Terror Tract Review

This film was part of a double feature that I couldn't watch in one sitting, and it was well worth it. Terror Tract is an interesting film that is much like a lot of other anthology films, for lack of a better term. You see, Terror Tract is a movie about 4 different stories in one, and is like a long form “Tales From The Crypt”. You don't know this when the film stars as it features an interesting starting point.

John Ritter plays a real estate agent that is showing off houses, and upon arriving to the first house tells a little story. This is a sign of things to come, had I read the back of the box and knew what I was in for, but instead I just went along with the story.

The first story is about an affair that goes awry when an angry husband catches his cheating wife with a younger man. There's a murder suicide plot involved and the situation goes awry fast. It features some above average acting, but the lack of nudity and lackluster sex scene really makes you wish for something a little more serious. The end of the story is the classic “Tales From The Crypt” style ending where no one really wins. This of course ends up going back to our main storyline, with Ritter telling potential customers about the house, and since they are freaked out that there was a murder-suicide, they want to see another house.

The second story hinges on the second house and of course, just like the first, a story is told about the history of the house. The second story is another good one and really reminds me of the George Romero Classic, Monkey Shines. The second story actually stars Bryan Cranston, you know the dad from Malcolm in the Middle, and he makes the story worth while. The story follows a little girl that finds a monkey, and when the family learn to love this little guy, he starts to show signs of aggression towards the father, things go awry fast. This part ended like you'd expect, a dead family member and a dead monkey. Oh and it was cool to see Buff Bagwell of WCW fame in the film. That dude was on the roids, I knew it!



It's interesting to note that the film has the ongoing story of Ritter's character is involved in the ongoing story, and will come into play after the third story is finished.

The third story involves a teenager talking to a psychiatrist about some premonitions that he's been having that are eerily similar to murders that have been happening in the area. When things get really weird, the psychiatrist starts running, despite the teenagers premonition that she's next. In a case of mistaken identity the story ends up with quite the plot twist, and cool death sequence for the poor doctor.

When the story concludes, and Ritter gets a phone call about having to sell something by the deadline, things from the original story starts to become clearly visible and it's an interesting thing to note. The couple doesn't want to buy and Ritter goes nuts because he's in a huge bind and kills one of the potential clients! This gore filled ending ties the whole movie together, and it's quite interesting compared to other films of this genre.

Is Terror Tract A Scary Film?: Yes and No.

There are parts to this film that are actually quite scary. The third story is quite good indeed. The idea of a premonition that leads to trying to help someone escape a murder is nothing new in real life. In fact, I remember reading about a guy that actually had some serious premonitions and they came to fruition. The way the story unfolds, in a short amount of time, is better than most plot points of modern horror film. I enjoyed that aspect of it, and to think that there have been people that had lucid encounters with the unreal, only to have them come to pass, is quite scary.

The weird monkey story is nothing new, but it is also kind of scary. Well, scary to Indians. You see, I heard a news story a year or so ago where a city in India was over run with monkeys. The mayor wanted to fight them so they employed a BIGGER MONKEY and in the end, I believe the mayor got thrown out of a balcony and died. True story! So I guess that can be somewhat scary.

The first story wasn't all that scary, but with so many idiots cheating on their wives, it could be scary for people like Tiger Woods. (I had to do it folks, terrible one liners, late jokes, and what not, I couldn't resist).

Terror Tract is actually better than I thought. It was nice to see John Ritter in a horror role, and it was cool to see Bryan Cranston out acting a monkey. I recommend checking out Terror Tract for sure, and definitely would look into picking up the double feature dvd that it comes on. It is paired with Cherry Falls, and worth watching. I never felt like it was a straight to dvd movie, nor that it was terrible, and enjoyed it a lot more than most of the films that I have to review for this site. It can be scary, but most often, it's just interesting and entertaining, even if the gore is limited and there is no quality nudity.