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The Terror
[AIP]
1963; color
Directed by Roger Corman
Starring: Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, Sandra Knight, Dick Miller, Dorothy Neumann & Jonathan Haze
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Back when I was a little Kommandant, The Terror would have been exactly the kind of movie I would have seen on a Saturday afternoon on "Dr. Shock's Horror Theater" or "Creature Double Feature" (both longtime staples of '60s and '70s UHF-TV in Philly)—in fact, about ten minutes into it, I realized I actually did see this on TV when I was about 9 or 10. Set in the early 1800s, and again milking the most mileage possible out of by-now-classic stock footage of waves crashing on the shore and lightning over "Castle Corman" (the ubiquitous castle set that appears in so many of RC's horror films from the late '50s and early '60s), the action centers around Baron von Lipp (Boris Karloff), a French soldier named Andre (Jack Nicholson), and a mysterious woman named Ilsa (Sandra Knight). We learn that Andre has been separated from his platoon (and wandering on horseback at the ocean's shore for some time, as evidenced by the not-quite-five-o'clock-shadow he's sporting); we learn this because it's what he tells a mysterious brunette who calls herself Helene as she leads him to fresh water. And then, as mysteriously as she appeared, Helene disappears into the incoming tide—much to the chagrin of Andre, who runs after her only to be overcome by raging waves and an aerial attack from a menacing falcon. Andre awakens in the ramshackle cottage of an old woman, who also happens to be the owner of said falcon—whose name is Helene. Spooky. From the get-go you can tell she's up to something; something dark and alchemical at the very least. He asks her about the girl, and she adamantly insists there was no girl—so much so that it provokes Andre's interest in her even more and he starts exploring the area that evening to find her. (She only appears at night of course.) The old woman has a hired hand-type hanging around, who tries to relate to Andre on the sly that the key to the girl lies in Castle von Lipp. Andre makes his way to the castle, where the Baron doesn't exactly lay out the welcome mat. When Andre relates the story of the girl to him, the Baron also insists there is no girl. The Baron and his servant, Stefan (Dick Miller; looking extra New York-y and curiously out of place in this period picture), are the sole inhabitants of the castle, and the Baron hasn't ventured outside since the death of his wife some 20 years ago. Curiously enough, the portrait of said dead wife, Ilsa, is a spitting image for the girl Andre's been trying to track down in the forests around the castle. The Baron is less than pleased to hear that, but reluctantly agrees to let Andre spend the night. One night turns into a few as he delves deeper and deeper into the mysteries of the Baron and Ilsa, only to eventually find out she's a possessed, tormented soul who can only be at peace once he frees her. At the same time, she's also been visiting the Baron and laying the same lines down to him. Is she playing both sides against each other or is she even in control in the first place? Only the old woman knows for sure, and when she learns a HUGE secret only Stefan and the Baron know, her world is turned upside-down and she soon ends up on the wrong end of a lightning bolt. Meanwhile, the Baron, Ilsa and Stefan are in a brawl in the crypt beneath the castle, which is being flooded by incoming sea water. Andre jumps into the fray, and in the end we're left with one puzzled survivor and one rapidly melting corpse. Who lives and who melts? You'll have to revisit this classic (or take it in for the first time) to find out.
—the Kommandant
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