The Terror (1963)

The Terror is more well-known as an example of Roger Corman's ability to churn out movies than for anything else.  While famous for the fact that it was made in four days, the truth was that it was only principle photography, which Corman directed, so that the sets from The Raven could be used as well as Boris Karloff in a main role.  In truth the movie took closer to six months to make, much longer than most Corman productions, as the rest was shot by second unit directors such as Jack Hill, Francis Ford Coppola and even star Jack Nicholson himself.

Lieutenant Andre Duvalier (Nicholson) is separated from his unit in 1806.  Exhausted and nearly dying of thirst, he happens upon a woman named Helene (Sandra Knight) who shows him where to get water and then, mysteriously, walks off into the sea.  Duvalier tries to follow her, but his exhaustion gets the best of him.  He wakes up in the home of a woman named Katrina (Dorothy Neumann) and her servant Gustaf (Jonathan Haze), who both deny there was such a woman.

However, after Helene appears again, Gustaf provides some information and points Andre in the direction of the castle inhabited by Baron Victor Frederick Von Leppe (Karloff) and his attendant Stefan (Dick Miller).  There he sees a portrait of the late Baroness Isabel Von Leppe who bears a striking resemblance to Helene.  It turns out that the Baron has some secrets and some regrets revolving around infidelity and the death of the Baroness, which Duvalier attempts to unravel.  He also tries to find out who Helene, whom he has fallen deeply in love with, truly is.

Because of the way this was made there are a lot of problems.  Leo Gordon wrote the script along with Roger Corman and Jack Hill, and often continuity within the story was not fixed.  Different dates are given on the portrait and on the tomb for Isabel's death, while Katrina's revenge plot against the Baron has the why explained but never has the how completely fleshed out, including why Helene is sometimes a falcon.  Karloff, getting up in years, was present for much of the initial filming, but Nicholson, Miller and Knight all had to return for different shoots at different times.  This is something Dick Miller pointed out as his skin tone and hair changes constantly throughout.

This is Jack Nicholson's first starring role and it is hard to gauge where his abilities were at the time.  He had been in bit parts in a number of Corman movies up to this time, most notably in The Little Shop of Horrors, where his acting seems much better than here.  I believe the reason is that lines were rewrote after filming was complete and had to be dubbed, meaning many of the readings are dull and often do not match what the actors are saying on screen. 

Despite all this The Terror isn't all that bad.  It's typical gothic horror, with old castles, degenerate nobles, dark secrets and the supernatural.  It has some great ideas, a nice score and a rather exciting finale, itself directed by Nicholson.  It also has some wonderful cinematography, some of it being an obvious copy of Mario Bava's style, as well as a number of memorable images.  The unfortunate thing is that this was pretty much a cheap way to make some money with leftover locations and film, so no one put the effort into it that went into the Poe adaptations Corman was doing at the time. 

The Terror (1963)

Time: 81 minutes

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Boris Karloff, Sandra Knight, Dick Miller

Directors: Roger Corman, Francis Ford Coppola, Jack Hale, Monte Hellman, Jack Hill, Dennis Jakob, Jack Nicholson