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Terror (1978)


Cast:

John "How'd I get a small bit in Batman Begins?" Nolan is James Garrick
Carolyn Courage is Ann Garrick
James Aubrey is Philip
Sarah Keller is Suzy
Tricia Walsh is Viv



What the box says:

A horror-filled study of supernatural forces and their powers, this tense drama is about a strange creature that has sworn revenge for its death on a young British heir and his close friends.


Plot:

A torch-wielding mob is chasing afterpeasant women. The lady of the estate wants to see this women executed for being a witch. After the execution, at the manor, the ghost of the executed women appears, swears vengeance on the lady's descendents, and lops the lady's head off, when the movie ends.


Why do you keep singing Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves when I float by?

The movie is based on the family history of James, the producer's family, from 300years earlier. At a party at the manor, a guy starts demonstrating his skill at hypnosis. His first attempt with Carol was just a gag. The second, of Ann, works far better, when she grabs a sword and tries to atab James. Revived, Ann runs off into the woods.

Carol leaves and discovers she's being chased by some knife wielder. After hiding for a while, the knife wielder catches and stabs her. Her body is found tied to a tree.


White pant-suits are extremely fashionable when one is tied to a tree.

Later, Ann returns to her room with blood on her hands.

After the publicity starts increasing, James has been keeping a secret about Ann, his cousin, and her sword attack. James keeps believing that the curse is real and hunting down his family.

Suzy, Ann's rooomate, tells her about the blood, and her coming in late last night. Afterwards, Suzy heads out. Her car breaks down on a deserted roadway. Heading to the first house, she finds that no one is there. Calling for a mechanic, while waiting, it seems that someone is hunting her when the mechanic arrives and gets her car up and going.

Elsewhere, Ann goes to the bar she works as a waitress. Some drunk guy keeps hitting on her to no avail. Finally, he's tossed out. On the street, knife wielder strangles and tosses him on a wrought iron fence.

At James, movie studio, a production ends when a stage light falls anon and kills a director.

The strange deaths spook, Vivian, who works with Ann and is a starting actress. She starts ready to movie when she finds the ceiling is leaking blood. It turns out that it's not blood but red paint. However, knife wielder kills Vivian.


Shouldn't spill ketchup on your face....

At the studio, Ann stops by and talks with James's partner who tells her about the sword, etc. After she leaves, the studio acts Poltergeist-y with set pieces collapsing, lights flickering . He falls down a flight of stairs whena window's pane of glass collapses on his neck.


We need the top of the magician's Guillotine trick...

The police start investigating Ann who escapes them. Later,a police car acts all Christine and runs over a patrolman.

Ann heads off into a stormy night to a car, when it starts acting like it's police car brother. Jumping up and down far higher than a Low-Rider, spinnign around. Ann falls from the car and avoids it landing on her.

Rushing to the manor, books, start flying around Ann. Upstairs, James hears the noises and grabs a gun. Ann grabs an axe and stabs James before seeing him.

Suddenly, the ghost of the withc appears and laughs super-maniacally. A sword flies across the room and stabs Ann.


What I say:

Hammer Studios was starting to wind down from its 1950a and 1960s classic Dracula, Frankenestein, and werewolf remakes. Even so, Hammer wasn't quite the low bar of English horror at this time. 1970s English horror movies aren't known for for being good horror but rather, awfully stuffy. While Terror does have a couple of scenes that are pretty impressive for most b-horror movies. The whole part when the car breaks down and the girl has the idea she's being followed, that typically would be the "rip-off the audience" bit. However, it's no Night Tide.

Terror is trying to be all things to all people. Psychological horror, supernatural, and possibly physical horror, too. By not giving it up, it could almost be a psychlogical horor to one and a supernatural to another.

First, the movie starts with a women caught by a torch-wielding mob who sets her on fire. She haunts the lady responsible and swears to get all the lady's direct descendents. That turns out to a be movie based on a producer's ancestors. We've seen a curse that lasted through the cneturies far more believable than this Brainiac even with a prehesile tube on his face that lets him suck brains.

However, back to this movie, the hypnotism, the various murders including several which had no connection to the curse. One doesn't typically think of low-budget 1970s horror movies to have much plot that makes sense about half the deaths in this movie have nothing to do with the plot. 1. James and Ann were the last living descendents in the line of the curse. What did all the actresses in the hostel, hypnotized girl, James's assistant, the police, etc... have to do with the curse? Say what you will about Camp Crystal Lake, but Jason didn't brook with anybody interefering with the camp. These people had no idea about a curse that was entagled with people they were unrelated to..Keeping track of all the number of characters in the movie does get a bit difficult to follow.



2 1/2 NINJAS

Quotable Dialogue

"What a load of rubbish!"
"You know about my strange power..."
"These bloody comedians are getting on my nerves..."


Morals of the Story

Fires spontaeouslywhoiosh bigger to appear scarier.
Torch wielders easily catch on fire.
Hypnotism at parties always ends bad.
Slapping someone returns them from a state of hypnosis.
Cowboy hats have always been popular as English fashions.
Rolls of film are easily haunted.


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