Pánico profundo

'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.

Very few horror franchises delve into the psyche of the victim's mind with a unique antagonist. The most memorable villain was Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) because of his power to invade peoples' dreams. In this movie, instead of dreams, the danger is created by fear (which is where the title comes from). When fear is present, a spirit called Morty enters the real world. It's an interesting concept, unfortunately, the execution of this movie needs some work for it to really peak in its value of entertainment. There are a few good parts and they will be covered.

This plot surfaces when a psychologist Richard (Eddie Bowz) gets a project approved for a fear therapy session up in a remote cabin owned by his parents. Upon getting there they begin to encounter strange events that are far from coincidental. Helping with the creepy factor is the character of Morty - a hand carved wooden mannequin that gives very little comfort. This particular aspect to the film is its strongest point. The suit that the actor plays in has looks of wooden textures and moves rigidly as well. Adding to that is the rickety sound that is used for every movement that Morty makes. It's very convincing that this wooden creature isn't the newest thing around. Perhaps what makes this character the most likable is the fact that he says very little. It creates mystery.

The writing by Ron Ford who continues to write today, did an OK job with the concept but everything else needs work. The concept of this creature appearing when fear is in the air is different. Considering that everyone has fears, no one is safe, so that works. However, when it comes to main characters, not one actor ever has scene that means anything more than what is being shown. The motivations behind a few characters are also misguided. One minute a girl is flirting with another man, then later she finds him repulsive - ummm OK. This is just one of a couple. Also, the fact that the casting crew hired a white actor with dreadlocks - just no. In this cast there are a few actors that go on into bigger movies but do not play roles any bigger than this. Surprisingly, Wes Craven has a small part in here. What exactly did he see in this movie? Another mystery.

Other than that there's the music, scares / violence and cinematography. Picture wise, it's OK. It's not bad nor is it anything worth the time mentioning. The music by Robert O. Ragland was average too. It would've been even better though if there wasn't insertions of 90s pop music. It seriously dates the film - not to mention those dreadlocks from earlier. Finally, because this is in the horror genre, the film is practically non-scary. There are a number of scenes where the viewer will question to how even the characters on screen did not see the scare coming. How do you not see something through a transparent surface? Also, for what it presents the gore is very low here. It's probably lower in blood than even John Carpenter's Halloween (1978). If you want gore, it's not your film.

The concept of fear being brought to a reality is commendable and so is the actual design behind the antagonist. Yet, with writing that is unclear, poor scare tactics and other dated elements, the movie rarely works.

A group of college students go on a field trip to help out a fellow student do his psychology major. He studies fear, and it's effect on people. After going to his childhood home/cabin in the woods, he discovers his old "childhood friend" Morty- an old wooden dummy. He uses the dummy in his sessions for his friends to tell their fears to. Twist is, this dummy is alive, and soon kills everyone off using their fears.

I actually enjoyed this film. I first saw it about 8 years ago- after buying it for $10 on video. The first thing I noticed about the film was yes, it is cheesy as hell, but the story and acting made it worth watching. It's one of the better acted B-Grade horror/thriller films out there. It cameos Wes Craven as the professor allowing the whole "field trip".

I particularly liked the soundtrack to the film. Each song is about fears and death. Esham's title track (The Fear (Morty's Theme)) is a great song.

I recommend this film to anyone who likes a good night in with a campy horror flick or two.

7/10

Recently picking up this film on DVD I was disappointed to find the film HEAVILY cut. All the profanity has been cut out, and it looks/sounds terrible. AVOID THE FILM ON DVD.

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.