Fear

This show was absolutely terrific. Each episode would find six intrepid teenagers or twenty-somethings transported to an undisclosed and purportedly haunted location. Once there they would be assigned a series of "dares" to be accomplished as they moved towards a cash reward. With atmospheric lighting and camera work the locations seemed even spookier than they already were. The finest single episode of this great and lamented series was a trip into an abandoned mine in Mexico where all six competitors bailed on the first try and three of the six departed in fear on the second try. The place was fearsome even through the television screen. Far scarier than eating a plate full of worms or soaking in a vat of fat on that similarly named show that is still going strong on another network. This show's cancellation is just more proof that MTV hasn't got a clue what to do with quality programming other than to get rid of it so as not to show up their mindless spring break drivel.

OK, to everyone who swears it is real, could someone please explain to me why, if these places really ARE haunted and the ghosts really DID get disturbed by these individuals perfroming the dares, that the disturbances would stop IMMEDIATELY upon their arrival back at the 'safe zone'? If it were real, there have been too many episodes for something to not have happened by now. Especially in the places that supposedly have evil spirits.

Unless, of course, MTV talked to the spirits' agents beforehand, and got them to agree to only scare the 'contestants' while they were performing the dare, not while they were all together. That has to be it! I just wonder how much MTV is paying the spirits.

So I stand corrected. This is brilliant!

(Actually, now that I think about it, they ARE paying the spirits. Only those spirits are a lot like stagehands paid to make the noises and chase after the kids on their way back.)

Contestants get paid $5000 to do "dares" like sitting in a room full of crickets, sitting in a dark room alone for 2 hours, or performing an "exorcism" (splashing holy water around and reading a latin phrase). The funny thing is that people actually get so scared by these simple tasks and the ghost stories that MTV and their "psychic experts" cook up, some of them actually abandon the cash and quit. Of course nothing supernatural has ever actually happened on the show, except for the contestants psyching themselves out. Somehow it is entertaining... funny though, not scary.

If you haven't seen this show "Fear", you are REALLY missing out. This is one of the best shows I have ever watched. It's a show about a group of people who go to a haunted building (on the premiere it was a haunted prison) and give each of the members Dares to do. They have a camera attached to them, and throughout the prison there are infrared cameras that are watching what they do. On some dares they'll go with another person, on others they have to go alone. These dares seem to get progressively worse and worse, and throughout these tests some team members are too afraid and are forced to give up because they can't complete the task. But, for the remaining team members there is a box full of hundred dollar bills as the payoff at the end.

One unique part of the show is how, while these people are going to the parts of the building for their dares, there are interviews with people that tell what actually happened in these rooms. That way you get the real feel of where they are going. For example, there was a room in the prison called the "Sugar Shack" where people were hacked apart in the prison. This information gives the audience even more of a horror of where these people are going..all by themselves..than if the show wouldn't have this footage.

The element of this show that scares most people the most is that, these places are really said to be haunted. Not only are you, the viewer, thinking how terrible it would be to be alone in the dark in that building, but your adding in this element of the unknown. Throughout these dares, the members would often hear footsteps coming toward them...see shadowy figures moving in front of them..or feel a 'cold spot' as they walk down the corridors. I suppose all these can be fabricated, but you wouldn't think so with all the infrared and night vision cameras that could easily pick up a hoax. You can't have a guy walking around trying to scare people..shooting cold air on them..or running around in front of them while there are cameras from all angles on him. But anyway, I'm sure there are still people that feel it's all a big hoax and I respect that, because I personally don't know what to think. But you have to admit..even for the most dedicated un-believer..when you see a guy having to sit in the supposed most haunted room in the prison all alone for 15 minutes, him having to shut his flashlight off and hold a electromagnetic detector while a score of noises and footsteps are all around him..you do question your beliefs in the paranormal.

I think this is one of the best shows to come on television..really...ever. I am NOT a sitcom person, and frankly, watch very little TV. I will often laugh at the terrible ideas that people come up with to make into a show..but..every once in a while they'll throw in a show like this that really is something unique. This show is so scary because it's REAL..real people...real emotions..real fear. No special effects, make up or 'stickmen'. You may believe all the 'ghosts' are fake..but weather they are or not, the people in here are real people, just like you and me, and I'm sure when your entering that electric chair chamber..the Hole..or the Sugar Shack, you begin to question all your disbelief.

This show is much better and creepier than the Blair Witch Project because it's not a movie, it's the real thing. Real people, Real scares, and Real ghosts. Some people might not think that the ghosts are real, but I think they are real. I've seen pretty weird things in my life before, I used to live in a haunted house. I know these things do exists because I saw one before. This is the only good show on MTV right now is worth watching.