Morty

Okay, first off, stay away from the R1 DVD. It's cut/censored to the point where some scenes don't even make sense.

This movie started with an interesting premise and did a pretty good job with it. It's not a typical monster/slasher and has a little bit of a psychological lean to it. It's got a mix of you and old actors so the acting tends to be pretty good especially from Ann Turkel and Vince Edwards. Even the ending was a little different from your typical hack and slash. And if you watch the VHS or R2 version you get a smattering of gore and nudity.

On the other hand it was a little like the Melrose Place of horror movies, everyone was hitting on everyone and I don't think one character had any fidelity to their current relationships.

It didn't succeed 100% but if you want to see something a little different horror-wise you could do worse. If you're looking for action (it drags in spots) and gore, then skip this. If you like to check out different kinds of horror movies, can get in to somewhat psychological films, and don't require stuff that's all formula this might do for a rental. Just don't set your hopes too high.

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.

'The Fear' is a decent enough low budget horror flick from the mid 90's with strong production values, a promising premise with some interesting ideas and a cool looking wooden dummy killer named 'Morty' that does add some effective creepiness whenever it's on screen. The movie does move along at a decent pace and the attempts by the filmmakers at creating something more than the usual slasher fodder is commendable, but it doesn't fully pay off due to the movie being poorly constructed.

The plot = A college student Richard (Eddie Bowz) gathers a group of his friends to his family's secluded cabin in the woods for a psychological experiment called "fear therapy" and finds his old childhood dummy called 'Morty' as part of the experiment, which triggers everyone's darkest secrets and before long it comes to life and starts killing off the group by using their own fears.

The movie is an okay time waster but the attempts at doing more with the characters rather than delivering gory kills doesn't fully work as almost none of these elements ever really comes together as everything feels rushed and underdeveloped. There's perhaps a little too much focus on the story which itself is very much half-baked with side plots adding nothing to the overall film and other elements being poorly explained and becomes very muddled at times. When the horror elements do finally come into play it feels a little bland and despite an okay build up in the first half, the movie ends way too abruptly and should have had a tighter script to help make this a more effective psychological horror film.

The acting is fine Morty himself is a genuinely creepy looking character with decent effects used to bring him to life played by Erick Weiss. Eddie Bowz did fine as the leading man Richard but wasn't very likeable and lacked charisma, but he was hot though so that's a plus. Heather Medway was also decent as Ashley, but was very underwritten, but she was one of the more likable characters in this movie. Darin Heames was fun as the creep stoner Troy, Vince Edwards had some fun over the top moments as Uncle Pete and Wes Craven also made for a fun yet very brief cameo as Dr Arnold.

Overall 'The Fear' is somewhat entertaining with some interesting ideas, but was way too flawed to be considered a cult classic.

This wasn't a great horror movie. You don't actually see any killings and most of them happen at the end. The story revolves around a group who go up to a cabin to face there fears. At the cabin is the leaders large wooden manaquin Morty. Morty is the only highlight of this film, he looks cool and movies cool. The rest of the movie is below average and not worth the watch. I think the makers shouldn't of made it so much a horror but tried to make it more of a thriller and try to make the watchers get scared of what's happening. I would recommend The Fear 2: Halloween Night to you because my friend says that it is much better and more killings and more of a horror type movie.

I popped this DVD into my player with no expectations. I just wanted to see a good horror B movie. The creepy picture of "Morty" (the thoroughly menacing wooden monster on the front cover of the DVD box) made me think this movie could deliver the goods.

I thought it was an interesting premise. I love horror movies where inanimate objects come to life and kill! Kill! KILL!! I love brutal death scenes. I love evil, sickening monsters that commit unspeakable acts on the human form, and I love movies that have the guts (no pun intended!) to show it all in gruesome gory detail.

Despite the interesting premise, the film completely fails to deliver the goods!

First, the characters are absolutely horribly written and completely unlikeable. The actors didn't do that bad of a job, its just the way all these cliched characters were written that makes me not give anything resembling a damn about them. All the cliches are here: the whiny bitch, the new-ager who predicts beforehand that something weird/supernatural is happening, the dirty psycho/sleazebag, and the token black guy (first to get killed of course!). Not helping is this white guy with dreadlocks. I guess he supposed to be comic relief, but he fails so, so badly.

Second, The action is virtually non-existent. Not a one cool death in the whole lame film. No blood, no gore, no nudity, no one-liners, none of the things that make B horror movies fun to watch. Not to mention, the movie is so dark, its nearly impossible too see the pathetic action sequences when they do occur. Morty looks scary but acts stupid and moves like a retarded zombie.

FINAL RATING: 3/10 Bad pacing makes this wholly unscary, and complete lack of violence and nudity make it wholly uncool. Movie takes itself way too seriously! It tires to be deep but comes off boring. Only minimal skill was evident. Not even a decent B horror genre flick...and come on, thats not asking much!

Noob Aalox