Title: The Terror (aka The Haunting)
Director: Roger Corman
Actors: Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, Sandra Knight, Dick Miller
Certificate: 12
Duration: 80 minutes
Released: 16th August 2010-08-24
Format: DVD
Originally released in 1963 – The Terror (also known as The Haunting) is now available on Pegasus DVD.
The year is 1786. A young, weary, disillusioned French soldier Lt. Andre Duvalier (Jack Nicholson) has been separated from his regiment. He rides his horse along a deserted stretch of coastline. A beautiful woman named Helene (Sandra Knight) appears and offers him water. They talk and laugh together. Suddenly she walks into the sea to be washed away by the rough waves. He jumps into the water to try to find and save her but is strangely attacked by a bird of prey. He can not find the woman and is overcome by the bird’s attack. He wakes to find himself in a cabin in the woods being tended to by an old woman named Katrina (Dorothy Neumann). He awakes and asks about the young woman named Helene but the old woman says that there is no one of that name who lives here or nearby. Later he sees the young woman for a second time and is relieved that she was not killed by the waves. She leads him towards quicksand and he starts to wonder if she is trying to kill him. Gustav the man that lives with Katrina says that the girl is under a spell.
Duvalier begins to think that the Baron Victor Frederick Von Leppe (Boris Karloff)
who lives in the castle on the cliffs above the sea could be to blame and confronts him. Is there a dark, mysterious secret within the castle? Is Katrina, the old lady, really a witch? Who is the mysterious Helene?
The print of the film has obviously been badly damaged over the years since the original release of this year. The print is ravaged by artefacts, dirt, tears, burns and all sorts of other imperfections. But do try to overcome this, beneath the imperfections you will find a gem of a film. We may have advanced greatly since 1963 with special effects, and filming techniques, as well as now having high definition films on offer to us but the imperfections here imbue the film with a sense of history and realness. You can have all the special effects and increased definition you like but those things will never make a bad story into a great film. What we have here is an, albeit damaged print, of a fantastic film with a brilliant storyline and great performances from genuine stars of the silverscreen in the form of Boris Karloff and Jack Nicholson, directed by one of the finest horror directors ever known – Roger Corman.
The Terror is highly recommended viewing.
