Experiment in Terror is a tense neo-noir thriller about a murderous extortionist. San Francisco-based banker teller Kelly Sherwood (Lee Remick) gets terrorized in her home by a shadowy, vocally penetrative asthmatic later revealed to be Garland Humphrey “Red” Lynch (Ross Martin). Though he doesn’t physically harm her, he threatens to rape and kill her and her younger sister Toby (Stephanie Powers) if she doesn’t steal $100,000 from her bank. Though she agrees, Miss Sherwood quickly contacts the FBI, pulling agent John “Rip” Ripley (Glenn Ford) onto the case. With nothing but educated guesses on both sides, Rip must help Miss Sherwood save Toby and herself before Red finishes the job—or fulfill his menacing threats.

Experiment terrorizes primarily because of Martin’s maniacal presence. Face shown or not, his voice pierces one’s being; the low, groveling whisper as he tells Miss Sherwood, “Your sister is a very attractive little girl,” evokes trembles, and the low pitch of his normal voice is all the more grasping. He doesn’t have to do anything to get what he wants; just speak slowly and precisely about what it is. Thus, whenever he’s “on” screen talking, tension cranks. Ford is tack-sharp as Rip, standing arguably as one of the more legitimately smart cops in film. Remick’s Miss Sherwood is enticing, as she’s both written less male-dependently in some ways and holds herself more bravely than a typical female lead of the ‘60s.

While the narrative moves intentionally slowly sometimes to a fault, the mind-games Red plays with his victims are especially irresistible; no matter where characters are or what they’re doing, he could pop out and terrify them. It’s fun to see Rip get into Red’s mindset, slowly unraveling his foe’s plot by understanding his patterns. More time should’ve been spent fleshing out characters beyond basic elements—the Sherwoods are the victims, Rip’s a cop and Red’s the bad guy, there’s literally nothing else—instead of using it to build detail-oriented stakes, as both the characters and overarching story feel a tad thin. Nevertheless, there’s enough tension from Red’s presence and ploys, enough clever intrigue from Rip and Miss Sherwood’s collective quick thinking and plenty of tactful moments for Experiment to surprise and scare.

Thus, Experiment in Terror is a clever journey through a killer’s mindset and strategy. For old-school cinema geeks or thrill fans and those looking to the past for something new, Experiment in Terror mostly lives up to its name for a good time.

Experiment in Terror
1962
dir. Blake Edwards
123 min.

Screens Saturday, 11/9, 1:00 pm @ The Brattle Theatre
Double feature w/ My Name is Julia Ross
Part of the ongoing repertory series: Columbia 100: Noirvember