Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		3.5

Terror Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 29, 2020

Note: This version of this film is available as part of Bloody Terror: The Shocking Cinema of Norman J Warren, 1976-1987.

It might be an interesting bi-continental quiz to ask film fans in the United Kingdom if they recognize the name Herschell Gordon Lewis, while at the same time asking film fans in the United States if they recognize the name Norman John Warren. My hunch (and it’s only a hunch) is that Lewis might fare a bit better than Warren (meaning at least in part that British cineastes might be more globally aware than Americans), but that said, the two men are at least passingly comparable in that each offered exploitation outings that tended to feature both scantily clad (and sometimes naked) women and horror elements in about equal measure. Arrow released the massive The Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast* a few years ago which aggregated a bunch of Lewis’ films (there are other compilations available, including The Lost Films of Herschell Gordon Lewis* and Shock and Gore: The Films of Herschell Gordon Lewis*), and now Powerhouse Films’ Indicator imprint has aggregated a quintet of Warren films to whet fans’ appetites. As with some of Lewis’ efforts, the Warren films are often low budget affairs, but they arguably tend to be a cut above (no gore pun intended) some of Lewis’ films in terms of general production values and even performance acumen. All five films in this set have either already received Blu-ray releases in the United States, or are about to as this review goes live (in the case of Inseminoid), but Powerhouse's website lists this set as offering debuts of the films on Blu-ray for the United Kingdom market.

* Note: The links points to United States releases since there are reviews for some of those which some readers might be interested in perusing, though there are UK releases of both The Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast and Shock and Gore: The Films of Herschell Gordon Lewis.

In what seems to be an emerging trend as I’ve made my way through the various films in the Norman J. Warren set, much as Satan's Slave seemed inspired at least in part by Rosemary's Baby, and Prey seemed to owe tips of the hat to (rather weirdly) both The Man Who Fell to Earth and The Fox, Terror has at least some stylistic elements that don’t seem especially shy about referencing Dario Argento’s legendary Suspiria. All of this might serve to suggest that Norman J. Warren and his collaborators weren't overly concerned about "borrowing" various aspects from different films, but when the source is something as iconic as Suspiria, chances are the mimicry may not always be to the copier's benefit.

And in fact Warren and his producer (and cinematographer) Les Young overtly mention how much Suspiria influenced this film, though they also go into some detail about how they assembled a "laundry list" of horror scenes (some might argue horror clichés) they wanted to include in the film, and so Terror does kind of play like a patchwork quilt at times as it details a series of bizarre deaths ostensibly tied to a long ago curse. The film actually begins with a sequence that seems deliberately designed to evoke the ambience of a traditional Hammer Gothic horror film, or at least other quasi-Hammer outings like Witchfinder General) as it documents the capture and burning at the stake of a long ago witch. It's explicitly detailed that this particular witch was in fact "properly" accused, and she rises from the flames to exact revenge on her tormentors, letting one unfortunate woman know that her entire line of descendants will be cursed forever. Rather cheekily, a "The End" then appears, revealing that it has all been a movie that the film's main characters have been watching.

Two of the people in the audience, and two with a connection to the film itself, turn out to be descendants of the unfortunate Garrick line (no “gaieties” here, so to speak), including studio honcho James Garrick (John Nolan) and his cousin Ann (Carolyn Courage), who wants to pursue an acting career. When a party guest hypnotizes Ann, she seems to start channeling the spirit of Mad Dolly (L.E. Mack), the hapless witch shown in the opening scene. When a series of increasingly gruesome deaths starts occurring, Ann (or at least the spirit she may be “hosting”) is an obvious prime suspect.

Terror doesn’t have the narrative drive of Suspiria, and in fact its structure almost willfully shows its “seams” as Warren and his team move from horror trope to horror trope as they trot out an episodic assortment of victims. The allusions to Argento’s stylistic proclivities tend to come mostly in the form of framings and especially lighting choices, where, as Young mentions in one of the supplements on the disc, the addition of weird tones like reds, greens and blues may in fact have no logical underpinning but add a real mood to the proceedings.

