‘A terrifying experience…’
The Wind – better known internationally as The Edge of Terror – is a 1986 American horror film directed by Nico Mastorakis (Grandmother’s House; Blind Date; Island of Death) from a screenplay co-written with Fred C. Perry.
The film stars Meg Foster (Haunted: 333; Shrunken Heads; They Live), Wings Hauser, Robert Morley (Theatre of Blood; A Study in Terror; The Old Dark House), David McCallum (The Haunting of Morella; The Watcher in the Woods; Dogs), and Steve Railsback (Ed Gein; Lifeforce; Turkey Shoot)
The score was composed by Hans Zimmer and Stanley Myers (The Witches; Schizo; Tam-Lin).
Plot:
Novelist Sian Anderson (Meg Foster) travels from Los Angeles to the solitude of Greek island Monemvasia to write her newest mystery book.
While writing her novel, she witnesses the local handyman Phil (Wings Hauser) murder her landlord Elias Appleby (Robert Morley) and is soon under attack by the crazed psychopath. Meanwhile, a deadly wind continues to blow throughout the night…
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Reviews:
“If it’s one thing Mastorakis delivers this time around, it’s atmosphere. Take the Greek locations and quality cinematography, and enrich it with a Hans Zimmer score, and you mostly have a winner […] for an “Old Dark House” thriller-horror, with Meg Foster home alone and Wings brandishing a scythe (!), The Wind is worth seeing.” Comeuppance Reviews
” …marred by a clunky and sometimes muddled script, a tendency to ham-handedness (both in the dialogue and the way the musical score is used) and a reiteration of many the usual psycho-killer and slasher cliches.” Dave Sindelar, Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings
” …this wasn’t too bad. Hauser made a great baddie, Foster was great as the protagonist, and there was a nice mixture of Hitchcockian and horror elements that made this more than just a bad Lifetime movie type deal.” Direct to Video Connoisseur
“Aside from the fact that Hauser is the first movie villain to be unhinged by experiences in Nicaragua rather than Vietnam, this is a totally conventional stalker, without even the frills of Mastorakis’ Blind Date (1984) or The Zero Boys (1986).” Phil Hardy (editor), The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror
“The camerawork and editing is good, the setting is skillfully used by the cinematographer and it looks great. Creaky, fluttering shutters and the constant sound of the wind helps to create a nice creepy atmosphere. The soundtrack, by Hans Zimmer, is great.” Jorgen Lundin, Independent Flicks
Choice dialogue:
Elias Appleby: “I hope I haven’t been too much of a pain in the derrière, dear girl? And I hope you don’t mind me calling you ‘dear girl’?”
Kessner: “He may be a killer but he’s not stupid.”
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Cast and characters:
- Meg Foster as Sian Anderson
- Wings Hauser as Phil
- David McCallum as John
- Robert Morley as Elias Appleby
- Steve Railsback as Kesner
- Dina Giannakou as Elias’ Wife
- John Michaels and Tracy Young as Newlyweds
- Summer Thomas as Sian’s Friend
- Mihalis Giannatos as Policeman
Filming locations:
Los Angeles, California, USA
Monemvasia [spelt incorrectly in the end credits!], Greece
