Point of Terror

The previous reviewer (weho90069) summed up the this film quite succinctly, but did he stress the title's musical contribution enough? Only by seeing it would you be able to know just how eye-rolling a production number can actually be. A horrendous musical intro kicks off the film as the opening credits roll, with the lead character Tony Trelos aping about on stage in a blazing, red suede suit with waterfall fringe. The 'live' performances go from bad to worse, as we soon see the actor singing to the rafters in his regular venue, The Lobster House (that is, after a quick shag before curtain). It is in this setting we see Andrea shopping him with her eyes, adding him up as he performs seemingly only for her. Andrea's cool, calculating gaze tells us that it's more than stage talent she's wanting to sign.

Lyrically speaking, the theme song "Lifebeats" (which is repeated throughout) is the narrative that clues us in on the inner world of Sir Trelos. It is this song that he cuts for his first record that proves to be too much for his new rep Andrea, as she abruptly halts the recording session with a dash of her hand, barking out a "FROM the TOP!" It was either ending too soon for her, or else she just couldn't sign off on the vocal at that point. Either way, it gives us another chance to hear it some more. The singer does have his moments vocally-speaking, but we all do when we play American Idol Home Edition. The draw for Trelos' fans is obviously not in his throat.

I recommend you watch POT, but better still, really listen--

"Lifebeats turning into Lovebeats... Lovebeats turning into Lifebeats, moving in and taking over me...".

Wow, man.

Crown International Pictures + Peter Carpenter = match made in trash heaven!

The legendary Peter Carpenter started his film career starring in a Russ Meyer film, VIXEN. He then made three other films before disappearing from the face of the earth. And what films they were. BLOOD MANIA and this one, POINT OF TERROR (I haven't seen "LOVE ME LIKE I DO" but with such a great title, I'm dying to see it). Carpenter stars as a lounge singer who sounds/looks like Tom Jones. The story is totally inconsequential. It's about people scheming to murder other people who murdered other people, etc. Basically, people using people because of money and greed kinda of story.

With better production values than BLOOD MANIA, POINT OF TERROR sometimes looks/sounds like a Russ Meyer film, without the extreme excess that's usually found in Russ Meyer's films. But the rest is still there: sex, trash, hopelessly dated dialogue, violence, buxom babes, beefcake, greed, 1970s gaudiness, did I say trash? It's Russ Meyer-lite.

I love everything in POINT OF TERROR: the music (did Carpenter really sing those songs?), the fashion, the sudden sporadic bursts of violence, the focus on sex, sex, sex. The swingers dialogue: "Hey, Chickie". The acting. The tackiness of it all. Though not as memorably over-the-top as BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, POINT OF TERROR is, IMO, much more entertaining than the over-baked BTVOTD.

Favorite scenes: the opening credits, with Carpenter singing/dancing in a red fringe get-up. The beginning on the beach (Dyanne Thorne's bikini is definitely not sexy). The musical bits. The sex scenes (the triptych one is cool). The scene around the swimming pool when the husband confronts Thorne. Ole! The "surprise" ending. But nothing beats the scene with Leslie Simms, as Fran, in that purple hat. Fran is such a badass! Arf.

Michael J. Weldon, of Psychotronic Films fame, wrote in his books that he hates Peter Carpenter films, which surprises me because Peter Carpenter films are so perfectly Psychotronic: entertainingly bad. The main reason Weldon (and other fan boys) dislikes POT and BLOOD MANIA is probably because the focus is mainly on hunky Peter Carpenter (both films were produced by Carpenter himself...ah, narcissism). But for me, this obvious difference is what makes these trashy movies unique/one of a kind.

Long live Peter Carpenter.

I got this at a dollar store several weeks ago. It's the EastWestDVD edition that pairs it with James Earl Jones' Blood Tide.

After reading the other reviews here, I feel the need to warn people away from dollar store versions of this film because the nudity has been completely edited out and this movie has nothing else going for it.

