The Terror....The Terror....

THE TERROR-1963-Andre Duvalle (Jack Nicholson),a French soldier lost on a beach meets the wistful Helene (Sandra Knight) who gives him water then runs with him along the shore. She walks into the ocean and Andre nearly drowns trying to rescue her (he's also attacked by a black bird). An old woman named Katrina (Dorothy Neuman) takes him in after he's saved her mute servant Gustav (Jonathan Haze). She also has a black bird name Helene. Later Andre follows the bird into the forest and finds the human Helene. They kiss and she power walks away. He follows her and is met by Gustav, who apparently can talk because he tells Andre that Helene is possessed and the only way the soldier can help her is by visiting the castle of Baron Von Leppe. Despite the old woman's warnings he sets out to find the castle and is almost killed by a rock slide. Upon first seeing the castle, she spies Helene at a window. Entering he meets the Baron (Boris Karloff; round of applause) who despite being most hospitable denies that Helene is there. The Baron shows Andre a picture of the Baroness (a dead ringer for Helene) and says she has been dead for 20 years. Andre is invited to stay the night and while in his bed he hears strange noises and a drawing he had made is ripped to shreds. The next day while visiting the Baroness' tomb he is confronted by Stephan (Dick Miller), the Baron's servant. When next they meet The Baron, under a threat from Andre, he relates the story how years before he met and married a village girl who became the Baroness and how he killed her and her lover, Eric. He believes that the girl is the ghost of the Baroness (actually named Ilsa). “Perhaps we are both mad?”.

Stephen discovers the old woman's secret: she summoned Helene/Ilsa from the sea. There's some talk about the mysterious lover, Eric and Stephan wants to kill Andre but the Baron won't allow it. Andre decides to leave but Gustav signals him to stay and has his eyes torn out by the black bird. He falls to his death but manages to speak his last words to Andre: “Go back...”. Back at the castle he meets Helene and they kiss again. At night, Andre follows the Baron into the family crypt. It seems Ilsa wants Van Leppe to flood the castle so they can be together. When Andre meets Katrina in the cemetery she reveals that she is using Helene to drive Van Leppe to suicide because the Baron killed her son, Eric, Llsa's lover. But it turns out Stephen actually killed the Baron and Eric took Van Leppe's place in mind and body! After Katrina is burned up by lightening, Andre and Stephen try to stop Baron Eric from flooding the castle. They tussle in the flood waters. Stephen tries to save the phony Baron but they both drown. Andre saves Helene and takes her away from the castle (“You're free now”). They kiss and she rots away.

For this AIP quickie Roger Corman shot all the principal scenes featuring Karloff in four days then turned it over to second unit directors consisting of Francis Ford Coppola, Monte Hellman, Jack Hill and Nicholson. The sets were re-used from Corman's previous Poe film THE RAVEN (with Karloff & Nicholson). The story (scripted by Jack Hill and actor Leo Gordon) is confusing at times and there are several lapses in logic and continuity but at least from a personal standpoint it's an enjoyable little mess. It's funny the way the plot changes several times but Karloff and Nicholson keep it afloat. No pun intended as there is a flood scene.

  THE TERROR fell into the public domain years ago and used to be on TV constantly. It's had three dozen video releases. I've read that years later Corman filmed a new intro with Dick Miller to make the movie seem like a flashback and thus own a copyright version! Not sure if this is true though.

Nicholson and co-star Sandra Knight (still alive at the time of this writing) were married at the time. She appeared earlier in FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER.

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