Naked Fear

When visiting Germany I came across the Naked Fear box, it was ultra cheap so I picked it up and only seen part 1 I wasn't disappointed. Being a horror buff I wouldn't really classify it under horror but more under a thriller. The reason is simple, it's all about being hunted by a killer.

This flick is really a slow starter, it takes around 40 minutes before it turns into what the title says. The first 40 minutes you start to know Diana (Danielle De Luca), a girl going to a town without any money. So she needs money and only can do it by stripping in a bar. But that doesn't bring in real cash so she also do men after stripping until she come across a nice guy. It's from that point that this flick turns into a horror. But not that much blood is shown, it's all about running away from the hunter. Diana is being hunted in full nudity. It's weird that in the strip club she doesn't reveal anything but once in the woods she shows it all.

the whole story reminded me of two real cases, serial killer Robert Hansen who also kidnapped prostitutes and let them run in the forest to be hunted down, the second case is that of Aileen Wuornos.

A rather good flick, you just want to know how it going to end. It never bored me although that some acting was bad and a few editing mistakes like then she has bruises on her leg and the next shot they are gone or the first victim when buried you can see her breath while she's supposed to be death.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 4/5 Effects 2/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

This was better than an empty dessert. By that I mean, I went into this thinking it would just be an average, silly, exploitive film with gratuitous nudity and not much of an original plot. I got the nudity and a lot more substance. Yes this theme has been done before but there were many surprising twists and shocks that usually are taboo in films like this. This was a psychological thriller for sure . There was the cliché. The usual suspect, the well to do pillar of the community , and of course negative traits of hookers and strippers. The usual fare ,setting the plate , for an all familiar film. The tension was there, check. The twists were there, check. Fine acting, check. The ingredients were there and then some. The movie, I felt, did a fine job of establishing most of the characters and showing their true selves ... Negative and positive. The realness was there. I will not give away the ending, only to say you will not be disappointed. Enjoy .

I suspect some might question my reasons for liking this movie, but I actually liked it a lot. While movies on terror nowadays seem to involve gore and torture, this one is more mental. Oh yes, the title does say naked fear and it does involve nudity, but for me the real horror here is where it should be - a mental thing. I do think for many of us perhaps the most frightening thing is for us to be vulnerable and scared - even more so than the events themselves that scare us. And what could make one more vulnerable than to be naked, alone, and fearing someone out to kill you? If you can identify at all with this actress, you might come away with something of real horror and true fear - and yet have that fear without the chainsaws and other items of gore so frequent nowadays. It would be wrong to say what happens, but I do think the plot developed well and led to a story that I felt perhaps was more believable than some who rated this movie. And maybe since this is situational mental horror, the movie just might stay in our minds more than the simplistic slasher movies.

In the intro we see a naked woman out in the fields while a stranger shoots at her. He's hunting her like an animal.

The lovely Diana arrives in a small New Mexico border town for a job. Little does she know it's to be a stripper. She has no money and is now indebted to the "talent agency manager". She has to share a room with a fellow stripper who's also a prostitute at night and a junkie.

Parallel to this story we meet the local law enforcement, the corrupt Sheriff and his hunting buddies, as well as the new deputy who arrived from LA. The local cops are corrupt and the new guy is not quite used to that.

Diana's salary as a stripper doesn't really amount to much. Junkie stripper tells her all the ways she can make more money- take off more clothes, interact with patrons, and offer other services. At first Diana isn't interested but she needs the money so she gives it a try. It yields her more money and the night she meets a patron and drives away with him she ends up changing her mind about offering him other services. But he won't have none of it. He ends up kidnapping her.

Next, she wakes up out in the desert nude...as prey for our hunter. He gives her a 15 minute head start. He catches up with her but he likes a challenge so he doesn't make it that easy for himself. And Diana, is also a bright girl. She tricks him and escapes from him repeatedly, bloody and bruised. Eventually she gets the upper hand and runs into a family camping, the dad and his two teenage sons, who are stunned to see a mostly naked girl who now is in shock. Dad does the right thing and leaves to get help. But the hunter isn't done yet. Nor is Diana.

Naked Fear is an excellent movie for what it is- a well-done B movie with a great story and good acting. Of course seeing the lovely Danielle De Luca run around naked for a good while doesn't hurt a bit. Her performance overall is remarkable, downright award-worthy, given what she has to go through. It obviously suffers from B-movie weaknesses- low budget, not so good acting by secondary characters, an unpolished look indoors, etc. It's a tad bit too long, certain things could have been cut out or shortened. At the same time another victim should have been added, just to make our villain more despicable.

The movie succeeds at presenting the hardships of small town life and the risks of trying to make it elsewhere pretty well. And it does so without being condescending and offensive. You do end up empathizing with the main character. The movie is never exploitative but manages to humanize our characters and give the story a lot of meaning. Naked Fear is admirable for the risks the filmmakers took and how they managed to deliver their vision perhaps without compromise.

If your idea of fun is watching a naked woman running through the wilderness while being hunted down by a redneck with crossbows and rifles, then maybe this film is for you.

A stripper names Diana is lured to New Mexico by a night club owner promising big money to her for her great dancing ability. Her license and all identification are taken and she is forced into prostitution. The first client knocks her out and she wakes up in a field, nude.

The great white hunter gives Diana a fifteen minute head start and then the games begin; first with the crossbow, then with the rifle. The chase is silly, with the only redeeming feature being Danielle De Luca's sexy body without clothes, running like a deer caught in the headlights, and her's are on. Did the great Joe Mantegna read the script before joining the cast, or did he need the pay check? The supposed twist ending is just not believable, and the plot is an old one, dating back to The Most Dangerous Game.