THE TERROR (1963) **1/2 Roger Corman finished shooting The Raven, and still had Boris Karloff under contract for three days. Delighted with his good fortune, he rushed home and wrote a "script" overnight. He may have, in fact, looking at the result, "written" it in five minutes. Jack Nicholson showed up to star, Boris was apparently too tired to do much, and Corman (or occasionally sidekick co-producer, uncredited sometimes-director Francis Ford Coppola) yelled "action," and improvisation ran wild. The Raven sets are, it has to be said, very cool, and this film more funny than frightening, but more than that-engaging. I mean, here's definitive proof that either (1) Jack Nicholson was not a born actor, or (2) Jack had such extraordinary insight into what Corman was doing that he (Jack) was already running parenthetical circles around it. Jack delivers his lines with affected haughty disdain, as if he was drunk and making fun of John Malkovich, and demands things "in the name of the government of France." He wears a single epaulet, and narrows his eyes as a reflex to the camera being aimed at him. He is (insists on being?) out-acted in every scene by Karloff (who only occasionally-but very suddenly-gains interest in the plot, often in mid-sentence), and Dick Miller. Only Sandra Knight plays to Jack's level, perhaps because he has impregnated her (in real life), or is about to (I forget which). Just when you're satisfied that the proceedings are under hand, as they head down the home stretch, they get to the part where Corman actually wrote some plot, which has confused reviewers throughout the ages. For the record, the plot does so make sense. What doesn't make sense is people insisting that a plot about witches and ghosts make sense.
back to Brilliant Observations on 1776 Films home
go back home, or send me email
no more reviews! I want to buy your novel!