Escravas do Medo

"Experiment in Terror" is a superb example of how to scare the hell out of you without a trace of gore, blood or gratuitous violence. For all intents and purposes this is a police procedural where the aim is to track down a stalker/blackmailer/murderer. Filmed in black and white the film revels in darkness and uses it to create its more unsettling moments. Imagining what we are barely seeing in the dark and letting our imaginations run wild is scarier than seeing a graphic depiction. Ford and Remmick turn in excellent performances under Blake Edwards' deft direction. Best of all is Ross Martin as the world champion heavy breather. Martin is generally known for more lighter roles but his rather sinister turn here is very fine. Stark photography, often at night, and a subtle yet unsettling score by Henry Mancini are icing on the cake. To be watched with the lights out.

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!!

There are so many things to praise about this frightening little picture. The performances are uniformly excellent. San Francisco is captured in a 40 year old time capsule yet the fear and terror are as vivid in 2002 as they must have been in 1962. Ross Martin is an able and elusive villain with some ability to engender loyalty in friends. As has been noted, the terror visited on Lee Remick's character Kelly Sherwood, is real and intense and persistent. In an age that equates terror with fanaticism and major special effects, all that this little noir required was poor breathing, a telephone, skilled camera work, great performances and a slam-bang script. Bravo.

This thrilling movie deals with two sisters threatened , a killer and a FBI agent who pursues him . Coming home late one night Kelly (Lee Remick) is attacked in her garage by an asthmatic nasty named Red Lynch (Ross Martin) who convinces her he knows of all her daily life , particularly her employment at the bank where she works as bank teller. He terrorizes her into agreeing to help him rob the office a lot of money or he says he will murder her and also the teenager sister Toby Sherwood (Stefanie Powers) who lives with her . Then Kelly agrees but out of threat calls the FBI and speaks with Agent Ripley , a stalwart G-man (Glenn Ford), but the lines goes dead when the psychopathic extortionist comes into the house and attacks Kelly again . The FBI agent is hot on the trail of sadistic murderous , fighting the clock .

This stylish picture is packed with intrigue , nail-biting suspense, thrills , chills and formidable interpretations with acting uniformly magnificent. Taut noir thriller has an asthmatic psycho killer excellently played by Ross Martin who steals the show and gives an unnerving portrait of evil . Gorgeous Lee Remick as accosted woman , an effective Glenn Ford as obstinate Inspector and a likable and very young Stefanie Powers . Classic musical score by Henry Mancini , Blake Edwards's usual . Evocative cinematography in black and white with ominous atmosphere by Philip Lathrop , reflecting splendidly the San Francisco locations. The motion picture is stunningly produced and directed by Blake Edwards . After successful drama as ¨Days of wine and roses¨ and directly following ¨Breakfast at Tiffanys¨ , Blake launched himself in a new direction with this suspenseful movie . Edwards went on filmmaking sophisticated slapstick comedies as ¨Pink Panther¨, ¨ A shot in the dark¨ and ¨The great race¨ and another thriller as ¨The Carey treatment¨ . Rating : Better than average . Worthwhile watching . The tension grabs hold of you from the start to the end and maintains you on the edge of your seat .

Before Ross Martin became the amiable Artemus Gordon on "The Wild, Wild West," and before Blake Edwards began making those Pink Panther movies, they joined up for this complex, thoroughly convincing story of a sadistic thief who terrorizes bank teller Lee Remick to gain her complicity in a heist. Edwards makes effective use of the San Francisco locations, of Glenn Ford's portrayal of a tough FBI agent, and of Henry Mancini's jazzy score to weave this taut, psychological suspense tale.