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.

I loved MTVs Fear. I don't care if it was real or not. And I don't care if it ripped off the Blair Witch Project. For some reason after 9-11, my interest in things that had previously scared me began to grow, from roller coasters to scary movies. Sadly the "scary movie" as such is in terrible shape. If I see one more ghost that can't rest until it's murder is solved, I'm going to strangle it myself.

But MTVs Fear always gave me the chills. They found atmospheric locations with legitimately creepy vibes and proceed to creep the kids out who played the game. Ostensibly there was no cameraman or crew except the players of the game. (Each participant wore a helmet that filmed both what they were viewing and their reaction to it.)

The episode where the girl goes to the children's ward of a hospital and a ball moves across the floor in a "U" shaped path scared the crap out of me. After some episodes I would walk around my place and turn every light on. Soooo creepy.

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.

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.)

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.