As mentioned above, Terror is one of the films in this set which has already had a release in the North American market. Those interested can peruse my colleague Brian Orndorf's Terror Blu-ray review for another opinion on the film (Brian probably liked it a bit more than I did), as well as to compare screenshots, other technical data and each release's slate of supplemental material.

Terror Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Terror is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Powerhouse Films' Indicator imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Powerhouse Films provided only check discs for the purposes of this review, with no supporting documentation, so I'm not privy to any verbiage that might be included in an insert booklet, but their website has the same generic "2K restoration, newly supervised and approved by director Norman J Warren" listed under its breakdown for every film in this set. Interestingly, Brian's review of the release for the North American market states that it was "newly scanned and restored in 2K from the 35mm original camera negative." Based solely on the sometimes iffy gambit of screenshot comparison, it looks like this release might be just slightly darker than the Vinegar Syndrome release, but otherwise the overall palette and detail levels look very similar if not identical. This presentation does offer some very nicely suffused colors in the obviously Argento inspired sequences, with blues and reds especially vivid throughout, but some very evocative greens and purples as well, notably in a hyperbolic kill scene late in the film. Repeated use of close-ups and midrange shots helps to elevate fine detail, and grain resolves naturally throughout. There is some very minor speckling that can be spotted at times.

Terror Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Terror features an effective LPCM Mono track that supports the film's dialogue and another buzzy synth score. Both the synth moments and what amount to quasi-source cues with more rock inflected music (including a scene with a naked woman doing a kind of S&M inspired dance) have good low end and overall energy. The same dropout at circa 48:36 that Brian mentions in his review of the release for the North American market is also present here, but it actually sounds to me like some ham handed sound editing, since it occurs right before a hard edit to the scene with that aforementioned naked woman doing a kind of S & M inspired dance).

Terror Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Norman J. Warren and David McGillivray


• The Early Years (1080p; 17:17) features Norman J. Warren discussing his work in the 1960s.


• Bloody Good Fun (720p; 41:08) is an archival making of featurette, offering more interviews with Norman J. Warren and Les Young.


• Tales of Terror (1080p; 12:45) is an interview with John Nolan.


• Norman J. Warren: A Sort of Autobiography (720p; 27:22) is another archival piece with Warren reminiscing about his childhood and later life in the film industry.


• Extended Scenes

  Hypnosis #1 (1080p; 1:16)

  
  

  Hypnosis #2 (1080p; 00:53)

  
  

  Bathtime with Brenda (1080p; 1:34) features a brief introduction by Warren.

  
  

  Nightclub (1080p; 1:41) also contains a brief Warren introduction.

• Trailers and Promo Spots

  Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:41)

  
  

  French Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:41)

  
  

  TV Spot (1080p; 00:22)

  
  

  Radio Spot (1080p; 00:22) plays to marketing material for the film.

• Image Gallery (1080p)


• Norman J. Warren presents Horrorshow (1080p; 32:46)


• Daddy Cross (Trailer) (1080p; 1:39)

Powerhouse provided only check discs for purposes of this review, but from their listing on their website this looks like another typically very handsomely packaged release which includes a slipbox and insert booklets.

Terror Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's a whole kind of (intentionally) funny subplot in Terror dealing with Garrick Studios paying the rent by making soft core porn, and there's a probably deliberately "meta" aspect to that plot point, since, as Les Young mentions in one of the supplements in this set, when he and Warren decided to "go independent" they had to choose between making sex films or horror films. I kind of wish Terror had interwoven the porn and horror elements more fully, since that might have given the film a bit more, well, cheekiness. That also might have helped draw attention way from the obvious stylistic copying of Dario Argento. As with the other films in this Warren set, the film itself may be a hit or miss property for some viewers, but the supplemental package is outstanding. Technical merits are solid for those considering a purchase.