Donald Pleasence is a Ghoul

Ah Friday, time to put my feet up and watch some cheese ball movies. Today I want to talk about an oddity of sorts that you don't see anymore, The Clip Movie. Clip shows are still a part of television, usually as a spoof of eighties sitcom's that used clip shows constantly. The clip movie was strange because it featured scenes from movies, edited together, and usually hosted by celebrates. Still stranger, these things were released into theaters. I can't imagine who would have gone to the movies to watch a series of scenes, but these seemed to work back when there was a "Midnight Movie" market. My favorite of the clip movies was Terror in the Aisles. Hosted by Donald Pleasence and Nancy Allen and released in 1984, Terror had an interesting mix of mainstream horror scenes (Halloween, The Shinning, Psycho, Friday the 13th) and some great less well known winners (Ms. 45, Vice Squad, Frogs). There's a ton of great films smashed into 84 minutes. Donald Pleasence is great as he harrass' theater goers. The movie is divided into different segments, such as Diabolical Villains and Sexy Situations. I got to see this on late night cable and during the early days of home video. It sent me off searching for most of the featured films and I think I've seen almost all of them. I found out about Nighthawks and Vice Squad, two great action/cop films (Look for a Vice Squad entry soon). Terror in the Aisles is a fun movie for those of us who grew up during the seventies and eighties. There are a lot of films you'll recognize and some that will be brand new. It's also a good way to work someone into horror films that might not be a fan. A fun party movie, Terror in the Aisles is worth a watch, check it out.