Terror in the Aisles (1984)

Better Late Then Never

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Terror in the Aisles (1984) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Donald Pleasence and Nancy Allen host this documentary telling (and showing) us why horror and suspense films are so important. Both actors are sitting in a theater where they add a few comments before showing us clips to dozens of movies including Halloween, King Kong vs. Godzilla, Play Misty for Me, The Ting, Sisters, Night of the Living Dead, Rosemary's Baby, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Friday the 13th, The Exorcist, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Alligator, Scanners, The Shining, Alien, The Howling, Firestarter, Alone in the Dark and countless others. I think a nostalgia level is going to be the biggest highlight for some people on this one. For one, it's doubtful this film will ever be released onto DVD just because of how many different studios have material on here. I'm shocked it was ever released to theaters in the first place but I doubt Universal would pay the bill to get these clips released today. This leaves us with the VHS, which is faded and has all the films clip's in pan and scan, which is probably how many of us first saw the film way back in the day. Pleasence and Allen don't add too much in the way of funny or interesting comments but it's always nice to see them. Pleasence even gets to throw a few comments towards himself in Halloween. From what I've read the MPAA originally gave this an X-rating even though all the movies here received a R-rated on their own. Oh, the good ol' days of horror films.

Documentaries about horror/ thriller movies are indeed my favorite subjects. I liked the selections this movie gave out. Donald Pleasance(1920-95) and Nancy Allen did a great job explaining the causes and effects of a thriller. Mr. Pleasance from the "Halloween" movies really showed some effects when he sees Jamie Lee Curtis' character attacked Michael Myers. Knowing your in that particular movie, you must expect to root for the hero/heroine. I liked the selection of movies they displayed: Friday The 13th, Alien, The Thing, Ms. 45, Halloween, and many others to mention. This reference movie was very helpful, though I couldn't name every movie that they sampled it was very useful to know what they are. I also like the part where they did some archival footage of Alfred Hitchcock. He IS the master of suspense! Horror and thriller movies wouldn't be the same without him. Despite being a documentary, people should have the understand of horror, and there will be less nightmares when leave the theater, or go to sleep at night. Hey, horror movies don't faze me! Rating 4.5 out of 5 stars!

Horror film fans should be sure to check out this hard to find semi-documentary, Terror in the Aisles. Donald Pleasance and Nancy Allen explore many of the great moments in horror movie history (though most are archived footage of movies released by Universal Pictures, since they are the studio that released this movie). The movie is hosted inside a movie theater with Pleasance and Allen, both horror movie veterans (though Pleasance is more than Allen since he's appeared in nearly every Halloween movie), probing what it is about horror movies that audiences enjoy (perhaps we like the nightmares knowing they're only imaginary as Pleasance sullenly suggests) as well as some of the evolution of classic horror tales (such as Lon Chaney in Wolfman or the Hitchcock horror classics like Psycho and The Birds) into dazzling modern horror creations (like The Exorcist, Halloween, and Jaws). Basically, the movie is just a series of clips of great scenes from great Universal Picture horror films (and many emphasizing special effects in the genre more than anything else).For example, you see werewolf transformation scenes in Wolfman and the famous Rick Baker transformation in American Werewolf in London. You see the head explosion scene from Scanners (one of the best special effects sequences in a horror movie); the famous shower sequence and Norman Bates finale from the classic, Psycho; the nanny hanging sequence from The Omen; shark attacks from Jaws; those many awesome creature scenes from The Thing and Alien; Jack's crazed persona in The Shining; Carol Kane on the telephone in When a Stranger Calls; scenes from the 1970s remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers; and many other scenes from some of the greatest horror movies ever made (except for The Brood and Alone in the Dark, those were pretty awful films). Although, the latter half of the movie isn't as good as the first, because the mood changes and you get a lot of archive footage from movies that aren't even of the horror genre. Scenes, for example, from the movie 'Vice Squad' (the movie with Wings Hauser as the crazy Texan who is beating up a female hostage in front of the cops); Nighthawks (a great cop thriller with Sylvester Stallone and Rutger Hauer, but certainly no horror movie); Marathon Man (yes, the "is it safe?" part with Lawrence Olivier is certainly creep city, but it is still only a thriller and not a horror movie); Klute; and so forth. So it isn't entirely about horror films (though I suppose that, judging by the title, it doesn't promise to be strictly about horror films). If you like horror and suspense movies or just want to see your favorite scenes from the classic titles, Terror in the Aisles is a good choice.

This documentary shows some of the best moments mainly from 70's and early 80's horror movies. Donald Pleasance was a perfect choice for a host. Its really fun to guess and point out which scene came from what movie. Highly recommended for any true horror fan.