Fear Clinic

After an experimental phobia treatment is stopped, a group of people find their nightmares returning and seek the aid of their original doctor and his specialized machine, unaware of the dangers with starting it up again.

This was a decidedly disappointing and uneven effort. What really tends to hold this one back is the overall lack of feeling like this one was a true horror film, as it's only in the final minutes where this one goes for that kind of feeling and really loses a lot of steam on the rest here without this one really going for the horror. The first half here is simply boring about the group finding their fears coming back and trying to cope with the reluctance to start using up the machine again, which is compounded by this one simply going off on useless tangents about the staff and the patients' lives that aren't in the least bit horror-based and let it really lose steam as it gathers along trying to gain some momentum about the machine but it just falls apart due it's decided non-use that keeps this one from really doing anything. This is due mostly to this one taking place more as a drama about the power of fears potentially taking over a person rather than actually doing anything horrific to showcase that, leading to more scenes here featuring everyone going around talking about how to get them over their fears or him trying to get the nerve to use his machine again rather than letting loose and really showing it off, which makes this one feel quite slow-paced and drawn-out. Likewise, the finale is pretty over-done with the rather lame and tedious CGI that comes barreling out of nowhere to look so out-of-place in what's going on that there's a real sense of being dragged out of time with it when the creature shows up which is so painfully obvious here it takes a lot of the potential fear out of it, along with the lame pacing of the scenes draining a lot of suspense taking forever to get going and a disorienting effect of flickering lighting throughout these scenes that makes it nearly impossible to focus on anything. These here are enough to drag this one down enough that the few flaws here aren't really given all that much weight. About all that works for this here is that utterly delirious final half when the fears come out to haunt the facility and there's plenty of suspense in trying to get out, some great action with the creature chasing them through the hallways and corridors and offering up some utterly schizoid images that makes for a truly thrilling time here. It's just too little too late against the other flaws here.

Rated R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence, Full Nudity, a strong sex scene and strong drug use.

Loved the idea for 'Fear Clinic', which for recent modest to low budget film viewings was one that was really quite creative. Executed right, 'Fear Clinic' had potential to be quite decent. The cover/poster/advertising was attention grabbing and does make one want to see the film. Robert Englund too is always watchable, despite being in a lot of bad projects.

'Fear Clinic' could have done so much more with such a great concept and is not necessarily a great film, or even particularly good. There are a fair few problematic elements here, including deciding early on whether to continue watching. That said, it is watchable enough, just about worth sticking with and the potential is not completely wasted. There are plus points, and fortunately in 'Fear Clinic's' case those plus points are quite big.

The best thing about 'Fear Clinic' is the acting which is really quite good, particularly from an against type but refreshingly sympathetic Englund and Fiona Dourif, providing a female lead that in lesser hands would have been completely bland and passive but given some steel with Dourif. There is some assured directing in the latter stages.

Surprisingly the effects are pretty cool and are nowhere near as amateurish as one would fear. The final third does intrigue and does have tension and suspense and the photography has slickness.

Unfortunately, it does take a while to get there. There are moments of promise in the first two thirds certainly, but 'Fear Clinic' does take far too long to get going and the draggy pacing is apparent frequently. Tension, suspense and creepiness are not consistent for such a freaky concept.

Some of 'Fear Clinic' is very predictable and the clarity not always there, parts are confused and disjointed. Despite the final third being where the film picks up significantly, the climax is on the bizarre side. Not all the production values are good, with far too much of an over-reliance of neon green lighting, which does make one feel there's something wrong with their eyes, a cheap-looking setting and editing that lacks fluidity.

In summary, watchable but not much special. 5/10 Bethany Cox

For a low budget film, Fear Clinic respectably produces several good horrors, they even resemble high fantasy at times. However, aside from the fast introduction early on, the plot stutters with repetitive scenes and the actors' performances are too often flimsy. The concept and visual are decent enough, but the movie just feels that it loses momentum as it progresses and eventually doesn't conclude as strongly as it opens.

Story follows a doctor who has made a method to deal with fears. He would put people inside a chamber and let them experience virtual enactment of said phobia. Problem arises after several people begin to see strange things even when they are not connected to the machine. The first act is arguably the best part, since it delivers a good hook and fast enough for people to invest in.

Unfortunately, the plot suffers from awkward development. Scenes would feel jumbled and needlessly recurring, mostly because the editing is poor. After the initial build-up, the characters are interacting with the excitement of telemarketer or frantic over-the-top. It seems odd since there's barely any coherency between each scene, the characters' reactions appear to be unexpectedly random.

For what it's worth, it has a few good moments. When the visual is accommodating, the thrill is presented admirably. A couple of events look like they belong to sci-fi or fantasy film, or even another higher quality production. It's unfortunate that the film only produce these instances briefly.

Fear Clinic couples together decent concept and presentation, it's just not done consistent enough as it deteriorates anticlimactically.

Sometimes I should not read the reviews on here when there are only 5 reviews. I think it might have been people that worked on this movie and the reviews are rigged. I started watching it with an open mind, and seeing that it was not the usual horror story but something with a different concept I thought I was going to like it. But even if the theme was good the story was not well executed for me, it could have been much better. First of all it took much too long before it might get interesting and then finally when you could call this movie a horror story the special effects were pretty mediocre. I was glad the movie was over so I could watch something else and better to forget about this one.

I was pretty disappointed by this film. It wasn't as bad as it could have been since there are some big stinkers out there, but it also could have been a lot better. If you're expecting closure from the web series, look elsewhere. This movie ignores anything that happened before and reinvents the story for a new audience. That isn't entirely bad since it gives the story a chance to reinvent itself, but the problem here is that what we're given doesn't really live up to expectations.

Englund does a pretty good job here and part of me really enjoyed seeing a more sympathetic Anders, but the lack of a cold, calculating Anders willing to achieve results by putting lives in jeopardy was what made the web series so much fun. He wasn't necessarily a sadist, but this posed a good question as to what would happen when things went south and the man in charge is already willing to put people in danger to forge new ground. In a way he was one of the web series's monsters.

The ending wasn't awful, but by the time the film ended I was already ready for the closing credits. There are some great special effects here and everyone tries really, really hard, but this just didn't work out and I can't help but think that this would have fared better as a web series rather than a film.