Wordiezett So much average

Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Spikeopath Chuck Norris plays cop Danny O'Brien, who finds that a one time serial killing enemy of his has apparently come back from the dead and started killing again.It's all very cheesy and in truth it's a low grade Norris vehicle. Norris is going through the motions, even portraying a character more softer at heart than what he usually played in the decade. The villain played by Jack O'Halloran is something of a lumbering oak and not very threatening, and once again Norris fans are short changed as per quotient of martial artistry. The big face off at the finale is at least well constructed, thus saving the pic from total stinker status. 4/10

Leofwine_draca HERO AND THE TERROR is a film with a fun beginning, involving a hilarious jail break and an excellent scene of a van flying down the side of a mountain in loving slow motion. Unfortunately, after all the action of the first half hour, the film unwisely slows down to a crawl to spend more time on unwanted characterisation and human relationships than thrills and chills. Now I know characterisation is important in movies in order to get the viewer to connect with the leads but not to this degree! Endless scenes show Norris and his screen wife wining, dining, talking, and eventually giving birth (the wife that is, not Norris... this isn't JUNIOR). Huh? Is there a reason we want to see all this? The "Terror" of the title is a hulking brute of a serial killer who likes to break the necks of his victims and collect the bodies in his hidden lair. Sadly the various stalk-and-snap sequences are handled poorly and with little suspense - a spooky shot of a pair of hands coming out of an air vent is as creepy as this film gets. Events plod on with slow police investigation which seemingly goes nowhere, and the film culminates in a poorly-handled battle between Norris and the villain which really isn't as exciting as it should be.It's a shame as the "Chuck Norris meets Friday the 13th" concept as many reviewers dubbed the movie on its release could have made for a very entertaining, action-packed movie, but what we're left with is a slow-paced and lifeless thriller devoid of thrills. What does a thriller without any thrills become anyway? Nothing, and that's the feeling you'll get from watching this movie. Not that you can blame Chuck Norris for the disappointment - he's actually quite good here, playing a sincere character, and makes for a strong lead. Likewise Norris has a good supporting cast of film veterans, including the underrated Steve James as the token black sidekick, and Billy Drago (later to become a popular villain in straight-to-video flicks) as a doctor. Jack O'Halloran has little to work with as the bad guy, and his lack of characterisation (we're told briefly that he was sexually abused by his mother, but the line is throwaway and doesn't really explain his character's psychology) hurts the film a lot. It's a shame as I believe he could have made a good job of it too.This is a film which desperately cries out for more action. Sure there are a few fun cheesy scenes of Norris using martial arts on various low-life villains at the beginning of the film but these have all dried out around the half-hour mark - and there's no further fighting until the very end. HERO AND THE TERROR is a just about passable viewing experience which will no doubt disappoint those looking for a good, entertaining time.

Michael_Elliott Hero and the Terror (1988)** (out of 4)Danny O'Brien (Chuck Norris) brings down a serial killer labeled by the media as The Terror (Jack O'Halloran), which gets his labeled as Hero. Three years after the event O'Brien is still suffering nightmares and struggling to put his life together but things get a lot worse when The Terror escapes from a mental hospital.HERO AND THE TERROR is a Cannon film that tried to show their star Norris in a new light. The "added" stuff here includes seeing Norris struggle with coming to terms with the killer but there's a very large subplot dealing with his pregnant girlfriend and their upcoming child. The melodrama in the picture actually takes up the majority of the running time, which is too bad because there's a fairly interesting killer here to work with.I never fault any actor trying to go out of the norm and do something different. It's funny that Cannon would have Norris doing some more than kicking butt in this film and especially when you consider that their other star Charles Bronson was trying something new this year too with MESSENGER OF DEATH. Both films have the stars offering up a new thing but it really doesn't work too well here. Norris actually gives a good performance and proves that he can handle the drama but all of this really waters down the story dealing with the serial killer and in the end, this is a Cannon movie after all.The opening sequence actually manages to build up some nice suspense and there's some great one liners coming from Norris. The first forty five minutes or so are actually very entertaining but the film eventually runs out of gas and struggles to get to the conclusion. I think there are several long sequences that just didn't go anywhere including a search of a theater that drags on to the point where you're ready to take a nap. O'Halloran is effective in the role of the killer and it's too bad that there wasn't more of him.HERO AND THE TERROR is a decent movie but not a complete winner.

udar55 Cop Danny O'Brien (Chuck Norris) starts having nightmares about his heroic arrest of serial killer Simon Moon (Jack O'Halloran) from three years prior. This is bad news because it is messing up his relationship with his pregnant psychiatrist girlfriend Kay (Brynn Thayer). Oh, and it also sucks because Moon has escaped from prison and started killing again while hiding out inside a recently remodeled movie theater in downtown Los Angeles. Norris only did a few films in his career that fell under the horror category (this, SILENT RAGE, HELLBOUND); if SILENT RAGE was his take on FRANKENSTEIN, then HERO AND THE TERROR is Chuck's PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Of course, I'm a sucker for any horror movie set in a theater, so I still enjoyed this on a revisit even if it isn't very good. Moon has all the personality of Andrew from HELL NIGHT (1981) and the same "heavy on the corpses and candles" home design sensibilities as Jason circa Friday THE 13th PART 2 (1981). Novelist Michael Blodgett adapted his own book for this along with co-writer Dennis Shryack, who has some good horror credits with THE CAR (1977) and MURDER BY PHONE (1982). The plot is pretty flimsy and the drama between Norris and his crazy seeming fiancé is really rough. Their birthday dinner scene is really odd to the point I was screaming for Norris to ditch this crazy chick. Also, the idea that Norris is the only one who believes the killer is in the theater after three mysterious deaths is laughable. Still, there are some memorable bits including a final showdown that fulfills my wildest theater setting fantasies. Co-starring Steve James as Norris' partner and Ron O'Neal as The Mayor.