Roger Corman’s 1963 thriller The Terror–the king of public domain–has been on VHS and DVD for decades. Now, the film is finally getting the royal treatment: Transferred from 35mm archival film elements, it will be available on Blu-ray May 31 from The Film Detective (distributed by Allied Vaughn).
“After years of sub-par versions, The Film Detective brings ‘The Terror’ to the screen as it’s never been seen before, fully restored from 35mm archival material in its original aspect ratio,” says film historian Phil Hopkins, owner of The Film Detective. “I think fans will be thrilled with the unparalleled quality of this Blu-ray release, not only visually but by the impact of the soundtrack.”
Famous for being one of Jack Nicholson’s earliest film roles, The Terror was shot on sets remaining from the shoot of the iconic horror film The Haunted Palace. Although officially credited to Corman, The Terror had a total of five collaborative directors, including Nicholson himself and Francis Ford Coppola.
We offer a sneak peek. In 18th century France, Lt. Andre Duvalier (played by Nicholson), an officer in Napoleon’s army, has been separated from his regiment. Wandering near the coast, he spies a young woman (Sandra Knight) and calls out to her. When she fails to acknowledge, he follows her into the dark surf and strangely loses consciousness. He awakens in a house tended by an old woman, Katrina (Dorothy Neumann), who claims not to know the mysterious lady. On his way once again, Andre comes upon the castle of Baron Victor Frederick Von Leppe (Boris Karloff). There he learns that the girl is in fact the spirit of the Baron’s late wife, being used as a pawn by the witchy Katrina who is bent on driving the elderly Baron to suicide. Also starring Dick Miller as Stefan, married in real-life to Knight (who portrays the ghost of Ilsa, the Baroness Von Leppe), who was visibly pregnant with their daughter during filming.
