TERROR IN THE ISLES: Blu-ray re-issue (Universal, 1981) Shout! Factory
Fear: one of those elemental human reactions most of us really do not want to experience in life, and yet, somehow, for a good many, made palpable, cathartic, and yes – even desirable by the act of ‘thrill-seeking’. To experience fear under controlled circumstances seems to appease our base human craving and stave off its specter. And nowhere is this comfort level with unease made more appealing than in the horror genre at the movies. From the comfort of our theater seats or couch, we can allow all manner of terror, otherwise truly grotesque, to simply wash over us with an ever-anesthetizing effect. Ironically, seeing a horror movie is a reassuring experience because we can always turn our heads away from the shock and revile or assuage our rising blood pressure by turning on the lights to confirm we are still surrounded by the familiarity of that life we know, in contrast to the decidedly very unfamiliar one being projected on the screen. It’s been suggested that the protagonists in all horror movies are really dumb. After all, who in their right mind, given half the opportunity between waiting in the car or exploring an old, dark house, would choose the latter – usually without a flashlight, or even the good sense God gave a lemon? Alas, without such curiosity, no horror movie would ever get off the ground. But you do know what they say about curiosity, and its effect on the proverbial ‘cat’?
Horror movies have always been a main staple of
Hollywood. Fair enough, the genre has gone through cycles - from the Gothic
strain, almost single-handedly put forth by Universal Studios in the Depression
era 1930’s, and thereafter interminably mined until virtually all of its
classic monsters had been transformed into figures of fun. There was the sci-fi
strain of radioactive giant bugs and mutant plants, products of the atomic age
(completely overlooked here), and the cheap camp of William Castle (also
mislaid), then, a Gothic renaissance, legitimately begun with House of Wax
(1953 – also not featured in this compendium), only to be bastardized in all
those mid-60’s lurid outings for Hammer (again, nowhere to be seen). Hitchcock
brought horror into the shower with Psycho (1960), then, assaulted us
with its sudden manifestation as commonplace as The Birds (1963). George
A. Romano resurrected the cult of the zombie, first explored in White Zombie
(1932), then, by master of the psychological horror, Val Lewton, who actually ‘walked’
with one. Roman Polanski delved into devil worship with Rosemary’s Baby
(1968), soon popularized by William Friedkin’s The Exorcist (1973) and
Richard Donner’s The Omen (1978). Steven Spielberg made us afraid to go
in the water with Jaws (1975) and John Carpenter introduced us to a new
kind of terror - the psycho-stalker in Halloween (1978). This latter
effort, unfortunately, ushered in a new age for horror – the slasher flick, renowned
for its bloodier than ever attack on our senses and good taste.
Odd, in fact, that ‘good taste’ should be associated
at all with ‘horror’. But time and again, a film-maker’s tact and well-placed
dark shadow have proven far more effective at stirring our overriding dread
than figuring out new and graphic ways to split someone’s head open with an
axe. Nevertheless, the slasher strain of horror has remained, by and large, the
popularized form of the genre ever since the early 1980’s, made cheaply, on the
fly, and with the most modest consideration paid either to story or acting. All
one requires here is a gaggle of amiable teen flesh, dumb enough to enter the labyrinth,
and a killer with a yen to carve it with a knife, or some other gruesome means
of dismemberment at hand. Given the low
production costs of making such drivel, with the potential to reap huge
rewards, is it any wonder why so many horror movies continue to be made? The transparency
required to understand why so many of us are attracted to it…ah, now there is
the real mystery – as yet unexplained.
Psychologists reason the physical/emotional release of
fear is at the crux of our fascination with horror movies; just another way to
diffuse our cravings for that adrenaline-seeking rush of faux exhilaration. Tension,
carefully constructed by producers, directors and screenwriters, plunges us
into a world of mystery and suspense, all of it based around our communal fear
of death, with the final element to tantalize – a confirmation of the ‘un-reality’
of that man-made situation, thereby marginally putting us at ease in the
knowledge what we are being shown – however graphically unfurled – is merely
meant as a form of leisure, to fill up our time with a ‘good scare’. This can
be as easily dismissed because it hails from the realm of the darkly fanciful. As
horror movies trigger our built-in ‘fight or flight’ response, they equally
confirm for us a return to normalcy in the end, thereupon stimulating positive
feelings, just as intense, even comforting. Hence, our response to horror is
the proverbial ‘mind screw’ because it begins by creating discomforting
reactions set off in the brain, only to restore our sense of empathy by
plucking our sensation-seeking chords to the point of abject aggravation, and
then, allowing the body’s natural responses to reset themselves once the
initial strain has been resolved.
