Another minor thriller that has it's ups and downs. Some scenes are really good, others are just long and boring. They could have cut off the extra 21 minutes and made an hour long film out of this one easily and made a film that more people would be apt to watch or like better.It's not a haunted house as the plot summary suggests, it's a place that looks like it could be in a haunted house film. So the plot summary is misleading in that way but it is true a masked "someone" is killing people (and I won't say who that someone is).It's far from an awful 'B' film but it's not one you would call really good either, it's so-so at best. If you happen upon this film it is worth a watch but don't expect a lot out of it. The poster and the film's summary is a bit better than the film really is.Best parts of the film are the opening and the scene with the spiders.4/10

I was in no way as impressed with this little film as others seem to be. It is definitely a cheap "shocker" about some bizarre plan to eliminate all the loved ones surrounding some dull young teen. Tracy Olsen plays the girl with little depth. Surrounding her are two male suitors - Rod Lauren as a young college student trying to realize what real fear is and the nature of terror and Steve Drexel as the uneducated but loaded with common sense guy. Both do adequate jobs, but this film is just so cheap. Most of the movie takes place in a deserted ghost town with a guy in a mask running around laughing and panting. These scenes are relatively effective and the killer does have an ability to appear menacing, but there are also some ludicrous scenes thrown in and some weird, unexplained stuff, and fantastic leaps of logic needed when the end is revealed. Threading its way throughout the entire story is Tracy's brother may or may not be the killer because he escaped from prison. There is also some guy in a mask running people off of the road. How was that possible when we finally do discover who the killer is? The script wanders and meanders quite a bit and again, the budget is low. But there are some things going for this film. Director Lew Landers does have some tension created in some scenes. I did like the opening scene, and I did think the use of setting was utilized as well as might be expected given the apparent budget. The acting is mediocre at best and poor in general.Do look for a young Denver Pyle as the sheriff, however.

I first saw this film, like others have, on TV late at night years ago -- I think I was maybe 13 or 14 and had been sick in bed all day, watching TV. The film made such a strong impression on me that I thought of it many times over the years and all through the following decade, I would scan the TV listings in vain hoping for a rerun. I never did see it on TV ever again, but was able, back in the early 90's, to buy up a VHS copy from somebody who'd similarly taped it off a TV station.I gave Terrified a "10" not because I think it is on a par technically with, say, "Citizen Kane", or "Vertigo", but because it is, I feel, about as an effective film I can imagine being done on the nickels and dimes budget this film must have had. When I say "effective" I mean, this is a horror film (albeit a b&W, early 60's low budget horror film), and the film is ~scary~. Scary in a creepy, eerie vibe kind of way. I think evilskip's review of 6/15/2001 really says it best, correctly describing the sense of isolation in the film and the weird sounds (I like the use of piano too here). This film proves that "low-budget" doesn't have to mean "low quality". I'm glad I have it on tape and do play it now and again. I've played it for friends too and they agree with me that it has a genuinely creepy aura about it. Fans of William Castle films from the same era would like this.

I just saw "Terrified" for the first time on Rhino's "Horrible Horrors" collection. It was really quite good. Sure, it was super low budget and kind of stupid, but the villain gave me the willies. He runs around this ghost town in a suit and cape (I think) and he wears a hood (or is it a ski mask?) that only shows his eyes. The thing about it that truly creeped me out was that he ran in and out of scenes really fast and for some reason this was actually scary...I don't know why that is. Maybe it made him completely unpredictable. He didn't do any of the usual things these guys do when they stalk someone. He kept letting people go and then would recapture them and so on...all with this creepy whisper voice and super disturbing giggle. He was also a real kick-*** fighter! There's this one fight in a cave that looks almost like it's a real fight. You can tell this one actor is really trying to get away (or he's just an excellent actor...kind of a poor man's James Dean). It's sort of a re-working of "Phantom of the Opera" and there's a touching denouement on the part of the guy playing the villain. But I have to say, if I'm ever in a ghost town after sundown, I just may be looking over my shoulder, and I just may be...Terrified!