Terror (1978)
An oddity from Norman J Warren inspired by Dario Argento's Suspiria, Terror doesn't appear to have much in the way of plot and plays out like a string of murder set pieces some perhaps loosely connected to a three hundred year old witch named Mad Dolly.
Terror was a proper independent film, made on the cheap from the profits of Warren's previous success Satan's Slave and various people pitched in with ideas for scenes and set pieces to which writer David McGillivray produced a script, so it's easy to see why the film lacks narrative drive. Despite this the finale is surprisingly effective and quite the shock on first viewing.
However what it lacks in storytelling it makes up for in exploitative gory close up killings as well as the totally bizarre sight of a police car levitating in tree tops. With Warren widely acknowledging the influence of Suspiria on the film in general, it would be interesting to know if Dario Argento saw this film because the death of Phillip (James Aubrey) by a falling sheet of glass is mirrored in Argento's 1980 film Inferno, the follow up to Suspiria.
So whilst it lacks cohesion at times, Terror is still a fun piece of British exploitation trash cinema which topped the UK box office for a single week in 1978. It's also a film i watch on a regular basis.
The Indicator Blu-ray gives the film a new lease of life with it's vibrant picture quality.
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