Directed by Jozef Lenders
Review by David Carter


Released by Cinema Epoch
Running Time: 90 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
Color format: Color
Audio/Subtitles: 2.0 Stereo English
Region Code: 1, NTSC
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen
16:9 Enhanced: Yes
Special Features: Still Gallery
Trailer Online: Yes

Short Version: Small town terror with Corey Feldman

I’ll admit it: I feel sorry for Corey Feldman. It’s not his fault that he became very famous at a young age, so one can hardly blame him for anything he did in the eighties and early nineties. Furthermore, ever since his teen stardom started to wane, he’s had an incredible uphill battle in his pursuit of an acting career. Most A-list projects likely wouldn’t give him the time of day simply by virtue of the fact that he’s “Corey Feldman” and, like it or not, that comes with a certain amount of baggage. His fame – or infamy – completely overshadows everything he does and the rare occasions when he does find work, it’s most often going to be for his persona rather than his talent.

Feldman seems to be popping up more often these days and in ways different than we are used to seeing him. Take for example the indie-horror flick TERROR INSIDE. As the film’s lead, Feldman isn’t trading on his Hollywood child-star image in the slightest and simply does his job as an actor. Everything I’ve seen him in since he passed his prime has been just a constant string of mugging for the camera and drawing a good deal of attention to the fact that he’s Corey Feldman, so it was a pleasant surprise to have him playing things low key here. TERROR INSIDE might not be Feldman’s (or anyone’s) finest hour, but I at least admire him for giving it his all.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s take a look at the movie itself.

TERROR INSIDE is the story of Allen (Feldman), a nondescript businessman who has been regularly making trips to a small Florida town on the company dime. He’s developed a lasting relationship with diner waitress Maria and had planned on proposing to her during his most recent visit but finds her less than enthusiastic at the idea. Allen leaves town to give her time to think over their future, but Maria is actually struggling with something far more imposing than marriage. She’s been exposed to a strange substance unearthed by driller Joe, who believes he’s been contracted to test the soil for oil deposits. He’s actually dug up something more sinister: a biological agent that swaps the brain’s pain and pleasure receptors. In Allen’s absence, Maria, Joe and the rest of the town’s residents become hell-bent on destroying themselves simply for the thrill of it, and he returns to find the town a much darker and dangerous place.

TERROR INSIDE’s idea of an agent that turns people into masochists is a clever one, but one that is unfortunately realized very poorly. Not content to simply show the townspeople hurting themselves, TERROR INSIDE has them look and dress the part as well and the once plain townsfolk become Hot Topic-covered Goths after exposure to the chemical. The film does a good job of explaining the physiological reasons for the pain/pleasure switch but does nothing to account for why those exposed now love loud death metal, want to get tattoos, and decide to pierce as many body parts as possible. The effect is somewhat hilarious, and I don’t believe intentionally so. How the affects of the exposure are eventually overcome is explained in an even less satisfying manner. I won’t spoil it, but suffice to say that it makes about as much sense as a desire to hurt yourself dictating your fashion and music preferences.

The nature of the plague is nonsensical, but the effects of it aren’t. There’s a surprisingly large amount of well-done gore in TERROR INSIDE. We get a plethora of eye-gougings, stabbings, and other various mutilations, all with well-realized special effects. The most cringe-worthy scenes come courtesy of Susie “Mrs. Corey” Feldman. She is the one of the first townspeople to become infected and therefore goes to the most extremes, cutting off her own nipples with a pair of scissors and then feeding herself through a wood chipper. Things had been reasonably tame up to the point in the film at which those incidents occur, so the impact of these scenes is far greater because they are so unexpected.

If you can overlook the silliness it occasionally delves into, there’s actually a lot to like about TERROR INSIDE. The plot is original, the special effects are exceptional, and the performances are pretty good, a few unconvincing southern accents aside. Cinema Epoch’s DVD has a nice print of the film on what is essentially a barebones disc. It seems like a missed opportunity to not include something to entice Feldman fans to pick up the DVD, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. TERROR INSIDE isn’t a great movie, but it is far better than a lot of indie-horror films and worth a look for the handful of gore scenes alone.