After being beaten to a pulp by hulking psycho O'Halloran, who snaps women's necks and deposits their corpses in a deserted seaside restaurant, police detective Norris is saved when his assailant steps on a rotting ladder rung and falls, knocking himself out. The press assumes Norris beat
O'Halloran into submission and declares the detective a hero. Norris, however, knows the truth and lives in fear that the killer will return to pick up where he left off. Plagued by sweat-drenched nightmares, Norris goes to see a pretty psychiatrist (Thayer). He falls in love with her, and three
years later she is pregnant with his child, but (being an idenependent modern woman) refuses to marry him. Norris accepts this and is a doting boyfriend catering to her every need during the emotional roller coaster of the last few weeks of her pregnancy, which are interrupted by the escape of
O'Halloran and a resumption of Norris' terror.
Norris' attempt to broaden his persona by portraying a vulnerable human being instead of a macho killing machine is both admirable and desirable, but the silly script by Shryack and Blodgett (from his novel) and the routine direction by Tannen aren't up to the star's enthusiasm. Norris is an
engaging performer, and under the right supervision--as in the Andrew Davis-directed CODE OF SILENCE (1985)--he demonstrates the same sort of appeal that his mentor, Steve McQueen, had. HERO AND THE TERROR, however, is too disorganized a film to balance genre thrills with charming scenes of
intimacy its romantic leads. For all its crippling problems, though, the film is definitely a step in the right direction for Norris, and maybe he will soon prove that CODE OF SILENCE wasn't just a fluke. leave a comment