acidburn-10
"The Wind" or it's much better title which I viewed it under "The Edge Of Terror" is an OK movie, although I was lured by the DVD'S interesting artwork, which made this movie look like a body count, but it's not although there are some deaths, 3 in fact but they aren't anything special very bloodless and quite limp.The storyline is quite interesting where we get a novelist named Sian Anderson leaves her L.A. pad to travel to a remote Greek island to write her new book, unaware that her fellow neighbour and handyman is about to snap and begin a murder spree. Although this movie picks up a decent pace, it's just the so called wind wasn't as dramatic as it should have been, and despite the decent enough pace this movie still tends to drag in places like before the climax and although the chase scenes are pretty good it just wasn't tense enough for my taste and some of the moments that should have been shocking just wasn't horrific enough.Well there is a lot to like about this movie firstly the cast are interesting namely Meg Foster who plays the lead character, a very underrated actress who should be more well known and she does a great job here and carries the movie on her shoulders effortlessly and Robert Morley was quite fun as the pompus landlord and Wings Hauser as the maniac did okay, but not quite menacing enough though but he did pretty good.All in all "The Edge Of Terror" is pretty tame thriller with some decent moments but not enough to shine, and the pointless scenes that are just there to pad out the running time, like when the honeymoon couple show up stranded, they should have got murdered, now that would have been a great climax, so not a bad film by any means, just don't expect a full on slasher movie or you will be disappointed.
Scarecrow-88
"Oh, and remember the wind…"Those eyes! I can never get over those Meg Foster eyes! Well, since I got that off my chest, onto the story. Foster stars as a novelist who travels to this centuries-old Greek island("When I first saw this place, I almost had an orgasm" proclaims her landlord, Elias Appleby, renting his "piece of the island" to her) to write her next book, not expecting to be hounded all night by a wacko (Wings Hauser). Those creaky, fluttering shutters! How ominous they sound! There's this subtle scene (I wonder if it was intended, if it wasn't then this little moment sure creeped me out and won me over with amazement) where Elias Appleby(Morley) asks Foster if she believed in ghosts and while he's talking about this, a wooden shutter on a window of her home flutters open by the wind, then starts to waft back and forth before finally slamming up against the wall—it really is quite an attention grabber, particularly how the director frames the shot from a distance as Morley and Foster are chatting. Robert Morley (the "puppies" victim in THEATER OF BLOOD) is wonderful as Foster's chatterbox landlord, full of experiences to share. I love how the wind is a character unto itself, the way it makes its presence know, not to mention, we see it and hear it—the wind is just as much a character as Foster and Hauser. And, the isolation theme always works for me. There's a danger not just from nature, but Hauser has Foster all alone, quite a scary thought if he were homicidal. As the handyman, Hauser (we see a brief, and eerie, glimpse of him from afar, leaning up against a wall, as Foster eyeballs him from her window, and a few moments later he's gone) has the village all to himself if he were so inclined to torment an innocent woman just wanting to write her novel in peace (for some reason, I thought about Camille Keaton in DAY OF THE WOMAN for a moment). Indeed, a second glimpse of Hauser, accompanied by a demented chuckle, Foster catches as he disappears into an alley as a curling dust-wind follows him. Scenes like this just rock my world, I credit the director, Nico Mastorakis (Island of Death) for how he shoots Hauser.. we know he is around in the village somewhere, understanding that Foster is all alone. Then, he just stumbles into her home, chewing his gum, rather brash, accepting his role as a "loser, degenerate, washout", casual conversation by him involving lots of gestures and poses. Hauser, as always, just dominates the screen, his charisma, even as an obvious creep, alone can probably carry a film. He just seems to be an incompetent jerk, someone who has gambled away his lot in life and has wound up in the employ of an old man who has become fed up with his goofing off. A verbal quarrel, leading to a head contusion from the use of a fireplace poker, showing how truly unstable Hauser is, provides the viewer with possible foreshadowing of things to come as Foster taps away at her typewriter unaware of the threat perhaps awaiting her. Then there's the classic *woman sees killer digging the grave to cover up his crime* scene which sets the stage for the rest of the film. Hauser looks up from the grave and sees that Foster has light in her home and might've seen him. Foster, as can be the case in thrillers like this, has to investigate, her inquisitive mind cannot help itself. This film was a wonderful surprise to me, mainly because there's not just one menace, but two. It has the standard *woman in peril* plot line, but because of the unique setting, absent the residents who are elsewhere due to the time of year, and atmosphere because of the wind and how it contributes to the overall theme, director Mastorakis is able to put a fresh spin on it. He employs a very European style to the film, the way the camera moves, the odd touches like exploding lightbulbs, the way light reflects the wind at night(..and shines through different areas of the village, particularly entrances to walkways and alleys), the Green village, cut from stone with all these narrow passages into alleys as we follow, often from a point-of-view perspective, Foster as she attempts to flee Hauser, injured from her handiwork—it's an impressive looking film, even if the movie feels familiar with Foster holed up in her home as Hauser goes into "complete psycho mode", spouting off nursery rhymes as a means to frighten the woman. Yep, Hauser calls her up, at one point even mimicking Bogie, just to tease and mock her, now just a lunatic with a sickle. But, if I'm to watch a movie featuring a psychopath hunting his female quarry, I would prefer it be as aesthetically pleasing/ visually stimulating as THE WIND. Steve Railsback has a small part as an American seaman who tries to help Foster and David McCallum is Meg's beau who attempts to contact the Greek authorities. "Do me a favor. Don't die quietly, okay. Talk to me."
lost-in-limbo
One thing I really love about ex-rentals is the movie previews before the main feature, and that's how I came to know of this film. However it's only natural to have the best scenes in the trailer to wet your appetite… and by the way it bestows quite a cool video artwork.Director / writer Nico Mastorakis (who made the very infamous video nasty "Island of Death") was churning out numerously quickly produced low-budget / straight to video enterprises in the mid to late eighties and "The Wind" aka "Edge of Terror" would have to be the pick of the lot for its interesting setting and exemplary lead performances from Meg Foster and Wings Hauser.Mystery writer Sian Anderson travels to the Greek Isles for a couple of weeks to stay at an ancient villa in an isolated ghost town to storm up ideas for her next novel. The landlord warns her not to go out at night due to the killer winds that pass throughout the night, but another threat could be in the shape of the landlord's handyman Phil. Something about this man unnerves Sian, especially when one night she believes she saw him burying a corpse that just happens to be the landlord.The pulpy story holds up rather well, leading us down the path maybe all of this is happening in the imaginative mind of its protagonist, as this when Steve Railsback's sceptical character comes into the equation. Perhaps predictable and systematic, but making headway of the standard material is the scenic local flavour that's arrestingly atmospheric, especially the eerie night sequences when the howling wind kicks in. Mastorakis ideally creates an edgy vibe with his lighting composition of shadows and lighting around the ancient villa on an ocean cliff-top with it being backed up by the shivery, high-strung music score and terse photography. You're really thrown right into it. What starts off slow-boil in genuinely building up the suspenseful situation, soon transforms in to a tautly simple-minded cat and mouse formula knowing too well of the clichés to suitably play them up. Towards the end it begins to meander, as some stupidity occurs and the final shot (while beautifully projected) is quite a laughable chance of fate.Meg Foster makes for a strong, affable heroine who seems to have something constantly witty to say and a bug-eyed Hauser (in a fetching knitted white jumper) is simply made for these wack-job roles and he doesn't disappoint with his impulsively dangerous and rip-snorting villain. His exchanges with Foster early on is effectively engaging - "Death is a whole lot different on paper." Robert Morley and David McCallum also pop up.
