Distinctively Named

The Terror (1963)? Congrats to the directors on making the most generic horror title (yes, five directors shot this in four days). Well, what first peaked my interest in this movie was the unusual cast. An old Boris Karloff and a young Jack Nicholson taking the lead roles. Weird to be sure, and probably the only reason to watch it. Now don't think I outright hated The Terror, but after the awe of seeing those legendary actors together you're left with just a boring story. Never have I had my forty winks during a movie, and this coming from the guy who was enthralled by every moment of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Granted, before watching I had just got back from an exam and a dull chemistry lecture. Maybe if I had started refreshed I would've lasted ten more minutes. But in the end I watched all of it. It just took longer than I thought it would.

So a lost Napoleon officer Andre (played by Nicholson) is weary from wandering around. He finds a woman named Helene and she gives him some fresh water. She starts walking into the sea and Andre chases after her only to get attacked by a angry hawk. Just go with it for now. After being rescued again by another woman (a little older this time) and tells him there was no Helene. Curiously enough the pet bird of hers is named Helene. Well Andre leaves a bit frustrated and comes across a large manor. Take a guess who lives there. Boris Karloff of course. Really you should have known that. And again Andre sees Helene and again he's told he's seeing things by the Baron (Karloff) this time. The rest of the movie has Andre searching the mystery behind the ghost lady.

Right, it stars Jack Nicholson, but the reason you haven't heard of it before is probably due to the fact that Jack wasn't near his prime yet. He delivers lines and that's about it. Sometimes he can even be early. But he's not the biggest problem here. Remember when I mentioned how many directors took the reigns to this mess? That probably didn't help. Scenes change in choppy fashion. And the story itself feels like they made it up as they went along. Actually, according to another review that's basically what happened. Towards the last thirty minutes so many twists and pure randomness just had me laughing. So the beginning's a bore and the end is ridiculous. If you know what you're getting into or just want to see the start of Nicholson's career or the winding down of Karloff's it might be worth a watch.