Jack Nicholson stars alongside Boris Karloff as a French soldier that fell behind his squad on the Baltic Coast. He comes across a mysterious and beautiful woman and almost drowns chasing her into the ocean. He’s rescued by an old woman who denies that the girl even exists. After another encounter with the woman, he is told to go to the Baron’s Castle to learn more. Jack invites himself to stay at The Baron’s (Karloff) Castle and begins to investigate. He could never be prepared for what he learns.
The Terror had an infamously chaotic production history. Produced and directed by Roger Corman to take advantage of old sets used for Edgar Allen Poe adaptations. Corman paid Karloff to film for 3 days. All of Karloff’s scenes were done in that span of time. The movie was so incomplete when editing began, that more scenes with Nicholson had to be shot in closeup (the sets had since been destroyed)just to explain the plot. Other complications prevented Corman from directing the rest of the film after Karloff’s scenes. It went through 4 other directors before it was completed included Francis Ford Coppola and Jack Nicholson himself!
So surely a movie with both Nicholson and Karloff can be saved through their incredible performances. That’s not totally the case here. Nicholson is young and his career is still in it’s infancy. His performance isn’t bad, but it isn’t memorable or great in any way. Jack’s best work was ahead of him. Karloff is at the opposite end of his career. He’s the best part of the movie. Yet, his best work is behind him and you can tell he’s not fond of the script. He probably didn’t even know the whole story. It doesn’t seem like Corman even did.
The troubled production unsurprisingly shows in the final product. The story is a mess. The ending is an onslaught of plot twists that could leave one scratching their head. One aspect where it succeeds is atmosphere. Thanks in no small part to the leftover sets. There’s a reason why Corman wanted to reuse them. So if you’re just looking for a movie with that classic horror vibe to put on in the background, The Terror would work. It may also be worth a watch just out of interest in the intersecting of two legendary acting careers. Just don’t expect a forgotten horror classic.
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