Experiment in Terror

When the bank clerk Kelly Sherwood (Lee Remick) arrives home after hours, she is intimidated by a stranger that knows her routine habit. He threatens Kelly and her sister Toby (Stefanie Powers) to force her to heist $100,000 from her bank; otherwise he will kill her. Kelly does not see his face but notes he is asthmatic. Kelly succeeds to lure the criminal and contacts the FBI agent John 'Rip' Ripley (Glenn Ford) that advises Kelly how to behave and assigns a group of agents to keep Kelly and Toby under surveillance. But when Toby is abducted by the stranger, Kelly tries to stay calm to help the FBI to catch the criminal.

"Experiment in Terror" is an above average thriller from the early 60's in a noir style directed by Blake Edwards and with Glenn Ford, Lee Remick (whom we all miss so dearly) and Stefanie Powers on the lead roles. The story has flaws but the storyline is excellent and Ross Martin performs a great villain. When Lee Remick's character Kelly is attacked for the first time, her eyes are impressive even in a black- and-white film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Escravas do Medo" ("Slaves of the Fear")

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.

I have to agree with another review which wondered why ROSS MARTIN didn't just rob a bank himself if he wanted that $100,000 so badly, instead of terrorizing a young bank clerk (LEE REMICK) and her not too bright sister (STEPHANIE POWERS). Her sister walks right into the robber's den, completely unaware that his phone call is a hoax.

Otherwise, Blake Edwards has directed this taut yarn with skill--a yarn which would have been even tighter if the suspense hadn't been dragged out to interminable length. Many stretches of film go on too long before the key point is made, as for example with the woman who has an unusual occupation.

There are several edge of the seat moments, but this could have had even more impact if the pace were quickened rather than slowed down in spots toward the segment of the film that deals with the sister's kidnapping. At that point, it loses some of its credibility.

Good performances help sustain whatever suspense there is, especially from LEE REMICK, GLENN FORD, ROSS MARTIN and NED GLASS.

Skillfully directed but needed a tighter script.

Just saw this movie for the first time and the DVD transfer just released is fine.

From the moment this film opens, I couldn't help but wonder how many times Lynch has seen this movie. Those of you who've seen Experiment should know what I mean.

The score, the angles, the subdued dialogue all help to create one heck of a moody, brooding piece of work. I couldn't agree more with some of the other IMDB comments here...this is a great piece of film noir, if not the last great piece of film noir for a particular generation!

What I so admire about classic film-making from years past is how directors, like Blake in this instance, don't or couldn't resort to gratuitous blood and nudity to creat atmosphere. Unlike Lynch, who exploits graphic gore and nudity, Blake thrills with mere thoughts of sexual deviency and violence.

The opening scene to Experiment is one I shall not forget soon! As our villain forces himself on Remick and proceeds to dirty her ears with the filth of what he could do to her is just simply incredible film-making. It reminded me of the scene from Lynch's Wild at Heart where Dafoe's character has Dern's character in his filthy clutches. Except in Experiment, I think it works even better...why? Because there were no profane words or over-the-top characterizations, just simple text and superb acting that later matches a villain who seems quite normal as he strolls the streets of San Fran. I really believed the characters in this film...Blake puts everyone in context.

Congrats to Blake Edwards on his only serious movie...I wish you had done more! And, Mancini is as sly as ever on the score. I could go on and on. Suffice it to say, I really enjoyed this movie and am happy to have it as part of my DVD collection. Although, I'd love to see Criterion get a hold of this one...I'd love to learn more about the history of this film.