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THE TERROR (1963)
Director: Roger Corman
Film Chest/Virgil Films and Entertainment/Cultra

As Hollywood legend goes, Roger Corman had just finished filming THE RAVEN and had a few days left over with star Boris Karloff. For an additional fee (reportedly $30,000), Corman utilized the actor's services (after Vincent Price had to turn him down due to an art tour) in which he shot most of the interiors on Harry Reif’s still-standing impressive sets. Corman then employed a number of up-and-coming filmmakers to breathe life into the project (which concluded within three months of shoots) and the rest is history. THE TERROR now makes its long-awaited High Definition debut on Blu-ray (along with an accompanying DVD mastered from the same elements), so read on.

During the days of Napoleon, young French lieutenant Andre Duvalier (Jack Nicholson) is traveling along the rocky shoreline of the Baltic Sea. Making his way to the castle hovering over the water, his constant pounding on the entrance doors summons the lord of the manor, the aged Baron Frederick Eric von Leppe (Boris Karloff). Duvalier faces the daunting task of attempting to find the spectral raven beauty he encountered on the coast, a woman who introduced herself as Helene (Sandra Knight, FRANKENSTEIN’S DAUGHTER). The reclusive Baron denies that such a woman still lives, despite Duvalier again spotting her in one of the castle’s windows and just about every where else he roams. A painting in the Baron’s den is the spitting image of the woman, but it assumed to be his late wife, who is supposed to be buried in a crypt down below. Living in a hut just outside the castle, an old crone (Dorothy Neumann, who also played a witch in Corman’s THE UNDEAD) knows more than she lets on to, and might have a personal reason for getting revenge on the old Baron.

The plot of THE TERROR goes something like that, if you want to call it a plot. The screenplay is credited to Jack Hill and actor Leo Gordon, the latter who scribed most of the interior scenes to be shot with Karloff in a matter of days. Corman filled in some of the other storyline gaps, as probably did the other uncredited directors: Francis Ford Coppola (who also served as associate producer), Monte Hellman (credited as “location” director), Jack Hill, Dennis Jakob (Karloff’s unconvincing stunt double during the climatic flood scene) and lastly, Nicholson, who got to direct his then-pregnant wife Knight.

With so many different talents involved in the shoot, which took place in a number of locations (including Big Sur, doubling as the Baltic Sea) and utilized the expensive-looking art direction by the gifted Daniel Haller, visually, the film is consistent with mythical and storybook-like qualities. And although the plot uses a number of clichés and any reasoning to bridge one scene with another, the outcome is not all that bad, with the film being a minor, albeit legendary, companion piece to Corman’s more celebrated Poe cycle. Some may criticize Corman for squeezing the most out of the aging icon, but Boris agreed to stay on and he did get paid, even though THE TERROR has become more recognized for the inside-story, rather than the plot (or the lack of) or the resulting film itself.

Karloff has a significant amount of screen time, delivering his dialogue with his usual sinister gusto, and no one makes rotating wall candles to reveal a secret passageway as good as he does, and he does a lot of that kind of thing here. Casting Nicholson as a French soldier in a gothic, period setting is almost at bad as Coppola sticking Keanu Reeves in his “Dracula” film decades later, so the soon-to-be major star seems as lost as his character is (“I was absurd”, King Jack later exclaimed). Although Nicholson struggles to pull off most of his dialog as to not make it sound like he’s walking around in 1963 LA, he’s actually fun to watch once you just go with it, and his scenes with Karloff are at least memorable. Corman/AIP regulars Jonathan Haze and Dick Miller (here billed more properly as “Richard”) have a slightly easier time pulling off convincing performances. With his New York accent in tow, Miller plays the Baron’s servant and his character has the responsibility of explaining the plot to Nicholson, as well as the audience. Haze has a much smaller part, that of a soft-spoken dimwit, and his character's eye mutilation (very gory for 1963) by a large hovering bird is a highlight.

Like most of the titles released by AIP under The Filmgroup production company banner, THE TERROR has been in the public domain for years, spawning countless VHS and DVD releases from various budget outfits (it’s still difficult to go into a supermarket or drug store and not see a copy for sale stashed in a media bin). Now issued as a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack, Film Chest and Virgil Films have now restored THE TERROR from original 35mm elements, and it’s a delight to behold. Not seeing the recent MGM HD transfer shown on their own HD channel, I can’t make a comparison, but this Blu-ray release is quite a revelation. The 1080p widescreen (1.78:1) presentation shows off this gem in a miraculously clean transfer, brimming with sharp detail and colors which you never would have thought existed based on past washed-out home video releases. The transfer brings to life deep blue skies and rich textures in the choppy ocean, and many of the interior scenes (as well as outdoor scenes for that matter) take on an almost three-dimensional quality. Even the film’s numerous low-lit and day-for-night sequences come off well in this presentation. The clear English-langauge audio comes in both 5.1 and mono tracks (Ronald Stein's trance-like score sound terrific on both) and optional Spanish subtitles are included. An anamorphic widescreen DVD of the same transfer (along with the same features) is also included in this combo pack.

The supplements are a trailer (a short demo trailer rather than the original theatrical one), a brief restoration comparison (you can really see how marked up the materials were before they got a major facelift), as well as an insert postcard depicting THE TERROR’s original poster art. Even though the package is short on extras, a more than pleasing and definitive transfer makes this the version of THE TERROR you’ll want to own, even if you don’t have a Blu-ray player yet (since even the standard DVD looks great). Highly recommended. (George R. Reis)

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