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With lighting and sound effects inspired by Dario Argento's Suspiria (Italy
1977), Terror is effectively a series of horror 'set pieces' built around a
fairly traditional tale of a family doomed by an ancient witch's curse. The
prologue, in which this tale is told, turns out to be a film made by the
protagonist, the first of several anti-climactic moments in which tension is
built up, only to be defused when the perceived threat evaporates. However, when
the moments of actual horror do come, the effects work extremely well for a low
budget film and, where they are less skilful, expert camerawork and judicious
editing hide many of their shortcomings.
One of the most effective of these moments takes place in the deserted film
studio, where Philip is attacked by filmmaking paraphernalia. Camera dollies
roll towards him, lights explode and empty cans and hundreds of feet of
celluloid rain down on him - actually nine damaged prints of Saturday Night
Fever (US, 1977) that director Norman J. Warren managed to obtain from Rank
Laboratories.
Warren no doubt drew on his own experience of making adult films for the
scenes of 'light relief' which intersperse the murderous mayhem, in which a crew
are filming an amateurish soft porn movie entitled 'Bathtime for Brenda'. This,
Terror's second 'film within a film', is tame in comparison with the full
frontal nudity of the erotic dancer at the nightclub where Ann and Viv work.
This lengthy sequence, undoubtedly excised from the original UK release, makes
the film far more akin to European exploitation, as do the lingering shots on
the gory aftermath of the grisly deaths.
The production of Terror was funded using the takings from Warren's hugely
profitable 1975 film Satan's Slave and was itself a financial success, topping
the British box office chart for a week. This was a period when the plethora of
London cinema screens could find space for low-budget independent films, which
could do as well as, or even better than, the major studio
releases.
Jo Botting
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1. A curse (2:46)
