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A Disappointing Continuation

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

The movie is boring, but Ross Martin is good as the mysterious psychopath who terrorizes Lee Remick. He threatens her t-out the movie to kill her teenager sister. His character made Robert Mitchum's Max Cady in Cape Fear look like a mouse; He should've been nominated for an Oscar that year. It had good performances by the cast; but it not your typical fast-paced suspense.

EXPERIMENT IN TERROR is a classic if there ever was one. Director Blake Edwards is excellent in keeping an audience tense and at the edge of their seats. Kelly Sherwood(Lee Remick)is a very nice looking bank teller that is forced into embezzling a cool $100,000 by an asthmatic psychopath. Miss Sherwood is confused at first and then the terror sets in, when the mysterious man threatens to kidnap her sister, Toby(Stefanie Powers),and use her as collateral. Kelly tries to stay calm, but terror hits the ceiling when the gasping for breath 'Red' Lynch(Ross Martin) threatens to kill the young sister. The terrorized bank teller decides to take a chance with getting in touch with the F.B.I. and agent John Ripley(Glenn Ford), will race with the clock to find Toby and catch the blackmailer before matters get worse.Filmed in San Francisco and making good use of iconic locales. There is very little time to realize this is a suspenseful two hour long movie. Ford is an acclaimed veteran of the screen, but Miss Remick is the star of this thriller. She is easy on the eyes and convincing in her bravery and vulnerability. Martin makes for a much feared and dark villain. And the music of Henry Mancini is haunting. In support are: Ned Glass, Clifton James, Roy Poole and Patricia Huston.

Fine b/w thriller with noir leanings is very well shot including some stunning sequences, not least the opening credits, first scene and last sequence and plenty more in between. Sure, today this would have been speeded up a little with 20 minutes or so shorn, but this is 1962, as witnessed by the cars and fashions, so we have what we have. Tense and surprisingly bold and edging towards a grubbiness at times, this is well worth seeing and has clearly been well seen by makers of subsequent movies. Reference has been made to David Lynch and you will smile when you see the street sign and hear the character surname, but not any really substantial influence, I would have thought. Lee Remick has made very many films but apart from The Omen, this is probably the only one I've seen. Very good she is too, in the difficult, constantly harassed, role.

When I saw that this was directed by Blake Edwards and with music by Henri Mancini, I was a bit worried but things turned out OK. Edwards works wholly within the established conventions of the film noir genre and he is very competently supported by camera and lighting work. There is no brilliant innovation but everyone definitely knows what they are doing. Mancini's music is completely appropriate and as good as one could ask for. Thus, if you are studying film noir and how to produce such films, this is a good representative technical example. In 1962, the elements, however well executed must have been very familiar to its audience. However, if you are coming to it without having seen many others, it will grab you. In fact, the opening scene will grab anyone. The various elements work very well and the viewer is pulled right in. However, the strength of that opening scene is one of the reasons the film falls short of a top rating. Great suspense and sense of threat is created there but it cannot be sustained. Instead of building to a crescendo, we are dropped solidly into the deep water but allowed to meander our way to the shallows until we emerged relatively relaxed at the end. The film does throw in twists and turns that keep you guessing at times but the level of tension ebbs away. The contrast with other films of this type that succeed in genuinely having you on pins-and-needles toward the end is strong. One of the reasons for that could be that we see Ford and his FBI colleagues so numerous and well mobilized on the case. Much of the film consists of their earnest investigations and support of the intended victims. We thereby get the sense that they will inevitably prevail. We also see Ross Martin's villain as multifaceted and not as all-threatening as he might be despite the very convincing start up. The acting as noted by others is good from top to bottom and in the case of Martin, top notch. If we could only get that more often today!!