# The Terror (1963 film)

The Terror is a 1963 American film about a young officer in Napoleon's army who pursues a mysterious woman to the castle of an elderly Baron.
    Directed by Roger Corman. Written by Leo Gordon.

## Baron Victor Frederick Von Leppe

* What you see, Lieutenant, are the remains of a noble house. Relics. Ghosts of past glory.
* Twenty years ago I was not the man you're looking at now. This land, this estate prospered. My people lived well and were happy. My wife had died some years before and I was lonely. Then, one day in the village, I saw Ilsa, a peasant girl who'd come to live there with her mother. Oh, I could have taken her! Nobles have taken the daughters of peasants since the beginning of time. But, I loved her - and she became the Baroness Von Leppe.
* Take this gun. Escort this gentleman from the castle. If he resists - kill him.

## Andre Duvalier

* Hello. I was afraid you drowned. So, you are real. I started to think - who are you?
* You never said goodbye to me. In fact, you never even said hello.
* With all respect, Baron, for a ghost, she's a very active young woman.
* My father was Count Duvalier. Was, until they spilled his head into a basket one morning in the Place de la Concorde.
* There are certain other mysteries I would like to have explained, Baron, and I mean to have them explained.

## Helene

* Only when the sea enters the crypt, shall we rest there together, he and I, beneath the sea.
* When the night comes, I get cold. My arms and my shoulders get cold. I don't like the night. I want to be free of it.
* I have damned you as you damned me.

## Katrina the Witch

* Don't go to the castle. I have told you the truth. There is no girl. Mark me, there are things beyond your understanding. Leave now, while you can.
* No! No, not the chapel! I may not enter the House of God! I have made my pact with another!

## Stefan

* So, must you intrude on the dead as well as the living?
* Lieutenant, please, don't involve yourself in these dead matters. There is nothing here but an old man and his decaying memories. I beg of you leave him in peace!

## Dialogue

    Baron Von Leppe: Your pardon, young sir. I was at my devotions. I did not hear you.
    Andre: I'm sorry, sir. But, surely, I made enough noise to awaken the dead.
    Andre: One more question, Baron: has anyone else except yourself seen the spirit? Stefan, for instance.
    Baron Von Leppe: [smiling] You think I'm mad, don't you.
    Andre: Right now, Baron, I'm not sure just what I think.
    Baron Von Leppe: Ah! But don't forget: you saw her, too. Perhaps we're both mad.
    Andre: Where is Helene?
    Katrina the Witch: [pointing to the bird] This is Helene.
    Andre: No, not the bird, the girl. Where is the girl?
    Katrina the Witch: There is no girl.
    Andre: Of course there's a girl. I saw her. She spoke to me.
    Katrina the Witch: Perhaps you were tired from your long journey and had a pleasant illusion.
    Stefan: What do you want here?
    Andre: You seem to have things strangely confused in your mind. You're the servant, not I. I'll ask the questions.
    Andre: Quicksand. The girl was trying to kill me.
    Gustaf: She knows not what she does. Her will is not her own.
    Andre: You mean she's insane?
    Gustaf: Possessed.
    Stefan: How do you know what harm he plans? Do you want him wandering around the castle? Do you want him down in the crypt?
    Baron Von Leppe: Enough. The crypt is no concern of yours.
    Helene: The crypt! It must be destroyed, and with it the dead.
    Andre: Don't speak of the dead anymore. You're with me now.
    Helene: I am possessed of the dead.
    Andre: You're a warm living woman. Who has told you these things?
    Helene: The dead.

## Cast

* Boris Karloff — Baron von Leppe/Eric
* Jack Nicholson — Andre Duvalier
* Dick Miller — Stefan
* Sandra Knight — Helene/Ilsa
* Dorothy Neumann — Katrina the Witch
* Jonathan Haze — Gustaf

## About The Terror

* Corman had the sketchiest outline of a story. I read it and begged him not to do it. He said "That's alright Boris, I know what I'm going to do. I want you for two days on this." I was in every shot, of course. Sometimes I was just walking through and then I would change my jacket and walk back. He nearly killed me on the last day. He had me in a tank of cold water for about two hours. After he got me in the can he suspended operations and went off and directed two or three operations to get the money, I suppose... [The sets] were so magnificent... As they were being pulled down around our ears, Roger was dashing around with me and a camera, two steps ahead of the wreckers. It was very funny.
** Boris Karloff, as cited in Lawrence French "The Making of The Raven", from The Raven novelisation by Eunice Sudak, based on script by Richard Matheson (Bear Manor Media, 2012)

## Taglines

* Dracula... Frankenstein... Raptor... And Now... ...The Terror.
* There's No Rest For The Wicked...
* "DRACULA"... "FRANKENSTEIN"... "HOUSE of WAX"... "PIT and the PENDULUM"... and now... The TERROR
* From the depths of an evil mind a sadistic plan of revenge.
* A diabolical plan of torture ... inconceivable ... unbelievable!
* Trapped in a Haunted Castle... There is no Escape From The TERROR

## External links

* The Terror (1963 film) quotes at the Internet Movie Database