It's fair to say that a LOT of cheesy horror films were made in America in the 1970s, and this is one of them. It's a so-bad-it's-good piece of entertainment for sure, and not even a horror film really despite the title and plotting; a guy has weird dreams, but the on-screen horror element is kept to a bare minimum.Instead this feels more like a softcore thriller, with a bizarre lead role for Peter Carpenter, who seems to be channelling the spirit of Tom Jones (or he wishes to, at least) for the most part. Carpenter plays a nightclub singer (the musical scenes are excruciating) who hooks up with a femme fatale, played by the frequently topless Dyanne Thorne. Thorne, of course, is notorious for her role as ILSA, SHE-WOLF OF THE SS, and she proves to be a statuesque and arresting presence in every scene here.POINT OF TERROR has much in common with the psycho-thriller genre that flourished in the wake of Hitchcock's PSYCHO. I was particularly reminded of the excellent Hammer film, A TASTE OF TEAR. However, the execution is so cheap and cheesy that it's impossible not to laugh at the thing, despite the best intentions; that twist ending in particular is a real hoot. B-movie lovers will delight in it.

Crown International Pictures + Peter Carpenter = match made in trash heaven! The legendary Peter Carpenter started his film career starring in a Russ Meyer film, VIXEN. He then made three other films before disappearing from the face of the earth. And what films they were. BLOOD MANIA and this one, POINT OF TERROR (I haven't seen "LOVE ME LIKE I DO" but with such a great title, I'm dying to see it). Carpenter stars as a lounge singer who sounds/looks like Tom Jones. The story is totally inconsequential. It's about people scheming to murder other people who murdered other people, etc. Basically, people using people because of money and greed kinda of story.With better production values than BLOOD MANIA, POINT OF TERROR sometimes looks/sounds like a Russ Meyer film, without the extreme excess that's usually found in Russ Meyer's films. But the rest is still there: sex, trash, hopelessly dated dialogue, violence, buxom babes, beefcake, greed, 1970s gaudiness, did I say trash? It's Russ Meyer-lite.I love everything in POINT OF TERROR: the music (did Carpenter really sing those songs?), the fashion, the sudden sporadic bursts of violence, the focus on sex, sex, sex. The swingers dialogue: "Hey, Chickie". The acting. The tackiness of it all. Though not as memorably over-the-top as BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, POINT OF TERROR is, IMO, much more entertaining than the over-baked BTVOTD.Favorite scenes: the opening credits, with Carpenter singing/dancing in a red fringe get-up. The beginning on the beach (Dyanne Thorne's bikini is definitely not sexy). The musical bits. The sex scenes (the triptych one is cool). The scene around the swimming pool when the husband confronts Thorne. Ole! The "surprise" ending. But nothing beats the scene with Leslie Simms, as Fran, in that purple hat. Fran is such a badass! Arf.Michael J. Weldon, of Psychotronic Films fame, wrote in his books that he hates Peter Carpenter films, which surprises me because Peter Carpenter films are so perfectly Psychotronic: entertainingly bad. The main reason Weldon (and other fan boys) dislikes POT and BLOOD MANIA is probably because the focus is mainly on hunky Peter Carpenter (both films were produced by Carpenter himself...ah, narcissism). But for me, this obvious difference is what makes these trashy movies unique/one of a kind.Long live Peter Carpenter.

Irredeemably bad & cheesy 70's horror (if you can call it horror...) that trickily lured me in renting it because it stars Dyanne Thorne, a couple of years before her "Ilsa" breakthrough. Exactly as it was the case with "Blood Sabbath", this turned out a painful rookie mistake. "Point of Terror" is unendurably boring trash with a completely uninteresting plot (about a lousy pop-singer trying to screw together a record contract), bleak characters, absolutely no tension and the most redundant and overlong flashback sequence in the history of horror cinema! Thorne stars as the spoiled wife of a record company owner who's not afraid to kill every person that gets in the way of her getting what she wants. I fell asleep twice during this movie, each time for a good ten minutes, and still nothing had happened by the times I woke up again. No matter how much I appreciate independent low-budget horror productions, there's nothing even remotely recommendable about "Point of Terror". The story becomes even more inept halfway through the film, with the introduction of totally new characters but, if you're smart enough, you'll never reach this point (...of terror)

The previous reviewer (weho90069) summed up the this film quite succinctly, but did he stress the title's musical contribution enough? Only by seeing it would you be able to know just how eye-rolling a production number can actually be. A horrendous musical intro kicks off the film as the opening credits roll, with the lead character Tony Trelos aping about on stage in a blazing, red suede suit with waterfall fringe. The 'live' performances go from bad to worse, as we soon see the actor singing to the rafters in his regular venue, The Lobster House (that is, after a quick shag before curtain). It is in this setting we see Andrea shopping him with her eyes, adding him up as he performs seemingly only for her. Andrea's cool, calculating gaze tells us that it's more than stage talent she's wanting to sign.Lyrically speaking, the theme song "Lifebeats" (which is repeated throughout) is the narrative that clues us in on the inner world of Sir Trelos. It is this song that he cuts for his first record that proves to be too much for his new rep Andrea, as she abruptly halts the recording session with a dash of her hand, barking out a "FROM the TOP!" It was either ending too soon for her, or else she just couldn't sign off on the vocal at that point. Either way, it gives us another chance to hear it some more. The singer does have his moments vocally-speaking, but we all do when we play American Idol Home Edition. The draw for Trelos' fans is obviously not in his throat.I recommend you watch POT, but better still, really listen--"Lifebeats turning into Lovebeats... Lovebeats turning into Lifebeats, moving in and taking over me...".Wow, man.