TheLittleSongbird Review of The Terror

The Terror (1963)

Worth seeing for Karloff, the sets and music, but disjointed and dull

[4/10 · 19 August 2012]

I do like this genre, it has been growing on me all the time and you can rarely go wrong with genre giants like Vincent Price, Bela Lugosi, Peter Cushing and of course Boris Karloff. The Terror I was expecting to be a good, interesting curio at least, even if flawed. I am a fan of Karloff, and would see anything with him in, and Jack Nicholson has done a lot of stuff I've liked, loved even. The Terror however was disappointing. It has a very disjointed and sometimes confusing story, the ending especially makes no sense and feels like it was part of another movie altogether. The terror and atmosphere just isn't there either, anything suspenseful comes across as predictable instead and the horror elements are tame even by today's standards. It doesn't help that the pacing is so sluggish either, or that it felt constantly that there were too many directors involved. The script has no flow and doesn't leave the actors much to do, and the lighting manages to be too dark and too garish. The acting I didn't care for, Jack Nicholson looks young and dapper but is surprisingly and disappointingly amateurish. Sandra Knight is pretty but uninvolving and while Dick Miller is a nice presence you'd wish he had more to do. There are redeeming qualities however. The sets do look appropriately Gothic, the castle especially while not much new is brooding. The music is wonderfully dramatic, and two performances are decent. Dorothy Neumann's material doesn't amount to much but she is a good presence as the Witch. The best asset of The Terror is Boris Karloff, who is imposing and incredibly magnetic in a type of role he is perfect for. Overall, didn't do very much for me but a sort of watchable curio. 4/10 Bethany Cox