Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Load of rubbish!!

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

William Campbell if remembered today will go down in history for two things, being the former husband of JFK mistress Judith Campbell Exner and a pair of episodes from Star Trek prime. He also appeared in some good films of the 50s like Backlash, The High And The Mighty and Man Without A Star. zBut certainly not for this film shot in Yugoslavia in the early 60s. In this one Campbell plays a failed painter, descendant from a good one who has it in his head that a classic painting done by his ancestor said to be enchanted will bring him good fortune and luck in the art world. With some regular art thieves going after same it isn't magic he gets, but a lot of grief.Since it's not even in color you can't truly appreciate the nice Adriatic scenery captured on film. The film moves as the snail does. Poor William Campbell, at least he's part of the Star Trek mythology.

British criminal Patrick Magee (the old guy Malcom McDowell beats up in "A Clockwork Orange") and weirdo artist William Campbell (the weirdo alien Trelane on that one episode of "Star Trek") plot to steal a valuable painting, but like most heist films everything goes wrong. Low budget, but a bit more stylishly directed than I would have expected, although the script, photography, and just about everything else seemed a bit below average.

Portrait in Terror (1965) ** (out of 4) Ugo Bonacic (Vjekoslav Afric) is murdered in the still of the night and it appears to have been done due to a painting that he owned. As the police investigate his murder there's an American (William Campbell) who might have some sort of connection to the painting.In 1963 Roger Corman helped produce OPERATION TICIJAN but before long he realized that it wasn't going to be marketable in America so it was sold as a TV package. The film had a running time of 95 minute so it also had to be cut down to fit a time slot so the film was edited to 81 minutes. Video Watchdog's Tim Lucas has done a terrific video essay about the entire production and history of this film, which can give much better details about it but I will add that this television edit is slightly better than the original film.The original film, which you can read my review for on its page, was an okay movie that simply ran on way too long and obviously that portion of things are improved by chopping off nearly fifteen minutes. A lot of the footage that is missing actually helps the pacing of the film and I think this short version plays much better because of this. The opening sequences to both versions are completely different and this one here jumps right into the action, although it does miss a great closing shot of the striptease.The performances are decent for the most part and I'd argue that there's some fancy camera-work at times. If you're a die-hard or just slightly curious then you can watch both the original version as well as this television version but if you only want to view one then I'd recommend this one. Of course, the history doesn't stop here because this film would be edited a third time for BLOOD BATH and it too would be edited and added to for TRACK OF THE VAMPIRE.

Filmed along Yugoslavia's's Adriatic coast "Potrait of Terror" has some breathtaking scenic photography but it's story is just another madman on the lose movie. This time involving a killer who's out to get an expensive Titian painting that belonged to the 19th century Italian aristocratic Sordi family.Tony a descendant of the famed Sordi's is a wannabe great artist who feels that his great artistic talent is not appreciated by the local art connoisseurs who feel that he's anything but great.Tony's Uncle Hugo has a very valuable Titian painting in his mansion and he feels that if he gets a hold of it the painting would somehow give him magical powers. Those powers would greatly improve his painting and the appreciation of his work by the art-loving public. Tony also thinks that the possession of the Titian would have Vera come back to him after she left the overbearing and obnoxious artist for her now fiancé Danny.In steps this Professor Mauricio Aronie from the US who seems to have some connection with Tony in wanting the Titian and sure enough the painting is stolen from Uncle Hugo's place with Hugo ending up dead. It's obvious from the start that Aronie is the killer but what puzzles the police is how he got the key to get into Uncle Hugo's mansion? since it's, and the medieval lock that it opens, a one of a kind! Later Aronie finds out that the painting that he stole was not an original Titian but a fake and takes it out on Tony for tricking him. After a violent confrontation with Tony, off camera, we assume that he was murdered, like his Uncle Hugo, by the wild and crazy guy professor. Aronie now starts to track down Tony's friends who may know where the real Titian painting is including his now, after Vera, girlfriend Linda a local nightclub singer.Getting Linda to meet him outside a church Aronie takes out what looks like a girl scout, it looked like it couldn't penetrate the skin of an apple, pocket knife and kills Linda throwing her body in the Adriatic Sea. It later turns out that Linda did have the real Titian, that the missing Tony gave her, and gave it to Charlie the bartender at the nightclub that she worked at for safe-keeping.With the police finding Linda's body under the waves they now cut off all avenues of escape for the now on the loose murderer Aronie who's already responsible for some two or possibly three murders already and may well add a few more to his body count if he's not captured very soon. The surprise ending saved "Portrait of Terror" from being a total "Bomb" and at least made suffering through it up until the surprise ending worth while. With the killer trapped on top of a church bell tower as the police close in on him much like in the ending in Orson Wells' 1946 Film-Noir thriller "The Stranger".