The Fear (1995)

It is a performances centric movie

A Masterpiece!

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

I liked "The Fear", but not that much. It seemed to waste the few elements it had that might have made it a better film. It does not deliver many chills, and the opportunities it has slip by in what ultimately comes across as a poorly thought out and chaotic film. I found the best moments took place in Uncle Pete's Christmas Village. This sequence showcases some of the movies only eerie scenes, turning familiar Christmas elements into a strangely spooky backdrop. Nevertheless, one feels that Vincent Robert (making a directorial debut), allows too many chances to develop his story slip away. He fails to make use of the generally interesting masks and tree carvings that plague Richard's (Eddie Bowz) dreams as anything more than dream fluffery. The legend of Black Peter, another interesting idea, also fails to get more attention. One may surmise that this motif somehow has entered Richard's subconscious (thus explaining the similarities between Black Peter's face and those of the masks in Richard's dreams). Instead, the director moves along ploddingly, showcasing characters stumbling along forced conflicts which feel contrived. When Ashley (Heather Medway) decides to call off her engagement to Richard because he tries to help Tanya (Anna Karin) the audience gets left wondering what they missed. Most of the character interactions feel this artificial. Watch this movie as part of horror marathon, or at the very least, with its sequel `The Fear: Halloween Night', but do not expect too much from it.

I wasn't really expecting much from this low budget horror movie, especially considering how cheap it is to buy and the numerous negative comments on IMDb about it, but in all honesty I was pleasantly surprised by ‘The Fear'.Richard (Eddie Bowz), a psychology student, decides to conduct a group experiment in controlled fear for the purposes of his thesis. After this idea is approved by Dr. Arnold (one of two brief appearances from Wes Craven) he organises a weekend away with his `subjects' at his childhood home. Richard is haunted by nightmares which go back to his childhood, but he is unable to think of what it is that bothers him so much….and what does this wooden mannequin named Morty have to do with his fears?The first half of this movie is almost like a psychological thriller with a few unnerving parts and some eerie sequences but mainly concentrating on introducing us to the characters. Throughout the first half of movie the viewer learns more about each character as the story progresses but we are also treated to some rather interesting and occasionally dramatic moments. The second half of the film is more like a straight horror film and unfortunately loses some of its appeal due to some rather confusing sequences and unexplained happenings. The acting was fairly good from all the cast, particularly from Heather Medway who played Ashley and Darin Heames who played Troy. Heames previously played Z-Boy in ‘Night of the Demons 2' and for those who have seen that movie his character was very similar in ‘The Fear'. Also worthy of comment was the direction from Vince Robert which was of fairly good quality and created a certain dark atmosphere to the movie.It's probably not everyone's cup of tea and the ending left a lot to be desired, including the answers to many important questions but ‘The Fear' is still fairly entertaining in my opinion. There is a distinct lack of action and no real gore to speak of which is why I consider this a fairly adept thriller. My rating for ‘The Fear' – 6.5/10

The Fear, is nothing but an insipid, washed up horror/suspense film gone completely wrong. The Fear has all of the basics that an average horror film needs, it has good acting (surprisingly), a little bit of nudity, and lots of dirty language, but all that is gone to complete waste because this film falls short on entertainment. There is a good plot, that might interest some people, but overall, this film lacks in blood and gore, and most of all, suspense. The plot is overall good, and interesting. Here's the story: This group of people all show up at a remote cabin in hope of conquering their worst fears. While they're there, they are all terrorized by a wooden dummy named `Morty'. Like I said, the plot in general, is interesting, and the plot is what will lead you to watch this movie. The acting was surprisingly good, considering the fact that this movie was almost never known to the world. Each actor gave moderately good performances, that at least gave the movie something good. Now here's the bad parts of the film. The sound effects are very horrible, when the wooden dummy walks, he makes loud `CLUMP!' sounds that lack in realism. The second reason is because the movie is VERY talkative. Throughout the entire film, it is basically talking, and nothing else. Third reason, is because you don't really see Morty walk much at all, and there is a lack of death scenes. If you want a better version of this film, watch part 2, it was WAY better. The Fear had so much potential, but it all went to waste. 4 out of 10

It's the worst horror movie I've ever seen. Not only is it silly and boring, but it conveys the absurd and inhuman moral that people who are so rational as not to believe in supernatural forces deserve a cruel death. A good horror story or movie comes as a fancy tale, not as a sermon.