The Fear: Resurrection

Those of you who, like me, were disappointed with the original 1995 horror yarn, "The Fear" will find more to be disappointed with in this silly little sequel. It sort of follows a similar plot, but it is impossible to connect to the original, with the exception of the presence of Morty, the mannequin monster made of wood. Here is a brief overview.

Twenty years after Mike Hawthorne (Gordon Currie, in a decent performance) witnesses his father brutally murder his mother and then take his own life, Mike is still suffering from the fear of that day. In hopes of ridding his fear, Mike takes his girlfriend and a bunch of friends up to his grandparents' home. His plan is for everyone to dress up in costumes that represent their fears, and then present the fears to the mannequin Morty. According to an Indian friend, this process is supposed to magically take away one's fear. What Mike doesn't know is that Morty is possessed with his father's spirit, and begins killing off the friends...or is it really Mike himself doing the killings? Who cares?

A have a few troubles with this film. The first lies with Morty. I thought the original made Morty look rather convincing. This time, it is painfully obvious Morty is a man (actor Jon Fedele) in a fake looking suit. This can especially be seen in early scenes, where Morty is still supposed to be inanimate, but if you watch closely you can see him blinking. Another trouble is that most of the characters don't try hard enough. Some of them do, namely Betsy Palmer, of Friday the 13th fame, who was excellent in this film. But most of them don't make the effort or weren't given the chance. Finally, there are the killings. The opening scenes involving ax murders were very convincing. Actually, when I saw them I thought I was in for a good movie. When the second half of the movie arrives, and the killings really start, everything falls to pieces. Deaths are either uncreative, unseen, or foreseen (glimpses of the next scene as Currie has a blackout). One character dies in the end and no one, including the viewer, even notices. While more characterization was needed in the beginning half, it wasn't too bad. The second half was. I think new director Chris Angel got to this point and really didn't know how to shoot the violent scenes, so they turned out real sloppy and pedestrian. A silly ending doesn't help either. Thus, unless you really loved the original and enjoy plucking splinters out from under your skin, you should probably skip "The Fear 2: Halloween Night." Zanatos' score: 4 out of 10.

I agree with the other person who reviewed this film. In addition, a lot of things didn't make sense or add up. I didn't expect this film to be good, but I also didn't expect this film to be so terrible. It's as if no one put a lot of thought into making this movie. (And yes, me and my friends saw the wood guy blinking, too.)

This movie was crap with a capital "C." The opening scene showed promise. But that "promise" was broken shortly after the viewer learns where the plot is going.

And the wooden statue, Morty, who was rather creepy in the original film, looks plain goofy in this one. It was so obviously just a guy in a cheap plastic costume. (And by the way, who else thinks "Morty" is one of the most un-scary names on planet earth? It ranks right up there with "Jimmy" or "Fred" when it comes to horror value. Or why not just name the wooden statute Henry-freakin'-Kissinger. "Run, it's Dr. Kissinger!" That'd be about as scary as "Morty.)

And then there's a scene where the "hero" hits his father's tombstone with---"a sledgehammer?" you might guess--"a two-by-four?" someone might venture. No, he angrily beats his father's tombstone with a twig---a freakin' twig. But worse than that, once the characters walk away, the tombstone actually, and inexplicably, bleeds. Oh brother!

There's also a Native American guy who lives with the main character's grandparents, but apparently, does nothing except Morty-maintenance. He perpetuates creepy Morty-legends, warns those who scoff, and even fixes Morty's arm when it becomes damaged during a childish prank. But for all his respect for and tenderness toward Morty, does Morty give a rat's hairy behind? No.

The movie drags on, and eventually several people die in ways that correspond to their worst fears (sort of). This film is a real yawner. Don't rent it.

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable.****Very Good.***Okay.**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead.*Avoid At All Costs.

I really should have learned my lesson by now. Horror sequels,no matter how interesting they may sound or how good their intentions may be,never work.

And this heap big pile of babababooshka meant one of the worst halloween night movies I'd had the displeasure of having out in ages. I should have got The Faculty out instead.

I only saw it because I remembered seeing the original ages ago,and was interested in seeing what wonders a sequel could toss up. Well,in some parts,dull,predictable,seen-it-all-before cliches were thrown up like anything. I mean,quarter of the way into it,I was left unimpressively baffled. Wow. He attacks his nutty father's tombstone with an axe,and,when he and his lover walk away,wow,it starts to bleed. How scary.(Bram Stoker's Dracula,anyone?)

And that scene with the snake in the forest was pathetically stupid. A snake could'nt survive in those temperatures. Pah.

On the charecter front,I was most amused by those 2 sexy blonde chicks.

But then,onto good old Morty.

In the original,he was a tortured,sympathetic horror creation who you grew to like towards the end. In this shambles of a sequel,a complete waste of time and money for everyone,he's a metamorphosising,crass,cack handed man like beast ,who quotes tired one liners on his hapless victims. I actually thought he looked like Dolph Lundgren a bit in the cupboard.

Sequels to excellent,sucessful horror films have stank (Candyman 2,An American Werewolf In Paris),but sequels to unknown,unappreciated horror flicks like The Fear are just torture to sit through. I just absolutely could not wait for this to be over.

Utterly unscary,paceless and boring,I would deter you from renting this movie as your halloween treat.*

I don't know why I saw this movie, but I think the cover looked cool. And that's all the audience can expect when watching this nonsense. It simply tries to copy films like "Scream" etc., but it fails!!!! And how!!! More than 90 minutes no gore, nothing, and I expect that this was the r-rated version with all violence cut out. That this crap has been rated 18 in Germany shows that in this country censorship and ignorance rules by the FSK (comparable to MPAA or BBFC). Admittedly, gore and violence do no make a good horror movie, but even the dialogues are so dull and senseless that I had to pull the forward button as often as I could. My advice: save you money!!!!