Terror

Crude, derivative movie by independent director Norman J. Warren.

Obviously patterned after “Suspiria” (1977) – vivid colors, the witch’s makeup, disjointed narrative, etc. -, but this film is light years removed from Argento’s masterpiece. Unfortunately, “Terror” suffers from a sustained lack of tension – it’s a lackluster story with third-rate acting, consisting of a tedious series of killings, whose production strongly suffers from a paltry budget.

Raw material that in more capable hands might have become macabre poetry, here is reduced to a hodgepodge of boredom and nonsense (a car floating in the shadows, a bathtub in flames, a man attacked by yards and yards of film, a totally gratuitous nude scene, etc…).

Unintended humor even slips in, for example in the scene when the protagonist remains poker-faced after receiving a terrible blow from his hypnotized cousin. Mediocre all the way around.