Blu-ray Review: Terror in the Aisles (1984)

"As movies about movie clips go, this it the best one ever."

The version of Terror in the Aisles that we watched is the HD version included as a bonus feature on the Halloween II Blu-ray by Universal.

I tell you this because the Halloween II disc can be had for under $10, while the Terror in the Aisles  standalone DVD is almost $20; and it obviously looks better in HD.

I've since upgraded to the far superior Scream Factory version of Halloween II, but I kept the old one because it has Terror in the Aisles on it. 

Genre stars Donald Pleasance and Nancy Allen sit in a theater filled with terrified moviegoers, and show them, and us, a bunch of clips of Horror, Thriller, and Sci-Fi flicks from the dawn of film through the 80's.

It's basically an 80's mix-tape, in Horror movie form. 

"I HATE TO HAVE TO TELL YOU THIS, BUT YOUR POPCORN IS HAUNTED."

I remember my Mom taking me and fellow THC member, Machine, to see this at the theater when we were kids. We loved what we saw, and of course we acted all tough about it like kids do, because nothing scared us. Later that night, as we sat up playing Stratego, or whatever the fuck we kids did back in the 80's for fun, we about shit our pants when the paperboy threw the Sunday paper against my door. The movie apparently did scare us, and made us stay up all night.

That closing scene that builds and builds and ends with Leatherface slamming that metal door scared us to death.

Terror in the Aisles is nothing more than clips of older Horror & Suspense flicks edited together to illustrate what scares us, and how filmmakers take advantage of those fears to make us see their movies. It's all done in a really fun way, with plenty of quick-cut editing that actually makes it play rather intense at times, even though it's just a Documentary.

It was obviously thrown together to capitalize of the massive Horror boom that was happening in the mid-80's, and that make it feels like something that you'd find in a time capsule or something, like a brief snippet of a time gone by, but man is it a fun one.

SHE'S SO INTENSE.

Terror in the Aisles offers up some of the best moments from dozens of movies from years gone by, like Halloween; Friday the 13th; Scanners; Texas Chainsaw, The Exorcist, An American Werewolf in London; When a Stranger Calls; it even highlights some excellent "Non-Horror" movies like Nighthawks, The Marathon Man, and Vice Squad, that have stuck with us ever since.

The only thing that really sucks about this movie is that it shows a ton of spoiler-y scenes, reveals, and even endings of the movies that it covers. That's fine for us, but for someone who hasn't seen some of the older gems covered within, it could ruin it for them. 

"STOP TALKING AND LET US WATCH THE DAMN MOVIE, DONALD!"

 Lots of blood and gore in this one. It's like a highlight reel of kill scenes.

YEP. PLENTY GORY.

There's a section of the movie that focuses on sex in Horror films, so, nudity! Most of it is in quick flashes, though.

MAN WE LOVED THE 80'S.

Donald Pleasance was awesome, and Nancy Allen was 80's hot.

80'S HOT, WE SAY!

For us, Terror in the Aisles is a piece of our childhoods that always makes us smile from ear to ear. As a Documentary (re. clip show), it's not perfect, but it's one that will capture the imagination of just about any Horror fan, especially younger ones who are just beginning to discover their love for all things terrifying.

The fact that it comes as a bonus feature on a Halloween II disc that costs less that $10 makes is a must own for us. Which is why we do.

B+

Here are some of the ladies that populate this horrific clip-stravaganza, most of whom are considered to be classic Scream Queens.