One horror movie can do all this. In the case
of director, Andrew J. Kuehn’s Terror in the Isles (1984), the exercise
is not nearly as sure-footed. This impressive compendium of snippets and sound
bites from nearly every good horror movie – and a few bad ones - remains an
awkward amalgam at best. Not surprising, given its own vintage, the picture
skews toward horror movies made in the late sixties and throughout the 1970’s –
arguably, the second ‘golden age’ for frights at the cinema. Co-hosted by
Donald Pleasance and Nancy Allen – stalwarts of the genre, these clips from far
too many movies to list herein, with its rudimentary focus on sex and violence,
merely whet the appetite for better movies seen elsewhere than in this loosely
strung together cohort of horror/sci-fi classics with a few oddities peppered
in for amusement. Almost as interesting
to consider what’s been left out of the mix as what is included herein. As
example, we get a few choice moments from Friday the 13th Part II
(1981), but not its predecessor, while non-horrors, To Catch a Thief
(1956), Wait Until Dark (1967), Marathon Man (1976) and Nighthawks
(1981) get a lot of playtime. In compartmentalizing the ‘essence’ of horror,
Kuehn attempts to draw some clarity from his claptrap, keeping the Gothic
villains of yore together, and the occult classics separated from the spoofs
and parodies. There is even a bit of a Hitchcock interview in which the master
of suspense explains his theory on what makes a rank scare a good fright. Terror in the Isles may not be a
particularly engrossing analysis of the horror genre, but it does allow the
viewer a Cole’s Notes version of what it has to offer. And in this vein, at
least, the picture excels with the highlights from a lot of truly outstanding
and cringe-worthy exemplars in the genre.
Evidently, audiences agreed. For a picture whose only
real budgetary consideration was in securing the rights to showcase this cacophony
of clips, Terror in the Isles went on to gross $10,004,817 at the box
office. This did not stop the critics from lambasting its efforts however, and,
in hindsight, it is hard not to take their deconstructive critiques to heart.
The over-simplified and loose narrative structure, the rather dim-witted
exposition by Pleasance and Allen on these displayed (and displaced) clips, the
re-edited, rapid fire apposition of so many highlights crammed together,
thereby deflating their individual strength in generating abject fear (because
the big build-up to their climax is absent), intermittently interrupted by a
framing device, with its faux audience sitting in a darkened theater, artificially
‘reacting’ to what is supposedly unfolding for them on the screen for the first
time. In his 1 ½ hr. attempt to celebrate the horror genre, even exalt its status
for a new generation eager to embrace its wares, director, Kuehn seems wholly
incapable to provide his viewership with any sort of meaningful social or
historical context on which the exercise might best have been served. So, in
the end we are left with more popcorn than ‘terror’ in these isles.
Curious, Terror in the Isles should finally be
getting its own Blu-ray release. If you already own Universal’s Blu-ray of Halloween
II (1981), released in 2012, then you own a copy of this horror compendium
too. And with that disc still readily available and retailing for less than $10
on Amazon.com, it really makes no sense to seek out this standalone at a whopping
$25!!! Image quality varies according to
the quality of the clips featured; so, older stuff has a grittier texture with
amplified grain, all of it exacerbated by the fact everything here has been reformatted
to accommodate a 1.85:1 aspect ratio – so, 1.33:1 clips are optically blown up
while 2.35:1 clips have had the sides lopped off. Contrast is solid. On the
whole, this looks just so-so, with color saturation that still leans too far into
the reds, and, slightly blown out tonality in the gray scale. Baked in age-related
debris is also an issue. The audio is a 5.1 DTS and, when source materials
allow, features an aggressive stereo mix. Shout! Factory, the distributors of
this reissue have added 3 interview puff pieces; the first, with Nancy Allen,
the second, with composer, John Beal, and the third, featuring one half of the editing team, Gregory McClatchy. For the record, the other half belongs to the aptly named William 'Flicker'. Of the three, Allen’s is the most enjoyable. We also have a new to Blu
audio commentary by Russell Dyball which meanders, original trailers, and TV
spots. Bottom line: the extras are nice, but not worth a repurchase at almost
triple the cost of the aforementioned Halloween II disc. Stick with what
you know. Terror in the Isles was never really deserving of the deluxe
treatment, and Shout!’s isn’t as ‘deluxe’ as it reports to be. Pass.
FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)
2
VIDEO/AUDIO
2.5
EXTRAS
2.5
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