The Terror/Little Shop of Horrors – Film Masters (DVD)

Theatrical Release Dates: USA, 1963 (The Terror), USA, 1960 (The Little Shop of Horrors)
Director: Roger Corman (Both Films)
Cast: Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, Sandra Knight, Dick Miller, Dorothy Neumann, Jonathan Haze (The Terror), Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles, Dick Miller, Myrtle Vail, Karyn Kupcinet, Toby Michaels, Leola Wendorff, Lynn Storey, Wally Campo, Jack Warford, Meri Welles, John Herman Shaner, Jack Nicholson, Dodie Drake (The Little Shop of Horrors)

Release Date: December 12th, 2023
Approximate Running Times: 79 Minutes 10 Seconds (The Terror), 72 Minutes 43 Seconds (The Little Shop of Horrors)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen (Both Films)
Rating: NR
Sound: Dolby Digital Mono English (Both Films)
Subtitles: English SDH (Both Films)
Region Coding: Region 0 NTSC
Retail Price: $19.95

"Corman's Gothic, spooky side is on display in The Terror, an atmospheric horror tale of a French soldier whose encounter with a ghostly woman leads him to a mysterious castle full of dark secrets. The pairing of a youthful Jack Nicholson as the soldier and veteran Boris Karloff as the castle's owner make The Terror a memorable example of Corman's mid-sixties Goth period. Though Corman is credited as director, several others took a turn behind the camera, including Nicholson himself, Monte Hellman, and Francis Ford Coppola.

Meanwhile, Corman's more whimsical side is on display in The Little Shop of Horrors. This legendary cult film features a bumbling florist's assistant who creates a giant plant that happens to crave human blood. The usual Corman stock company is on hand, including Jonathan Haze and Dick Miller, plus a cameo by Nicholson as a dental patient with a high threshold for pain." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.5/5 (The Terror, Little Shop of Horrors)

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "New HD restoration from 35mm archival materials".

The Terror comes of a dual layer DVD.

Disc Size: 7.1 GB

The Terror is a film that has never looked great on home video, and though this new transfer is still not without its own shortcomings, it is a marked improvement over all of The Terror’s previous home video releases.

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "Restored HD print".

Little Shop of Horrors comes of a dual layer DVD.

Disc Size: 5 GB

Little Shop of Horrors is another marginalized title when it comes to its previous home video releases. Fortunately, this transfer is a step in the right direction; it is easily the best Little Shop of Horrors has ever looked on home video.

Audio: 3.5/5 (The Terror, Little Shop of Horrors)

Each film comes with one audio option, a Dolby Digital mono mix in English. Both audio tracks sound clean, clear, and balanced. Range-wise, both tracks do a good job handling ambient sounds and their scores. Both films come with removable English subtitles.

Extras:

Extras for The Terror include 2023 recut trailer (1 minute 56 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), a video essay about The Terror by Howard S. Berger and Kevin Marr titled Ghosts in the Machine: Art & Artifice in Roger Corman's Celluloid Castle, and an audio commentary with C. Courtney Joyner and Dr. Steve Haberman with optional English SDH.

Extras for Little Shop of Horrors include 2023 recut trailer (1 minute 28 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), a featurette titled Hollywood Intruders: The Filmgroup Story: Part Two (17 minutes 13 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH), and an audio commentary with Justin Humphreys and actor Jonathan Haze with optional English SDH.

Other extras include a 24-page booklet with an essay titled Boris Karloff and the Long Shadow of Poe written by C. Courtney Joyner, and an essay titled Faster! Faster! written by Mark McGee.

Summary:

The Terror: A French army officer separated from his unit ends up at a castle after being directed there by a mysterious woman that resembles the baron’s dead wife.

Roger Corman made a name for himself in the 1950s and 1960s churning out low-budget films, mostly horror films which often exceeded the sums of their parts. And though he was a master of maximizing resources, there are instances of films he worked on that their limitations shine though. Case in point: The Terror, a film that reportedly as many as six other filmmakers worked on besides Roger Corman.

If you go into The Terror looking for an easy to digest narrative then you will be sorely disappointed. Despite the basic elements being well-defined, the execution of said elements is another story. That said, most of these shortcomings can be blamed on The Terror’s multiple directors trying to fashion one cohesive story. The main draw of The Terror is seeing Jack Nicholson (Chinatown) in an early role, and the ever reliable horror icon Boris Karloff (Bride of Frankenstein) in the role of Baron Victor Frederick Von Leppe. Ultimately, what The Terror lacks in narrative it more than makes up for with its abundance of atmosphere.

Little Shop of Horrors: A nebbish flower shop employee brings to life a carnivorous plant that forces him to feed flesh and blood in order to survive.

Made in only 2 days for about $28,000 Little Shop of Horrors is a textbook example of Roger Corman’s ability to maximize resources. Whether it be its absurd premise, which is deliriously realized, or a plant that craves flesh and blood, its other strengths are its rapid-fire dialog exchanges and its use of subversive humor. There is no area where Little Shop of Horrors is lacking; in fact, even its imperfections are perfect.

Not to be overlooked when discussing Little Shop of Horrors is its phenomenal cast, which is made up of several recognizable faces of actors who often worked with Roger Corman. And performance-wise, the entire cast is great in their respective roles, especially Jonathan Haze (Not of This Earth, 1957) in the role of Seymour Krelborn. Another strength of the performance is the cast's enthusiasm. Another performance of note is Jack Nicholson (The Shining) in the role of Wibur Force, a man who enjoys pain a little too much. Ultimately, Little Shop of Horrors is a highly entertaining mix of horror, humor, and the bizarre.

The Terror and Little Shop of Horrors get a first-rate release from Film Masters that gives both films strong audio/video presentations and informative extras, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer