- Andrew L. Stone's Cry Terror! is an odd suspense drama that is either a hidden gem or a purposely discarded chunk of cubic zirconia. The film is full of such ambiguities. Was it intentionally shot in a convincing naturalistic style or did everybody give up after one take? Is Rod Steiger a regular actor playing a boring criminal or a boring actor playing a regular criminal? Are the bad decisions made by several of the film's characters indicative of intense personal struggles or bad screenwriting? Would these questions make more sense if they were delivered as unexpected internal monologues?
- Fundamentally, the story is very simple: A gang of crooks (Rod Steiger, Neville Brand, Angie Dickinson, Jack Klugman) kidnaps the Molner family (James Mason, Inger Stevens, Terry Ann Ross) as part of an extortion scheme that also involves bombs on airplanes. The airline authorities and FBI agents (Barney Phillips, Kenneth Tobey, Jack Kruschen, Carleton Young, Harlan Warde) desperately track a lead involving dental imprints reconstructed from a discarded piece of gum while the criminals shuffle the Molners around to keep everyone off their trail. Did I mention that Jim Molner is an audio engineer who was tricked into fabricating the bombs because he thought he was helping an old friend? Details like that support the less charitable interpretation of this film's quality.
- But just when I think I've got Cry Terror! figured out, it turns around and does something unexpectedly impressive. The extended mid-film driving sequence in which Joan Molner accidentally takes a wrong turn while trying to hit a deadline that will save her husband's and daughter's lives is a terrific exercise in suspense. Neville Brand's turn as a drug-addled rapist is completely terrifying and explicit for its time, as is Angie Dickinson's portrayal of a woman who would definitely stab a child, you know, should the need arise. But then there's an unnecessary chase scene on some train tracks that electrify one of the film's villains. Are the characters the ones crying terror or is it the audience? Some questions just don't have easy answers.
- Apparently Steiger and Stevens were almost asphyxiated by carbon monoxide in the train tunnel sequence.
