The Terror

Shipwrecked Lieutenant Andre Duvalier (Jack Nicholson) stumbles across a beautiful woman on the beach who calls herself Helene. Later, no one claims to have ever seen her and just as mysteriously as she appeared, she disappears into the sea. He travels to the Castle of Baron Von Leppe where he meets Frederick Von Leppe (Boris Karloff), who informs Duvalier that Helene was his wife, the Baroness Von Leppe who has been dead for 20 years. It’s revealed that Helene is acting in obeyance to an old witch intent on revenge against the Baron and only Andre can free her from the spell. This was the third collaboration between Jack Nicholson and Roger Corman (Little shop of horrors, The Raven), the first with Nicholson in the lead role and features the usual Corman tenets of a busty female lead, skeletons in the closet and cut price special effects. A touch of “The Birds” is evident, with birds circling ominously and providing a tangible link between the witch and her puppet Helene. Cast includes: Sandra Knight, Richard Miller, Dorothy Neumann.