To give an example of just how shoddy a product the EastWestDVD print is, there's a section that's five or more minutes long that repeats in its entirety.

I don't know what annoys me more, that the print was mutilated, or that I'm going to have to track down a uncut version and suffer through it again. Why do I do this to myself?

Avoid!!!

Point of Terror huh? I don't think so. Maybe Point of No Return or Pointlessness, or even Point Blank - but Terror - NO WAY! This is one of those cheesy, sleazy seventies offerings that are known for real bad acting, virtually little plot, and lots of skin. Point of Terror has all that, and it has so much more. I knew what this film was going to be like right from the beginning when Pete Carpenter, the male lead, dances in the foreground of a ridiculous bright red background ala a poor man's Tom Jones in red attire from head to toe. Things then move to Carpenter, perhaps having one of the biggest self-inflated egos I have seen in any film, play with a girl who loves him but can not offer him any career advancement. Carpenter then lies on a beach, finds an older but beautiful woman(the lovely, buxom Dyanne Thorne), realizes she happens to be married to the man in charge of a recording company that could give him his big break, and you can imagine where things go from there. The story is not overly inventive at all, the acting is quite pedestrian with Carpenter doing a less than workmanlike job parading shirtless and wearing pants made for adolescents. Carpenter, who is credited with writing this as well, even feels compelled to show his backside and then act - with his "skill" and the script - like he is doing all of womanhood a huge favour. One big Yikes! and Yawn. Despite all of this film's problems - and they are legion, Point of Terror is easily very watchable, laughable, and fun in a so bad its good way. And as an extra bonus, there is a scene, probably the best in the film, where Ms. Thorne disrobes and show us why she was in so much demand during those years. Her attributes easily overshadow her unconvincing yet somewhat credible acting style. As for the rest of the thespians, everyone does an OK job. None of the actors are real good nor real bad. The story, although obvious from the beginning, is also at least handled with some flair from the director Alex Nichol. Terror surely was misused in the title as there is virtually no horror at all in this film - a couple of rather tame deaths, though one is with a man in a wheelchair being goaded like a bull with "Ole" into a pool. You will only find something like that in the seventies for sure!

Tony Trelos is a slick crooner at a nightclub called the Lobster House. Screaming and waking up from a nightmare (of his own terrible, terrible nightclub act) on a secluded beach he meets evil- looking and decadent Andrea (Dyanne Thorne) who's wearing a tasteless bikini. They get involved, as she's the wife of the crippled and bitter head of National Records. After one night of love- making in the pool she kills her defenceless wheel chaired husband. When the beautiful Helayne (daughter of the crippled homicide- victim) arrives, Tony falls in love with her, and he's torn between the two women. Things get outta hand and Tony throws a foul- mouthed Andrea off a cliff when she puts pressure on him for witnessing the murder and refusing his upcoming record contract. Things get even worse when Tony is suddenly shot dead by his waitress ex- girlfriend Sally, who's pregnant with his child. And then the magic starts... Tony screams and wakes up at the beach (it was all a bad dream), Andrea comes up to him, and highlights from the movie follows, only to be topped by Tony waking up and screaming once more!!! THE END. Very original.

This is not a good film. The Lobster House is decorated with tinfoil, Tony Trelos looks like a disturbing mixture of Tony Curtis and musician Herb Albert, and a lot of screen time is used showing him with his shirt off. Note that Carpenter who plays this ambitious Vegas sleazebag is also writer and producer. Scenes of Helayne and Tony horseback- riding is pure (and poor) excess, and Tony's crazy/ridiculous songs are downright awful. Pointless scenes of flashbacks to Tony's unhappy and clichéd childhood are seemingly endless. The ending with it all being a bad dream, and then a bad dream within a bad dream is not clever, just stupid. Some sequences appear experimental. I guess this isn't intentional, but proves a laughable lack of basic filmmaking skills. A clumsy and boring movie. Avoid. Avoid.