Experiment in Terror
Release Date: April 12, 1962 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 8 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
After Carpenter and De Palma, it may seem a little dated; yet Edwards' classical feel for pure cinema remains unalloyed. Read full review
80
The New YorkerRichard Brody
With Experiment in Terror, Edwards, working in the familiar genre of criminal depravity, does something that may well be, for Hollywood, unprecedented: he makes a virtual piece of film criticism in movie form. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
Edwards' direction is effective, although he relies too heavily on overhead and boom shots to show his action scenes. Read full review
75
Chicago ReaderDave Kehr
Blake Edwards's 1962 film is largely a formal study, a good excuse to explore some offbeat locations in San Francisco (including Candlestick Park at the climax). Nice work, but Edwards has done better. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
Blake Edwards' moody suspense thriller captures San Francisco from unexpected perspectives, starting with a dark drive with a perfect noirish Henry Mancini score across the Bay Bridge, and ending with then-new Candlestick Park. [08 Feb 2015, p.D6]
63
Slant MagazineBudd Wilkins
Credit the film’s modest virtues to Edwards’s undeniable verve as a visual stylist. Still, with a running time slightly over two hours, Experiment in Terror is a bit too protracted to count as an unqualified success. Read full review
60
The New York TimesBosley Crowther
It takes more than two hours to come to a solution of the problem in this film. They would do it in one hour on TV, and it would probably be every bit as good. Read full review
50
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
The film treatment embraces a number of unnecessary character bits that merely extend the plot and, despite their striking individual reaction, deter from the suspense buildup. Read full review
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