Terror Tract

Real estate man John Ritter shows three houses to a young couple (David Deluise, Allison Smith). Each one has a horrible story attached to it which Ritter tells the couple.

"Nightmare" is a predictable story about a love triangle and murder. There are too many false scares but it's fairly well-done. "Bobo" is a real stupid tale of a killer monkey. Dumb, illogical, silly but Bryan Cranston gives a good performance despite the script. "Come to Granny" is a winner. A teenage boy (Will Estes) sees killings before they're about to happen at the hands of the Granny Killer--a killer who wears a disgusting old womans mask while killing women. The mask itself is scary and the murder scenes are violent, bloody and extremely well-done. Also Estes makes for a very sympathetic protagonist (and has a surprising shower scene). The final wrap up of the framing story is also bloody, funny and really good.

All in all, it's much better than I expected. It's worth seeing for the bits involving Ritter (who's very good) and the final story.

I was browsing through the Electronics Boutique in my local mall. Usually, when I see a cheap 2 pack dvd, I'll go for if the movies look promising. That being said, I saw the two pack dvd that consisted of Cherry Falls, and this: Terror Tract. I paid seven dollars for the dvd, and it was worth it, especially for two films.

At first, when I looked at the back of the box, and read the plot, my expectations weren't exactly high. From the description on the back of the box, it sounded like it was just a single-story clichéd horror film about a psycho who takes his job too seriously. When I watched it, I was proven wrong. VERY wrong. The film features three different horror stories, all of them are retold by John Ritter's character. He retells the bloody past of each house to a couple who are thinking of purchasing them. The stories his character tells make up the stories in the movie.

The first horror tale is entitled `Nightmare.' It's plot revolves around a young woman who is caught cheating on her husband with another man. At the beginning of this story, it teases the audience, and me, by showing the back of a nude woman. But anyways, her husband catches her with the other man, revealing that he knew about everything all along. He attempts to kill both his wife, and he lover, but things end up backfiring back to him. The wife and lover dump his `dead' carcass in the water, and desperately try to cover the incident up. I particularly didn't enjoy this story very much, because it has the typical story of a wife cheating on her husband, and someone ending up getting killed. The script is hampered by below mediocre acting from Carmine Giovinazzo (Frank the lover) and Rachel York (Sarah, the wife). The dialogue is lame and derived from old campy horror tales, and each character is just what you would expect: The wife who participates in the murder of her husband, and slowly slipping into insanity because of all the strange things happening, and the lover who seems to never show consideration towards anyone else. The story is somewhat lame, but still proves to be old fashion and fun. The suspense still seems to remain intact, and the tension that builds up in certain scenes will eventually score a cheap scare out you, witch, in my opinion, isn't a bad thing. If a movie has a scare in it, regardless if it's a cheap one, it's still a good thing. Overall, however, this story is the worst out of the bunch, but the movie does get better. Overall Score (for the segment NIGHTMARE): 5 ½ out of 10.

After the couple is disgusted after the realization of the house's past, they go to house number two, which leads to story number two, entitled `Bobo.' Bobo, is about a typical family who finds a seemingly normal monkey in the backyard. The daughter (played by Katelin Petersen) loves the monkey, but as the monkey raises more hell in the house, the father (played by Malcom in the Middle's Bryan Cranston) has more hate for it, and has the feeling that the monkey is evil. This segment bares a more of a `slasher' tone than the previous story. Unlike the previous story, this one doesn't suffer from a s****y script, or bad acting. The acting is a little above mediocre. Each actor creates more characterization for each character, the lines are delivered well, and surprisingly, Marcus Bagwell (a.k.a. Buff Bagwell) delivers a more-than-mediocre performance as the pound dispatcher. Bryan Cranston gives the best overall performance. This segment bares a semi-good storyline, but is missing ingenuity and quality. I like the fact that the `evil killer monkey' story is handled quite well, and there's enough blood for the average horror fan. This segment also has a good ending. It is the second best out of the three stories.

Overall score (for the segment BOBO): 7 ½ out of 10.

The final segment is `Come to Granny,' a somewhat scary story that ahs a somewhat scary villain (the only scary thing from the villain is his/her voice). This segment is the story that delivers the most horror, and DEFINITELY the most gore, but the story is almost third rate. Here's how it goes: The story's main character is Sean Goodwin (play by Will Estes), who has reoccurring premonitions of a psychotic serial killer who goes by the name `Granny Killer,' and who also where's an odd Grandma mask (which s a nice touch to the character). Every time the killer strikes, he sees them all. There really is no distinctive point to this story. The fact that the main character has premonitions kind of already bogs it down in terms of originality. This story, however, for some reason, can actually scare you. The villain is actually somewhat scary, mainly because of it's voice and appearance. The acting is somewhat good, but falls short of what Bobo had, the script, however, isn't good. It's loaded with clichés, and mediocre dialogue, but is still better than the first segment's story.

This segment, however, has the most gore out of each. It has amazingly awesome splatter affects, and very detailed and distinct make-up. Overall, this story is the most entertaining out of the three, and delivers the most horror out of all. This one is the best segment out of the three. Overall score (for the segment COME TO GRANNY): 8 out of 10.

