Horror film fans should be sure to check out this hard to find semi-documentary, Terror in the Aisles. Donald Pleasance and Nancy Allen explore many of the great moments in horror movie history (though most are archived footage of movies released by Universal Pictures, since they are the studio that released this movie).
The movie is hosted inside a movie theater with Pleasance and Allen, both horror movie veterans (though Pleasance is more than Allen since he's appeared in nearly every Halloween movie), probing what it is about horror movies that audiences enjoy (perhaps we like the nightmares knowing they're only imaginary as Pleasance sullenly suggests) as well as some of the evolution of classic horror tales (such as Lon Chaney in Wolfman or the Hitchcock horror classics like Psycho and The Birds) into dazzling modern horror creations (like The Exorcist, Halloween, and Jaws). Basically, the movie is just a series of clips of great scenes from great Universal Picture horror films (and many emphasizing special effects in the genre more than anything else).
For example, you see werewolf transformation scenes in Wolfman and the famous Rick Baker transformation in American Werewolf in London. You see the head explosion scene from Scanners (one of the best special effects sequences in a horror movie); the famous shower sequence and Norman Bates finale from the classic, Psycho; the nanny hanging sequence from The Omen; shark attacks from Jaws; those many awesome creature scenes from The Thing and Alien; Jack's crazed persona in The Shining; Carol Kane on the telephone in When a Stranger Calls; scenes from the 1970s remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers; and many other scenes from some of the greatest horror movies ever made (except for The Brood and Alone in the Dark, those were pretty awful films).
Although, the latter half of the movie isn't as good as the first, because the mood changes and you get a lot of archive footage from movies that aren't even of the horror genre. Scenes, for example, from the movie 'Vice Squad' (the movie with Wings Hauser as the crazy Texan who is beating up a female hostage in front of the cops); Nighthawks (a great cop thriller with Sylvester Stallone and Rutger Hauer, but certainly no horror movie); Marathon Man (yes, the "is it safe?" part with Lawrence Olivier is certainly creep city, but it is still only a thriller and not a horror movie); Klute; and so forth. So it isn't entirely about horror films (though I suppose that, judging by the title, it doesn't promise to be strictly about horror films).
If you like horror and suspense movies or just want to see your favorite scenes from the classic titles, Terror in the Aisles is a good choice.
The movie is hosted inside a movie theater with Pleasance and Allen, both horror movie veterans (though Pleasance is more than Allen since he's appeared in nearly every Halloween movie), probing what it is about horror movies that audiences enjoy (perhaps we like the nightmares knowing they're only imaginary as Pleasance sullenly suggests) as well as some of the evolution of classic horror tales (such as Lon Chaney in Wolfman or the Hitchcock horror classics like Psycho and The Birds) into dazzling modern horror creations (like The Exorcist, Halloween, and Jaws). Basically, the movie is just a series of clips of great scenes from great Universal Picture horror films (and many emphasizing special effects in the genre more than anything else).
For example, you see werewolf transformation scenes in Wolfman and the famous Rick Baker transformation in American Werewolf in London. You see the head explosion scene from Scanners (one of the best special effects sequences in a horror movie); the famous shower sequence and Norman Bates finale from the classic, Psycho; the nanny hanging sequence from The Omen; shark attacks from Jaws; those many awesome creature scenes from The Thing and Alien; Jack's crazed persona in The Shining; Carol Kane on the telephone in When a Stranger Calls; scenes from the 1970s remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers; and many other scenes from some of the greatest horror movies ever made (except for The Brood and Alone in the Dark, those were pretty awful films).
Although, the latter half of the movie isn't as good as the first, because the mood changes and you get a lot of archive footage from movies that aren't even of the horror genre. Scenes, for example, from the movie 'Vice Squad' (the movie with Wings Hauser as the crazy Texan who is beating up a female hostage in front of the cops); Nighthawks (a great cop thriller with Sylvester Stallone and Rutger Hauer, but certainly no horror movie); Marathon Man (yes, the "is it safe?" part with Lawrence Olivier is certainly creep city, but it is still only a thriller and not a horror movie); Klute; and so forth. So it isn't entirely about horror films (though I suppose that, judging by the title, it doesn't promise to be strictly about horror films).
If you like horror and suspense movies or just want to see your favorite scenes from the classic titles, Terror in the Aisles is a good choice.