Fear

Nothing frustrates me more than a horror movie that has so much potential but fails to deliver. Fear would be fairly high on that list.

A man takes his girlfriend away for a surprise birthday weekend and has arranged for a group of their friends to be at the old lodge in the middle of nowhere. This happens to coincide with the outbreak of a Covid like pandemic, forcing them to remain isolated at the lodge.

There are several things in this movie that just don't make sense, but it is hard to go into them without giving away spoilers. A great deal stems from the lack proper back story. A few morsels of history are thrown in, but not enough to make sense.

The first half of the movie relies heavily on the paranoia caused by Covid as its premise. The slightest cough or sniffle has people turning against each other.

Early on, the characters decide to share their greatest fears, and of course that comes back to bite them on the bum.

The acting is okay, with a couple of weak links, but the script leaves a little to be desired at times.

All the elements are there to make a good, if not great horror movie, but lack of details renders the story a bit muddled and confusing.

Oh, and the ending sucks big time.

A group of big city friends, head out to a remote complex of cabins, in anticipation of two of them getting engaged, under the ruse of celebrating the female half of the couple's birthday.

However, it was built upon land that harbours a dark legend.

A legend concerning a number of native women, who were kidnapped by a group of gold miners, before starting a coven, and taking control of the town, by using their magickal powers to make the men hallucinate.

While hanging out around a campfire, the group reveal their most deepset fears to one another.

Setting off a series of events, during which their fears start to become manifest.

Unfortunately, the whole thing becomes a convoluted mess.

As they try to tie in a number of plot devices, like the presence of ghosts, the spread of a respiratory illness, spiked wine, and something being released from a mysterious pandora's box.

So, when one of their friends gets sick...the paranoia starts to set in...and the group starts to turn on one another.

You can tell they wanted this to be something like The Shining.

But it's not The Shining.

Rather, being more akin to this year's biggest horror flop, Snow Falls.

Which is based on a similar theme.

It's fault lies in the structure.

Which, due to the sheer number of characters- and flipping back and forth between different aspects of the plotline- you are never really able to become engaged with the story or characters.

For the most part, I felt the acting was fine.

With the lead male actor being, by far, the weakest of the bunch.

But the writing is subpar.

There's just no nuance to it.

Things plod along, and suddenly "everybody's dead".

But, frankly, you just don't care.

The main character is fashioned as an author who has come to the area as research for his new book.

And he, somehow, unravels the mystery...though, it's not exactly clear how he managed to do so.

Which goes to show just how underdeveloped the storyline and structure really are.

I tried to give it the benefit of the doubt...in that there would be some sort of twist at the end, that would tie all of these things together.

But it just never comes to fruition.

On the one hand, you have the whole psychological horror angle (which is poorly done, in the form of flashbacks).

While, on the other, you have the whole supernatural thing going on.

And they just don't vibe as being two parts of the same whole...despite the fact that you know they are.

To their credit, they do make an effort to do this, by introducing a monster-like charcter.

But it doesn't work.

The whole thing simply lacks that cohesive element it needs to really work.

And never meets the threshold required to keep you engaged.

Hence why it has been garnering such harsh reviews.

2.5 out of 10.

If i could go back in time and stop myself from choosing this movie, i would. It started off strong, with an interesting plot and a storyline that was easy to follow. I liked the idea of a fear based horror movie, but it took less than 30 minutes to drift into boring nothingness. They didn't follow the original plot of the movie, the acting was all over the place, the scenes clashed, the logic was absolutely nonexistent. Adding the sudden religious savior complex at the end totally killed it for my family. It came out of nowhere and ruined the classic indie vibe. It was unoriginal and bland, and seemed to follow the classic horror sequence. Regret.

I admittedly tend to be very critical and harsh when it comes to horror movies, as I've seen pretty much all of them and have high expectations. However, I found this film unexpectedly enjoyable. It doesn't advertise itself to be some convoluted, thought-invoking horror film. It's your typical weekend getaway gone awry horror flick but with a considerable, effective twist that I personally enjoyed. I also loved the ending, because it was one of those moments where a character FINALLY does the thing you've been shouting at the tv for them to do. Maybe, I'm crazy but I actually really liked this movie and have even recommended it to some of my friends and family, and I can say, in complete honesty, it's one of the better horror movies to come out recently- which, admittedly, isn't saying a whole lot, I know. But give it a chance, because you might actually side with me on the opinion that Fear succeeds at what it intended to be: a casual, fun, spooky watch to curl up on the couch with your friends or loved one on the weekend and have a good time.

A group of friends rent out a lodge in the middle of the woods to hangout. Little do they know they will all have to face their greatest fears. If they can't overcome them their souls will be gone forever, consumed by fear.

Should I even bother putting any effort into this review since the filmmakers clearly didn't put any effort into the film? I mean the title is fear. A like wow it's gonna be about scary stuff.

It's not just the title. The script feels like they wrote it over the weekend and didn't read it over. It's so lazy and full of contrivances, dangling treads, poorly written characters who's motivations are not clearly defined who come off both annoying and dull at the same time. Like it's hilarious how bad it is.

The only thing more hilariously bad is the performances. I'm pretty sure most of these guys have never done thus before. Well there not true, but you could have fooled me. I laughed out loud at most of the line deliveries here. And the visual effects are just awful. Like it just looks messy and unfinished. Probably explains why so many of the kills are lame as hell. Most of them are off screen and nothing you haven't seen before. Kind of like this movie.

I'll say this about Fear, it's unique that so many things could go this wrong all in one movie. I think I owe Skinamarink an apology. At least that film was experimental and ambitious while also have some good scares. Fear honestly isn't that scary. It's loud and obnoxious. In fact, other words I'd use to describe this movie are dull, stupid, and uninspired. I'm not afraid to say Fear is a frighteningly terrible movie. Don't be afraid and feel like you're missing out by not seeing it. Alright I'm done no more puns I'm afraid. Review over! Don't watch Fear.