Now, there's technically a fourth segment, which involves John Ritter's character and the couple, but it's not really a segment. John Ritter delivers a great performance, and creates a lot of character, however, the couple does not deliver a good performance. The ending is somewhat funny, just the thought of what's happening before the credits roll will make you laugh.

Overall, Terror Tract was one of the my favorite B-movie quality horror movies. It is not entirely a b-horror movie. Seeing it as a normal movie viewer, I give it a good score, but seeing it as a critic.Actually, I'm not a critic, so who gives a crap? The script varies from good to bad, it depends on which segment, and the story lines are good old fashioned campy horror. This film proves to be very entertaining. Also, view this movie with an open mind, it's meant for enjoyment and nothing else.

Also, this is my favorite John Ritter movie. May he rest in peace. My heart goes out to his friends and family. Rest in peace, John.

Overall score: 8 out of 10.

If you're a fan of searching through "B" movies and finding those rare ones with true "gem" moments, have a look. John Ritter truly makes this film. His segment has the most laughs, and the best tongue-in-cheek delivery. The story that ties the three sub-features together is actually the best one. Format-wise, this is purely Tales From the Dark Side. One segment ties three 30-minute shorts together, and much fun is had by all. Hokey horror and fun ensues. Segment 1 is the weakest of the bunch, but still has a few moments to keep things lively. Segment two is supported both by a notable appearance (Bryan Cranston, father on Malcolm In the Middle) and by a hilariously preposterous evil villain. Segment three is the creepiest of the bunch, and uses classic thriller/horror tricks without concerning itself with an explanation or a payoff, much like the early fifties Twilight Zone episodes. Personally, my favourite moment is the opening credit sequence, which stands tall among "b" movie setups. But it's still a bad movie...

(the house on)Terror Tract is a recent and rather good horror film that should have deserved a bit more praise and credit than it actually got at the time of its release. It certainly isn't a highlight, but it is good enough to take the test with similar movies like "Creepshow" and "Tales from the Darkside". The late John Ritter portrays a real-estate manager who's showing some fancy and luxurious houses to a young couple. Due to a newly introduced ethical law, he's obliged to tell the potential buyers every little detail about the past of these houses. That's how we come to the separate stories. Actually, the whole wraparound story starring John Ritter is the best part of the entire movie...it contains a terrific opening on the "eat or be eaten" theme and the finale is just great. Terror Tract constantly flirts with the genre of parody (life in the upper-class neighborhood) but it manages to keep up the horror atmosphere during the entire movie. The quality level of the actual stories of Terror Tract is varying directly as their order. The first story is lame and far from original and handles about the "getting rid of the husband's corpse"-theme. The second story contains a few more interesting aspects but it still isn't quite satisfying. However, the third and final story was really good. It has a fascinating plot and the suspense is built up real well.

The House on Terror Tract certainly isn't a must-see, but you won't regret it if you spend your time watching it. The most important positive point of this film are that it has a fresh and light-headed tone and a pretty funny surrounding. It could have used a bit more bloody sequences, though...

Ah, Terror Tract. I had seen this movie about a year ago and enjoyed it a lot. It's three horror stories, each about 35-40 minutes each, compiled into one movie. They tie it all together with a story about a real estate officer who desperately, DESPERATELY needs to sell homes to a newlywed couple, and ends up telling them the stories behind each house. The first story, "Nightmare", is a love triangle story that involves a murdered husband coming back from the dead to kill his wife. The second story, "Bobo", is about a pet monkey that has some sinister tricks up it's sleeve. The third story 'Come to Granny' is the real gold nugget in this piece, the shining work of the film. And the ending is a good exercise in chaotic insanity that will leave a bewildered smile on your face as the credits roll in.

"Nightmare" is a solid little story, but not overly memorable, and could've been omitted for a better one, or just to elongate the duration of "Come to Granny." This story felt way too long and was rather boring in some parts, although the ending was nice and the murder scene at the beginning was well executed (heh...pun...). Bad acting all around though. "Bobo" has good acting by Bryan Cranston as Ron, the father, and is rather humorous and ridiculous. It was a step up from the bland "Nightmare", but still not world class and could not stand on it's own as a real movie.

Then we reach the high point of our little anthology, "Come to Granny." It's the story of a troubled, dark young man who comes into the office of a psychiatrist late in the evening, and begins to tell the tale of how he sees the murders of 'The Granny Killer', a brutal psychopath who wears a mask resembling an old woman, and how his life was ruined because of it. This one packs very good hack-n-slash kills and an excellent and creepy ending. We have a good acting performance by Will Estes as Sean, and if I can say, Shonda Farr looks very nice as Jasmine, too. This one would be very good as a B slasher/horror flick, and I'd definitely pick it up on it's own. Worth the rental of the entire anthology by itself.

The ending of the film itself, like I stated above, is a good little burst of chaos and blood and gore, and pretty funny. John Ritter's performance was adequate and he did a great job. Overall, worth a rental for even casual horror fans, if you're looking for something interesting. This also comes with Cherry Falls in some sort of double feature type thing, and that movie is my personal favorite of the two.