Intrigue

Horror film legends Donald Pleasence and Nancy Allen serve as the hosts and narrators for a compilation of scenes from many science fiction, crime drama, and horror movies of the 1930s through the 1980s.

"Terror in the Aisles" has Donald Pleasence and Nancy Allen bringing the viewers through some of Hollywood's most terrifying moments in horror history in this anthology, which features many of the finest science fiction, crime drama and horror films of the 1930s through the 1980s. Included are Psychose (1960), Les Oiseaux (1963), La Nuit des morts-vivants (1968), Rosemary's Baby (1968), Massacre à la tronçonneuse (1974), Les Dents de la mer (1975), Les Dents de la mer, 2ᵉ partie (1978), Carrie au bal du diable (1976), Fog (1980), Hurlements (1981), La Nuit des masques (1978) and Halloween II (1981), as well as countless others. Furthermore, legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock discusses his visionary ideas on creating suspense. Very much blood and gore abound making this movie not very much for the squeamish audiences.—medic249a2

"Terror in the Aisles" has Donald Pleasence and Nancy Allen sharing narration duties on this anthology that looks at most of the terrifying sequences from major-and some minor-terror films, such as the shower scene from Psychose (1960) and the midnight swim from Les Dents de la mer (1975). Included are La Nuit des morts-vivants (1968), Rosemary's Baby (1968), Massacre à la tronçonneuse (1974), Marathon Man (1976), La Nuit des masques (1978), Halloween II (1981), Pulsions (1980), Fog (1980), Hurlements (1981) and Poltergeist (1982), as well as countless others. Furthermore, legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock discusses his visionary ideas on creating suspense. This is only a movie and sooner or later, the audience must leave the theater as soon as possible, perhaps alone.—John Sacksteder <jsackste@bellsouth.net>

Director Andrew J. Kuehn has excerpted brief segments of terror and suspense in a wide variety of horror films and strung them together with added commentary, as well as some enacted narrative, to create a compilation of fright-induced effects. Horror genre legends Donald Pleasence and Nancy Allen provide the commentary on topics such as "sex and terror" (Pulsions (1980), Klute (1971), L'ange de la vengeance (1981), Mortelle séduction (1982), La Féline (1982)), loathsome villains (Marathon Man (1976), La Nuit des masques (1978), Halloween II (1981), Les Faucons de la nuit (1981), Vice Squad: Descente aux enfers (1982)), "natural terror" (Les Oiseaux (1963), Les Dents de la mer (1975), Les Dents de la mer, 2ᵉ partie (1978), Morsures (1979), L'Incroyable Alligator (1980)), the occult (Rosemary's Baby (1968), L'Exorciste (1973), La Malédiction (1976), Carrie au bal du diable (1976), Furie (1978), Fog (1980), Hurlements (1981), Poltergeist (1982), The Thing (1982), Shining (1980)).

In one segment of the anthology, legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock presents his concepts of how to create suspense in a clip from Alfred Hitchcock: Men Who Made The Movies (1973). The advertising specifically mentions the movies that clips are taken from as "terror films" instead of "horror films", and some of the movies used here (such as Marathon Man (1976) and Nighthawks (1981)) are not considered horror films but were included because their villains were considered horrifying. The most recent movie used for the 1984 release was Vidéodrome (1983), which David Cronenberg introduced to theaters in February 1983; the attempts of getting rights to and assembling clips was so extensive that no movie released after that were considered for usage by the documentarians.