Despite its place on the Pure Terror Budget Set - as well as being called Point of Terror, there is hardly anything terrifying about this film. Well, maybe star Peter Carpenter's outfits and stageshow... more on that later. But it's hardly a horror film. There is one out of nowhere scene of hacking and slashing, but it honestly felt like something that was just added after the fact when they realized there is no way to effectively market this film. (The poster on imdb says "A Super Shocker" and has a masked man brandishing a knife - that's just flat out intentionally misleading.) Point of Terror isn't overtly bad... it's just a sort of odd tale about a singer guy who will do anything for stardom. But will love get in the way?
The film focuses on a beach bum singer named Tony Trelos (Carpenter - also writer and star of the equally sleazy Blood Mania) - he's got a regular gig at the Lobster House which apparently consists of him singing just one song. But he wants more, and tells his supportive girlfriend that he'll stop at nothing to "be somebody." Well, one day while lounging on the beach, he runs into Andrea Hillard (Dyanne Thorne, of Ilsa fame). Andrea just happens to be running her husband Martin's record label since he was in an accident that paralyzed him from the waist down. (Because he didn't trust her? It's implied he got into the accident spying on Andrea, suspecting adultery. And judging by her behavior with Tony, he was probably right to be suspicious.) But if Martin thought it was bad before the accident, now that he "can't give her what she needs," she must go to Lobster House Tom Jones impersonators to fulfill her desires. So she makes a deal with Tony... a sexy deal. But who is using who? And how will Martin respond if he finds out about their (ahem) arrangement? Tune in to find out!
Anyways, Point of Terror ends up being kind of accidentally entertaining. The musical numbers are enjoyably cheesy, and I would argue that the tassels on Tony's jacket in the opening scene (pictured above) are nearly worth the price of admission on their own. To be fair - that's just north of $0.25 given the source, but still. And it must have been a passion project of sorts for Carpenter - he not only stars and gets producer/story by credits as well. I assume it's him singing too - it's not bad, but it's not all that good either.
But the early 70's sleaziness carries the film a long way. If you don't find this era to be charming, you probably won't enjoy Point of Terror. It's melodramatic, often times poorly acted, looks kind of ugly, and has a sort of meandering pace. Which doesn't sound like a good combination, but here? It's a cocktail that kind of works. It's sort of like a so-bad-it's-good thing... which I usually associate with horror/sci-fi genre. It's not usually ego-driven melodramas that make the cut. Although if I've learned anything from The Room, it's that you need to keep an open mind about your bad movies.
Horror-wise? Don't expect anything. There's a random scene of some nameless person getting stabbed - and it gets a little bloody. But I couldn't figure out what - if anything - it had to do with the overall story. Otherwise, the film plays out like a cautionary tale about the perils of going overboard to achieve fame and fortune.
But still, I dug it. Carpenter is an entertaining presence, and Point of Terror has got a nice sleazy/cheesy sheen to it that makes it a fun watch. Provided you're looking for an entertaining, but not necessarily "good" movie to watch:
I would recommend this film.
No comments:
Post a Comment