AMC The Terror Review “Creepy”, “Brilliant”, “Desperation and Madness”

Published by Leftover Brian

March 9, 2018 6:50 am | Leave your thoughts

AMC’s The Terror
Joe Stark

I remember a night, years back, I was out camping in the middle of winter in a log cabin nestled within the bends of Whitewater Canyon. We’d hiked for what felt like forever through deep snow and blistering winds, carrying our supplies on our backs, deep into the canyon. We found the cabin draped in a thick blanket of snow, its walls covered by drifts that reached to the eaves. Once inside, with a fire roaring in the wood-burning stove, the cabin’s small interior quickly warmed and just as quickly we forgot about the punishing cold waiting outside the door.

In the middle of the night I woke to the call of nature and sleepily stumbled out onto the porch. As I stood there I surveyed the steep canyon walls beyond the frozen river. The snow-covered bits of grassy knolls and stone slabs showed an eerie luster of white which stood in stark contrast to the blackness of the outcroppings of limestone and trees that stood like silent sentries: the lone guardians of this frozen, forlorn place. The only sound to be heard was the wind as it howled through the bends in the canyon.

Shivering and half asleep, I was struck with a very profound thought. This place. This frozen wilderness. It didn’t give a fuck about me. If I didn’t keep moving, if I didn’t use every instinct I had to preserve my life I would die, and the world would move on. Nature is brutal like that. I was quickly back in my feather-down sleeping bag, but the memory remained.

Fast forward a handful of years and I’m experiencing this feeling again. Only this time I’m seated safely in my house, huddled in front of my laptop, watching a television show of all things. I am watching a screener preview of AMC’s new horror mystery television offering, The Terror.

Brought to the screen by showrunners and executive producers, Dave Kajganich (a writer and film producer in the industry, and having worked on projects like True Story, A Bigger Splash, and the upcoming Suspiria) and Soo Hugh (television writer and producer; The Killing and Under The Dome. She also created the ABC show, The Whispers) Also attached as an executive producer is Ridley Scott. Yes, you heard that right; the Ridley Scott. The Terror is based upon an award winning novel by Dan Simmons, also an executive producer on the series.

Set in the mid-1800’s, The Terror follows the doomed arctic expedition of Captain Sir John Franklin and the ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror as they attempt to cross the last un-navigated section of the Northwest Passage.

The set pieces, costume design, and arctic setting are further enhanced by a stellar cast with the likes of Jared Harris (Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows, The Man From U.N.C.L.E.), Ciarán Hinds (Rome, Game Of Thrones), and Tobias Menzies (Rome, Game Of Thrones). The amount of character development that happens in these ten episodes is fantastic. Present-day motives are further flushed out by the use of flashbacks: giving the viewer glimpses of events leading up to the fateful expedition. Throughout the course of the series you come to know, love, and despise these characters in ways that only brilliant actors can bring to life.

The Terror can easily be described as part Taboo, part Shackleton. It perfectly captures the feel and look of a period piece set aboard a mid-1800’s naval vessel, the cold and bleak desolation of the arctic, and all the while giving you creepy, supernatural tones which transform into ones of desperation and madness throughout the season.

These elements, along with a fantastic score, all come together in a haunting fashion. Creating a tone that puts the viewer right there, deep within the arctic circle, along with expedition’s crew members as they find their ships icebound in a frozen sea; a desolate plain of jagged ice which stretches in every direction. An eventuality that had been planned for, but a reality that quickly drives men to their limits as they find themselves not only struggling to survive the elements and dwindling rations, but to also survive the repeated attacks of a monstrous creature, capable of brutality they can scarcely comprehend.

The tone of this series makes one thing absolutely clear: The Terror is much more than just the name of the show. It is the feeling one is given when placing yourself in the frozen boots of these men. A feeling that sticks with you after watching this haunting story of brotherhood and betrayal, the fallacy of men conquering nature, and hope in the face of hopelessness.

Written by Joe Stark.
Joe lives in Iowa with his wife and two boys. He is an avid outdoorsman, comic book enthusiast, podcaster (Starkcast), and writer. You can find his novel, I Become Death, on Amazon.  

Listen to Joe’s audio review on Pop Culture Leftovers podcast episode 223 at the 1:27:45 mark.  

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Tags: AMC The Terror, Ciarán Hinds, I Become Death, pop culture leftovers, Starkcast, Tobias Menzies

Categorised in: Television Reviews

This post was written by Leftover Brian