The Terror

The Terror takes its time, it knows the dark dreariness it’s headed toward and it’s in no hurry to get there. You will know quickly if the series isn’t paced to your liking, but if you can stick with it, The Terror is easily one of the most downright scary shows to hit TV in years.

The Terror is an exceptional series of surviving in the face of real yet unimaginable horrors.

This grueling but rewarding 10-part series from Ridley Scott's company is like a Masterpiece version of a classic horror movie: literate and philosophical, yet shocking but terrifically scary. [19 Mar-1 Apr 2018, p.12]

AMC's well-acted series recalls John Carpenter's snowy monster freak-out, though it's less interested in creatures than the shifting power dynamics of desperate men. [30 March 2018, p.50]

There were no jump scares and little gore. Yet the dread was at moments suffocating and bolstered by strong performances from Ciarán Hinds as the doomed Franklin and Jared Harris as his cautious yet ineffective second-in-command, Captain Francis Crozier.

The Terror is a gripping descent into a deviant heart of darkness, and those with a fondness for true-life enigmas embellished with midnight-movie flourishes will take to its unsettling comingling of the factual and fantastical. Better still, it places a premium not on grisliness but, rather, on the twisted passions and motivations of its fallible protagonists, here embodied by the commanding Hinds and the nuanced Harris.

The Terror, which premieres Monday, turns a macabre slice of history into a beautifully executed, 10-episode tale of the fight for survival. Nerve-wracking suspense, a deceptively gorgeous landscape and the deeply developed characters lend a rich, big-screen quality to The Terror's hour long episodes.

A slow-burning horror-genre delight.

The series does an excellent job of observing the nuances of hurt and resentment that pass among these stoic, protocol-conscious men. ... This is misery porn, beautifully rendered.

There's an impressive confidence to the storytelling that will grab viewers with a taste for sophisticated horror. All-round terrific acting is a huge part of it, notably from Harris in his best role since Mad Men.

The season only sputters in the second half; it doesn’t go off the rails. By then, it’s set up a number of storylines with great potential, which all converge to do more than entertain.

The Terror is like many polar expeditions: long, educational, full of interesting things to look at and not completely successful.

The Terror takes its time a bit too leisurely on occasion and likely would have been stronger at eight episodes, or maybe even six, but it’s a solid addition to this new trend of TV literary adaptations.

With the casting solidly in place, this execution falls on the series’ directors. Edward Berger admirably handles three of the first four episodes and Sergio Mimica-Gezzan helms the third.

While it can be tough to watch, this series tells a compelling story with the help of a stellar cast and stunning visuals.

The final destination, alas, isn't particularly satisfying, but as binge-able concepts go, the getting there is still pretty intriguing.

Forward momentum--for the plot, creature action and character development--finally kicks in during episode three but it’s a big ask for AMC to expect viewers will return after the first two episodes.

The Terror’s biggest problem is that it apparently wants to be a taut, atmospheric chamber piece in which the psychological pressures on a set of stranded men lead them to pursue ever more desperate and unpredictable actions. But there’s too much slackness in the narrative for The Terror’s core dilemmas--or people--to become truly enthralling. Though it depicts extreme conditions, The Terror is a little on the tepid side emotionally.