Point of Terror (1973)

Director:

Alex Nicol

Writers:

Peter Carpenter (story)
Ernest A. Charles (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

May 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Demons long locked in the depths of the mind come to destroy the weak and believing!

Plot:

A nightclub singer has nightmares about being involved in adultery and murder, only to wake up and find that they may not be nightmares. |

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Adultery | Nightclub Singer | Inheritance | Sex

Cast

Peter Carpenter	...	Tony Trelos
Dyanne Thorne	...	Andrea Hilliard
Lory Hansen	...	Helayne Hilliard
Leslie Simms	...	Fran
Joel Marston	...	Martin Hilliard
Paula Mitchell	...	Sally
Dana Diamond	...	Barmaid
Al Dunlap	...	Bartender
Ernest A. Charles	...	Detective (as Ernest Charles)
Roberta Robson	...	1st Wife
Tony Kent	...	Priest
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hope Lugosi	...	Bar Extra (uncredited)

Directed by
Alex Nicol

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Peter Carpenter		story
Ernest A. Charles		screenplay
Tony Crechales		screenplay
Chris Marconi		story

Produced by
Peter Carpenter	....	producer
Chris Marconi	....	producer
Marilyn Jacobs Tenser	....	associate producer (as Marilyn J. Tenser)

Cinematography by
Robert Maxwell		(as Bob Maxwell)

Film Editing by
R.A. Radecki

Makeup Department
Jimie	....	hair stylist
Nora Maxwell	....	makeup artist

Sound Department
Clark Will	....	sound mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
John Caper Sr.	....	still photographer
Ken Gibb	....	first assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Marion Kops	....	fashion design

Editorial Department
Verna Fields	....	supervising editor
Ruth Shea	....	negative cutter

Music Department
John Caper Jr.	....	music supervisor
Don Vincent	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Tony Crechales	....	assistant to producers
Deborah Maxwell	....	script supervisor (as Debbie Maxwell)

Distributors

• Crown International Pictures (1971) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures of Canada (1971) (Canada) (theatrical)
• EastWest Entertainment (2008) (worldwide) (DVD)
• European Video Corporation (EVC) (19??) (Netherlands) (video) (Betamax)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• Neon Video (VHS)
• Rhino Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Scorpion Releasing (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• VCI Home Video (VHS)

Other Companies

• Brown Jordan  outdoor furnishings
• Edit International  sound effects
• Everest & Jennings  custom motorized chair
• Imagic Inc.  titles and opticals
• Pierre Designs  backgrounds

Also Known As:

Runtime:

UK:88 min | USA:88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R

Quotes:

Tony:Where's Sally?
Andrea:She left, had a scout meeting.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

Soundtrack:

Drifter of the Heart

Jaw-Droppingly Delirious, Demented Bad Film Fun!

Get a group together to witness POINT OF TERROR which, as others will have noted, is not a horror movie (but *is* pretty horrible!). The film is, rather, a sexploitation melodrama about a ruthless, ladder-climbing lounge singer, Tony Trelos (Peter Carpenter) who gets involved both intimately and professionally with Andrea (Dyanne Thorne), the sex-starved, alcoholic wife of a wheelchair-bound music industry mogul. Everything about this film is a howler: script, acting, production values (tin-foil sets), and the music...the music...oh, those songs! On top of everything else we have a protagonist who likes to "drop trou" and show off his humpy bod (and there ain't nuthin' wrong with that!). Peter Carpenter must have an ego the size of Mount Rushmore to flash us a lingering butt-shot when he emerges from a shower as well as a fully nude side-angle shot where his leg just barely hides the family jewels from view. WOOF!!! Did he ever do a Playgirl spread? It certainly would have been up his alley... Tempestuous blonde bombshell co-star Dyanne Thorne is a force to be reckoned with (and how!) with a rack that won't quit, and her buoyant topless scene in a swimming pool is one of the film's highlights (along with her many excursions into overacting). Watch for scenes with Joel Marston as the wheelchair-bound husband who can't seem to sit still (although he's supposed to be utterly incapacitated from the waist down), and in one poolside scene catches himself just before crossing his legs! Leslie Simms in a supporting role as one of Andrea's lush friends is a scene stealer, while Paula Mitchell as Sally turns in a tragically robotic performance. It just keeps getting better and better...! The film's cinematography is often laughably blurry when "focusing" on Carpenter during his lounge act at The Lobster House (yes, The Lobster House, I kid you not), or else it's bizarrely "creative" (as happens during a moonlit, beach-side sex scene involving select points of view shown in split-screen). Oh, and the wardrobe...and hair!!! Look, if you're not a fan of "bad cinema", don't bother with this title since you won't even be able to appreciate the astonishing epic quality of this carefully crafted bomb. But if you're like me, and get sick chuckles out of films that tried really hard but totally missed the mark, then rent this one immediately or buy it (Rhino DVD released POINT OF TERROR as part of a multi-film set titled HORRIBLE HORRORS in October of 2004). This one gets a whopping 8 out of 10 just because its so terribly awful that it's engagingly entertaining in repeat viewings (and how cool is that!?!) -- how often does a "bad" film come along that still yields new stuff to ridicule on repeat viewings? POINT OF TERROR is a winner! And speaking of winners, what EVER happened to a talent like Peter Carpenter??? Enquiring Minds Want To Know!!!