Agoraphobia - Die Angst im Kopf

Artist, Meredith Cole (Christine Lahti) has a few problems. In addition to suffering from acute agoraphobia, her husband has left her and threatened to take their young son. A virtual prisoner in her large, rural home, Meredith struggles to overcome her debilitating fear of the outside world.

Meredith takes in a new boarder named Jane (Jennifer Rubin) who seems perfect. Alas, things take a turn when Jane's "brother" Pete (Dylan McDermott) arrives for a visit. This bodes ill, since we've already been shown an example of Pete committing a heinous act!

As time goes on, Meredith learns that she's not the greatest judge of character, all leading to a life and death situation.

THE FEAR INSIDE is a made-for-TV thriller that is the basic template for the future, superior film, RESTRAINT. Still, it's suspenseful enough in its own right, and McDermott is a serviceable psychopath.

Worth a watch...

My friend and I recently watched The Fear Inside. We thought it was a uniquely put-together movie, compelling and thrilling at the same time. Because it is a sort-of murder movie, it had a lot of heavy moments in it, but there was a bit of comic relief from the very insane killers. Christine Lahti was very convincing as the half-crazed agoraphobic who is held at the mercy of two murderers, a prisoner in her own house. She is torn, quite literally, between the fear of going out doors, and the fear inside.

Meredith Cole(Christine Lahti) is an agoraphobic and is constantly a prisoner in her home! Since her husband leaves, she leaves an ad in the paper for someone to rent her guest bedroom. But supposedly brother and sister Jane (Jennifer Rubin) and Peter (Dylan Mcdermett)come a long and are not what they seem. Jane claims she's a vet and her brother claims he's a cop. Things go to extremes when Meredith finds a ring in their bedroom from which they murdered a rich woman and stole it from her as it is worth thousands. When Jane kidnaps and threatens to kill Meridiths son she has no choice but to come over her fear!The only good thing about the mad couple terrorizing her is probably them getting her out the house to save her son!This film is very good and has a good plot it shows that a fear is something but what extremes you have to go through to get out of it. Jennifer is great as mad Jane, she is fab at playing Jane's childish and psychotic nature.

The Fear Inside is a home invasion horror/thriller with a twist: the woman who is attacked in her home is agoraphobic and therefore unable to leave, even when the opportunity arises. It's a neat idea, and director Leon Ichaso tackles the story with a fair amount of style (albeit early '90s style), but it's made-for-TV origins means that it holds back when it would have benefitted from pushing the boundaries. While watching, I couldn't help imagining what what the film would have been like had one of my favourite Italian directors from the '70s been in control: Ruggero Deodato or Joe D'amato would have brought a much needed exploitative and gritty edge to proceedings.

Strong performances help make the movie watchable despite its frustratingly anodyne approach: Christine Lahti is excellent as children's illustrator Meredith Cole, whose fear of the outside has caused a rift in her marriage; Dylan McDermott impresses as handsome but psychotic criminal Pete Caswell; and Jennifer Rubin plays crazy to the hilt (think Juliette Lewis from NBK crossed with Sheri Moon Zombie in The Devil's Rejects), a little too over-the-top perhaps , but it certainly adds interest. Even the obligatory kid (played by Thomas Ian Nicholas, Kevin in American Pie) is watchable - I guess if this HAD been directed by an Italian, the child would most likely have been extremely irritating.

Now this movie is much better than five stars. It has a good plot, good directing and features the talent of the excellent Jennifer Rubin. She gives one of the best performances I have ever seen, as usual. Such a great actress! The scene when she commits suicide is very moving. Also listen closely to the score - it's by Michel Rubini, who made the wonderful electronic score for "The Hunger" (by Tony Scott) together with Denny Jaeger! He even recycles some samples from this earlier work for this movie!