Andre Duvalier
Sandra Knight	...	Helene / Ghost of Ilsa The Baroness Von Leppe
Dick Miller	...	Stefan (as Richard Miller)
Dorothy Neumann	...	Katrina, Witch / Eric's Mother
Jonathan Haze	...	Gustaf
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rick Dean

Also Known As:

Lady of the Shadows (USA) (working title)
Roger Corman's The Terror (USA) (uncensored intended title)
Roger Corman's The Terror: Original Uncut Version (USA) (alternative title)
The Castle of Terror
The Haunting (USA) (TV title)

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (cut) (1964) | Iceland:16 | Netherlands:12 | Finland:K-15 (uncut) (2009) | Australia:PG | UK:12 (DVD rating) (2002) | UK:15 (video rating) (1986) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Big Sur, California, USA

Company:

Filmgroup, The

Trivia:

Dennis Jakob doubled for Boris Karloff during the climactic castle flood.

Goofs:

Continuity: Karloff has stark white hair throughout, though his stunt double in the water at the climax has black hair.

Quotes:

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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "E! True Hollywood Story: Jack Nicholson" (2005)

L'amour fou (Perhaps we're both mad!)

Legend has it that Roger Corman filmed The Terror over a frantic four-day period; the truth is rather more interesting, as it undoubtedly contributed to the film's remarkable, incomparable, mesmerizing texture. After production wrapped on The Raven, Corman had Karloff, Nicholson, and the Raven's sets for four remaining days, so he hurriedly shot what he could before the walls came down and his stars departed. He then dispatched various acolytes, including Francis Coppola, Dennis Jakoub, Monte Hellman, Jack Hill, and Nicholson himself to produce enough footage to make The Terror into a complete feature. The result is a unique, fascinating, intensely visual and cinematic experiment that makes Corman's previous Poe adaptations look overly literary, plot-laden, and dialog-bound. The Terror may not be very logical, and its story will not withstand much scrutiny, but the film succeeds as a feverish nightmare of obsession and mad love. The photography, especially of the Big Sur locations, and of the fog bound studio cemetery sets, has an intense eerie romantic beauty, and Ronald Stein's remarkable score underscores The Terror's uncanny equation of desire and death. Is it cheap? Yes. Are there mistakes and screw ups? Sure. Does the continuity falter? Absolutely. None of this matters. The Terror is extraordinary in its palpable dream-like intensity. Oh, and by the way: an elderly, sick, practically crippled Boris Karloff, who could have easily tossed this off as an imposition, is terrific as always and a wonder to behold.