The Terror (1963)

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

Directors:

Roger Corman, Francis Ford Coppola (uncredited)

Writers:

Leo Gordon (screenplay), Jack Hill (screenplay)

Stars:

Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, Sandra Knight

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Boris Karloff	...	Baron Victor Frederick Von Leppe / Eric
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

Storyline

France, 18th century. Lieutenant Andre Duvalier (Jack Nicholson) has been accidentally separated from his regiment. He is wandering near the coast when he sees a young woman (Sandra Knight) and asks her for directions to Coldon, where he hopes to rejoin his regiment. But the woman doesn't answer, doesn't even greet him and walks away. Eventually she takes him towards the sea, where she disappears in rough water. Andre loses consciousness while trying to follow her, and is attacked by a bird and awakes in a house where an old woman (Dorothy Neumann) claims never to have seen the woman. After he leaves, he sees the woman again, and while trying to follow her, is saved by a man from certain death. Andre learns that in order to help the girl, he must go to castle of Baron Von Leppe (Boris Karloff), and when he arrives, Andre sees the woman looking out of a window. However, Baron Von Leppe is old and seems reluctant to let Andre in. He claims there's no woman in the castle, but shows Andre...

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Plot Keywords:

castle | body possession | transformation | dungeon | melting face | 

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Taglines:

"DRACULA"... "FRANKENSTEIN"... "HOUSE of WAX"... "PIT and the PENDULUM"... and now... The TERROR

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1964 (UK)

Also Known As:

Roger Corman's The Terror

Filming Locations:

Big Sur, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Roger Corman Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min 91 min (1990) (extended)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Boris Karloff's and Jack Nicholson's second film together.

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Goofs

In the opening scenes, Duvalier's chestnut horse has a small white mark (faint star) on its face. Later, when his horse bolts from the stable, its face marking is a wide white stripe.

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Quotes

Andre: One more question, Baron: has anyone else except yourself seen the spirit? Stefan, for instance.
Baron Victor Frederick Von Leppe: [smiling] You think I'm mad, don't you.
Andre: Right now, Baron, I'm not sure just what I think.
Baron Victor Frederick Von Leppe: Ah! But don't forget: *you* saw her, too. Perhaps we're both mad.

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Alternate Versions

The original UK cinema version was cut by the BBFC to remove closeup shots of a bleeding face after the bird attack and a shot of a woman's rotting face during the climax. All later releases are uncut.

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Connections

Referenced in Public Domain Horror VHS Art (2012)

User Reviews

The Movie is at Times a Terro

This is, at times, a decent effort to tell a story. But when budgets get into the mix, things fall apart. I believe this was Nicholson's first film. Roger Corman is the director and how the two hooked up, I don't know. What I do know is that there are so many plots and subplots and errant visuals that half the time we don't know what is going on. I decided years ago that I would watch Karloff and Nicholson do their individual things and not worry about being fulfilled cinematically. They are both classic muggers for the camera. This is a ghost/witch story with people dying and the wrong people accused of killing them and a crazy castle. On and on and on. The film, which is normal length, seems about five hours long.