Future Fear (1998)

That was an excellent one.

Fresh and Exciting

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The year is 2018. That is the only thing in the entire movie that is truly comprehensible. This is an unbelievably terrible science fiction film that isn't suitable for any viewer. Now, what about the plot, you ask? I like to discuss plots, but there just isn't one worth taking the time to explain, other than scientist Jeff Wincott wants to develop an antidote for a deadly virus, but a mad general has, for some reason, sent the scientist's wife to stop him. It all takes place in an underground compound with the cheapest sets this side of the 21st century.Jeff Wincott, in a scene where he is standing, appropriately, in a pile of garbage, remarks that he is in "a poor man's Raiders of the Lost Ark." They even call some device an "Ark." What an insult to a great movie. But the whole film is an insult to us all, anyway. And why is a great actor like Stacey Keach trying to put a stop to his career? Except for the conclusion, he pops into the movie in shots by himself, spouting out nonsense. I guess that means he is describing the plot, huh? Well, I sure wish I had gotten a terminal virus a few hours ago. Then I wouldn't have sat through this terrible movie. Zantara's score: 1 out of 10.

An earlier comment already summed up how bad most of this film is, but one thing was left out: The plot.Let me just add that the plot of this film is unrealistic, incoherent and extremely boring.

I thought that the movie had some potential. There seemed to be an ironic don't take this to serious quality to it. I mean it's not Citizen Kane or even rocky, but for a b movie it had some laughs and several intelligent scenes. The last scene with Stacey Keach and Jeff Wincott was especially good. Jeff Wincott had some great lines in the Bruce Willis vein. A very sexy love scene and a couple of good fights. It probably was butchered by Corman or who ever is in charge of his movies. It's as if the humour and intelligence was cut, but they couldn't get it all. Lucky for the viewer. Overall it was a b movie, great for late night viewing when there isn't a whole lot on. It's worth it.

Talk about your bad B movies. Future Fear is basically a three person show with scenes cribbed from other movies. Pay close attention to the trailers on the New Horizons video cassette. In the trailer for Eruption, there are scenes of Latin American extras running from an erupting volcano crowding the streets. In the middle of Future Fear, the film makers use the same scene of Latin Americans running from an erupting volcano to demonstrate the effects of mass panic of the citizens who are fleeing from a deadly virus that has been brought back by a comet. The whole movie must consist of under an hour with extra scenes from other Roger Corman New Horizon films padding out the film to a turgid eighty minute length. The plot? Jeff Wincott has created a cure for the virus, but wife Maria Ford's loyalty is for the Government led by a fascist Stacy Keach, and spends time running around the New Horizons office building trying to kill Jeff Wincott. If you ever want to see a film that quotes from Alice in Wonderland and Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky then this it. One good scene however. In a flashback scene, Jeff Wincott and Maria Ford recreate the Mad Hatter's tea party. I don't know why, but that is an inspired scene. Too bad it lasts a few moments. The movie itself seems to last a lifetime.