HERO AND THE TERROR is a film with a fun beginning, involving a hilarious jail break and an excellent scene of a van flying down the side of a mountain in loving slow motion. Unfortunately, after all the action of the first half hour, the film unwisely slows down to a crawl to spend more time on unwanted characterisation and human relationships than thrills and chills. Now I know characterisation is important in movies in order to get the viewer to connect with the leads but not to this degree! Endless scenes show Norris and his screen wife wining, dining, talking, and eventually giving birth (the wife that is, not Norris... this isn't JUNIOR). Huh? Is there a reason we want to see all this?

The "Terror" of the title is a hulking brute of a serial killer who likes to break the necks of his victims and collect the bodies in his hidden lair. Sadly the various stalk-and-snap sequences are handled poorly and with little suspense - a spooky shot of a pair of hands coming out of an air vent is as creepy as this film gets. Events plod on with slow police investigation which seemingly goes nowhere, and the film culminates in a poorly-handled battle between Norris and the villain which really isn't as exciting as it should be.

It's a shame as the "Chuck Norris meets Friday the 13th" concept as many reviewers dubbed the movie on its release could have made for a very entertaining, action-packed movie, but what we're left with is a slow-paced and lifeless thriller devoid of thrills. What does a thriller without any thrills become anyway? Nothing, and that's the feeling you'll get from watching this movie. Not that you can blame Chuck Norris for the disappointment - he's actually quite good here, playing a sincere character, and makes for a strong lead. Likewise Norris has a good supporting cast of film veterans, including the underrated Steve James as the token black sidekick, and Billy Drago (later to become a popular villain in straight-to-video flicks) as a doctor. Jack O'Halloran has little to work with as the bad guy, and his lack of characterisation (we're told briefly that he was sexually abused by his mother, but the line is throwaway and doesn't really explain his character's psychology) hurts the film a lot. It's a shame as I believe he could have made a good job of it too.

This is a film which desperately cries out for more action. Sure there are a few fun cheesy scenes of Norris using martial arts on various low-life villains at the beginning of the film but these have all dried out around the half-hour mark - and there's no further fighting until the very end. HERO AND THE TERROR is a just about passable viewing experience which will no doubt disappoint those looking for a good, entertaining time.