Hero and the Terror is a 1988 thriller starring Chuck Norris.
Danny O'Brien (Norris) is a cop who has become known as "Hero" to the public after he captured the brutal Serial Killer Simon Moon (Jack O'Halloran), also known as "The Terror". O'Brien is drawn back into the fray when Simon Moon escapes from his confines to continue his killing spree.
This film provides examples of:
- Adaptational Dumbass: In the novel, Simon Moon is quite intelligent, graduating third in his class in law school and successfully maintaining a double life as an entertainment lawyer before his compulsion to kill takes him over completely. In the film, Moon is a Dumb Muscle Brute who is described as lacking "higher reasoning skills."
- Adaptational Name Change: In the novel, the protagonist is a Jewish Puerto Rican detective named Herrero Fiddleman, nicknamed "Hero" as a variation on his first name. In the film, he is played by Caucasian actor Chuck Norris, and the Race Lift is accompanied with a name change to Danny O'Brien.
- Air Vent Passage Way: After his escape from prison, Simon Moon chooses to hide out in a popular opera house. He captures new victims by hiding in the air ventilation system.
- The Brute: Simon Moon. A truly massive monster and Serial Killer who is just pure uncontrolled rage, so strong that he easily overpowers Chuck Norris himself in the opening. He lacks "higher reasoning skills", to boot.
- Cowboy Cop: Reconstruction. Initially, O'Brien going in guns blazing to catch The Terror almost ends in his own death before the killer accidentally dispatches himself. O'Brien spends years training for his return while haunted by the memories of his failure. He redeems himself by later tracking down and killing his nemesis for good.
- Danger Takes a Backseat: One of Moon's victims gets into her car, and is immediately killed when Moon suddenly emerges from hiding in the back seat.
- Embarrassing Nickname: O'Brien is lauded as "Hero" by the press for catching the Serial Killer known as "The Terror". He hates the nickname because he only caught the Terror through dumb luck after nearly getting himself killed and still suffers from post-traumatic stress.
- Evil Overlooker: The poster shows Simon Moon's eyes menacingly hovering over a stern-looking Chuck Norris packing heat.
- Generic Doomsday Villain: Simon Moon, the Brutish Serial Killer of the title. The eponymous "Terror" barely appears onscreen, doesn't talk, and is never given a motive. They throw in a brief exposition scene where a psychologist speculates about a Freudian Excuse, but since Simon doesn't speak it's never clarified either way. It's also said that Simon is actually incapable of higher thinking, so presumably he doesn't even understand that what he's doing is wrong, but what's important is that he's "pure evil" and Norris has to stop him. He could essentially be replaced with a shark and the movie would have been no different for it.
- I Love the Dead: The original novel includes scenes of Moon sexually molesting the bodies of his victims. The film, possibly to minimize the
Squick factor, establishes that Moon never does anything sexual to his victims. - Jack the Ripoff: O'Brien is forced to deny that a criminal is loose because the last time the killer went on a spree, there were loads of copycats.
- Neck Snap: Moon's preferred method of dispatching his victims.
- Red Baron: Simon Moon has been dubbed "The Terror" by the press for his grisly series of murders.
- Silent Antagonist: The most Simon Moon communicates is through grunts and scowls.
