Paging Alfred Hitchcock, who would never come up with an alleged thriller as dull and disappointing as this. The performance of Ross Martin is the only real interest, although Ford and Stefanie Powers are good, Remick less so. This starts out quite well, but it just doesn't hold up. Does not compare at all well to really great suspense films, but they were hardly Blake Edwards' specialty.

First off - did anybody else notice the close resemblance of James Lanphier who played the Landlord and Ross Martin? When Lanphier walked into frame I thought for the longest time that HE was a probable suspect... (Do a Google image search for James Lanphier to see what I mean)Anywhoo, a good solid, police procedural with a number of plot holes that didn't spoil the fun.Lee Remick, was gorgeous and gave a convincing show of terror, Stefanie Powers when SHE was menaced in turn turned into a shivering wreck.Glenn Ford was personable and believable as an FBI agent and from telling somebody he'd "never had to shoot anybody" managed to up his body count by the movie's end.The final crowd scenes at Candelstick Park added tension but kinda telegraphed what the finale would be...

"Experiment in Terror" is a smart and entertaining crime/noir thriller from the 1960's. The opening 10 minutes are superb, and beautifully filmed in crisp black & white, as Lee Remick is menaced by the villain in her own home. The rest of the movie (2 hours!) charts her predicament as she wavers between contacting the police and going along with the criminal's plan. Glenn Ford plays a very cool FBI officer who assists her, and There's an appearance from a young Stephanie Powers as the heroine's sister.Action is tight all the way through, and the film hold your interest. The photography is beautiful, noir style. Fluid camera movement, unusual angles and inspired framing crop up regularly. The scene in the mannequin workshop is very reminiscent of scenes in "giallo" thrillers from the 1970's, except this film was made in 1962! Could it have been an influence?Lee Remick is perfect in the lead role of Kelly Sherwood. She looks gorgeous and acts realistically throughout. Kelly is no damsel in distress, she's brave and clever, a great heroine. Glenn Ford plays FBI agent Ripley as a total professional who never loses his cool. He plays well as the strength that gives Kelly the courage to withstand the situation she is in. If anything lets the movie down, it is the amazing amount of man power given to support the heroine by the FBI on the strength of one anonymous phone call! She sure is one lucky lady. Bit on the whole, a real pleasure to watch and very enjoyable.

This film is a disappointment, despite having the ever-welcome Lee Remick and Glenn Ford in the leads. Although I enjoyed watching them do their very professional jobs of attempting to portray the rather unrealistic characters, I did not enjoy the film at all. It is simply an inferior piece of work and a hackneyed story line. The film was directed by Blake Edwards, and from time to time he or his cinematographer manage some atmospheric shots. There are lots of expressionistic shadows of Venetian blinds in the background of shots (hardly an original idea), and there is one shot near the end looking up from floor level at three men talking, who loom over the camera in an effective manner which heightens the tension. But by and large, this film is a waste of time. The psychopathic criminal who threatens Lee Remick is overdone, the whole effect is corny, we have seen it all before in films which have been much better scripted and better directed than this one. And frankly this genre is pretty boring in any case. The world is threatened by so many psychopaths on a daily basis that it is difficult to have too much sympathy for an arbitrarily chosen single woman and her harrowing ordeal, when whole nations and peoples are going through much worse than that. This film is an overt attempt at exploitation of the horror of menace to try to appeal to an audience and make some money. It has no integrity as a project.