TERROR IN THE AISLES (1984)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
Clearly terror is the name of the game and there are choice clips from David Cronenberg's "Scanners," and there are unsavory clips from the largely forgotten 1982's "Vice Squad" with a killer pimp played by Wings Hauser (king of B movie during the 1980's). I rather forget "Vice Squad" and 1982's atrociously unwatchable "The Seduction" with Morgan Fairchild, which have little purpose beyond having their voyeuristic clips shown next to the truly scary "When a Stranger Calls," where Carol Kane is informed that the stalker on the phone is calling from inside her house. There are, however, various clips that come together with the right kind of selections. For example, clips from 1941's "The Wolf Man" are juxtaposed with "An American Werewolf in London" and "The Howling," showing how werewolf transformation scenes have changed substantially in thirty years.
Donald Pleasance has one of those distinct voices that makes you want to listen to his every word. It is fascinating in retrospect that Pleasance discusses real violence versus movie violence, showing a couple of so-called degenerates or undesirables in the audience and how real-life violence doesn't intrude upon the communal viewing experience (who could have anticipated the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting in 1984?) Then Nancy Allen shows her dismay for showing clips of women in peril - pardon, Ms. Allen? One of her own movies is shown, the fantastically suspenseful "Dressed to Kill" where she plays a vulnerable prostitute.
Interestingly, Ms. Allen also discusses how a filmmaker like Alfred Hitchcock would show more style and finesse in his own classic thrillers such as "Psycho" and "Strangers on a Train." There are clips lifted from the terrific Hitchcock documentary by Richard Schickel (as part of the "Men Who made the Movies" series), "Inside Hitchcock," where the Master of Suspense himself speaks on what makes a thriller work. In retrospect, Hitch never had use for gore and seeing how he terrified audiences versus the 80's slashers is a cinema lesson everyone needs to hear. Incidentally, I would've loved to have heard some comments from other directors such as John Carpenter but that is just pure nitpicking.
Interestingly, Ms. Allen also discusses how a filmmaker like Alfred Hitchcock would show more style and finesse in his own classic thrillers such as "Psycho" and "Strangers on a Train." There are clips lifted from the terrific Hitchcock documentary by Richard Schickel (as part of the "Men Who made the Movies" series), "Inside Hitchcock," where the Master of Suspense himself speaks on what makes a thriller work. In retrospect, Hitch never had use for gore and seeing how he terrified audiences versus the 80's slashers is a cinema lesson everyone needs to hear. Incidentally, I would've loved to have heard some comments from other directors such as John Carpenter but that is just pure nitpicking.
"Terror in the Aisles" is occasionally haphazard with selection of film clips overall and its annoying use of a mediocre re-recording of the Halloween theme played during clips from "Halloween II," but the movie is still spine-tingling fun. It is probably the last documentary on horror films released theatrically and it is a bit of a shame that the rest that have been made since (such as the hair-raising "The American Nightmare") have been given a direct-to-DVD life.
