The Terror: Season 1 Review
8 / 10. A fantastically claustrophobic and atmospheric nautical supernatural tale, authentic and excellent performances by all *MINOR SPOILERS*
AMC’s The Terror is a taut merging of a historical story with elements supernatural in nature.
What makes The Terror so fascinating, is that it’s adapted from Dan Simmon’s 2007 novel, based upon the true story of the disappearance of the HMS’s Terror and Erebus and their crews on an Arctic exploration voyage whilst looking for the North West passage to China, which departed England in 1848.
It is a fantastically claustrophobic and atmospheric nautical horror tale, featuring authentic and excellent performances by all. Most of the season is set within the confines a ship/s and to keep the threat level high in scenes limited to small areas is very well done. The sets and wardrobe are realistic and incredibly detailed.
The standout performance is an amazing Jared Harris (I’ve loved him since Fringe) as Captain Francis Crozier, his performance is subtle and mesmerising, fighting demons both inside himself and the harsh Arctic world. His voice is awesome, and I could listen to him speak all day. Tobias Menzies and Ciaran Hinds are also excellent, as always.
Once you see the creature, it doesn’t look so great up close as the CGI is a bit lacking, this takes away a bit of the mystery and some of the fear factor that had been built up by the previous episodes.
The many stories, search party accounts, and testimony from Inuit peoples about what really happened to the ships and their crews are available in many books and online. The history of this expedition is an interesting read, the true fate of the entire expedition remains a mystery. Many of the stories and evidence found are incorporated into how events play out in the show.
Both the ships have been found quite recently, HMS Erebus in 2014 in northern Canada and HMS Terror in 2016 near King William Island, shedding some light on their journey but also highlighting more mysteries…
The haunting wreckage of both ships can be seen on YouTube, etc.
Could the true cause of the disappearances be ancient spirits haunting the frozen wastelands of the Arctic?