Terror | 1978 | UK | Norman J. Warren

A British reaction to the success of Dario Argento’s Suspiria, this exploitation flick is another from Norman J. Warren, eager to cash in on the witchy thrills and colourfully-imbued chills of the Italian groundbreaker. The Garrick family have a historic curse upon their name, supposedly invoked by one Mad Dolly, a suspected witch who was burned at the stake by the rich Garrick ancestors. In the present day, the last surviving members of the family, cousins Ann and James, begin experiencing strange phenomena around them. This deadly force eventually claims the lives of those around in bizarre accidents and events, eventually returning for the last of the Garrick bloodline in a shocking denouement. Happily discarding logic in the style of Argento’s film, this is a very fun exercise in gaudy murder, soap opera dramatics, and a European aesthetic. The fact that the film was another bloodstained motion picture done by Warren was probably enough justification for the DPP to just lump it in with the others.