Uma Noite para Esquecer

The reactions at the Frightfest in London where this was playing were ranging from "liked" to "totally hated it". There weren't too many people who were completely taken aback by the story (if you can call it that). Two people in a car and "absolute fear". Or something like that. It has its fair share of moments and I wouldn't say it's a waste of time to watch. But I'm pretty sure many people will get fed up with the characters and the twists.

There should've been a little more work on the script and there might have been better dialog and better overall options. The shooting style is optimal for low budget and it did suit the movie. But it didn't elevate it enough to make it something that will stand out. "Them" and a few other horror gems have done terror in a far better way. With characters the viewer is actually rooting for

In Fear seems like another one of those teen horror movies that lazily throws whatever a generic horror movie usually brings. Surprisingly, it ends up offering more than a typical horror fare. It is basically an indie-horror film that plays mind games with the audience. It's an intriguing concept indeed, it goes a lot of fun when it presents its plot, but it eventually falters when it hits to its twists and turns. In Fear has a great potential at first. The last act may be pretty senseless, but throughout the film is a watchable cinematic perplex.

The film mainly takes place in a car, spending most of the time with the characters talking about their relationship. Nobody knows about their fate as they drive around the woods, which lets their emotions toward the situation manifest the fear. Everything is a mystery, and getting exasperated by the lack of knowing what the threat is what makes the set up pretty exciting. The ride is remarkable when it doesn't rely on the generic horror tricks, just let the atmospheric tone and the perplex speak the horror. And this is why it's a shame for the film to use jumpy sound effects in some part because it quite hurts the terror. But the coldness still takes over the experience.

When it finally reveals the enemy, it totally stops making sense. Though it doesn't really have to make sense as long as it's "scary", but no. This certain twist suffers by its weak villain that forces things to be psychotic, but it didn't work, thus everyone won't likely bother to care much of the story anymore, unless it throws another twist that looks far more interesting than the other. Unfortunately, the conclusion is another mystery to figure out, and that is the least interesting one among the trip. I think it's only great when none of that is ever revealed. When it comes to the filmmaking, everything is all quite stunning. This is pretty obvious for an independent film, but the shots here just makes audience feel like they're sitting in the car with the characters. For the acting, the main two did a fine enough job.

The film currently gets a lot of praise, even a perfect score currently at Rotten Tomatoes, but seeing those hyperboles would just mess up the experience, because apparently the film is best seen if the viewer doesn't have any expectation or idea what it is about. The film would have been greater without knowing the second half at all, but that's just too silly to view it. In Fear is not exactly scary, the tip to enjoy what is happening is to keep it all mysterious. Therefore you'll get a sense of fun and anxiety, even if the conundrum at the finale is something that no one can really ignore.

In Fear is a tale of a young couple on their way to a festival, whom detour, at the request of the male half, to a remote idyllic hotel.

Things go horribly wrong.

Tension and paranoia builds nicely in the opening third of the movie. Our couple get lost in a network of country lanes, supposedly leading to the hotel, which turn out to be a maze. As dusk approaches, confusion and anxiety turn to fear and dread ...

This is about as much as I can divulge without spoiling anything, however, the plot from this point onwards goes from irritating to ridiculous. Painful-to-view clichés and "they'd never do that" type gaffs litter the movie until the end which, when it comes, leaves you wondering if the writer got stuck for an ending.

When it's tense, it works well but too much in this film went awry for me. I saw it at the FrightFest film festival and did speak to a lot of fans who loved it, but not I.

I could be wrong, so it's perhaps worth checking out, if you like a claustrophobic, low-budget vibe in your horror but if not, I'd tread with caution.

Bringing together elements of, and to varying degrees echoing film such as 'The Blair Witch Project', 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' and the fairly recent British nasties 'Kill List' and 'Eden Lake', director Jeremy Lovering brings us a tale of two people in an early days relationship getting lost in the woods. Relatively speaking, they are stranger to one another as well as to us, and one feels that in another writer/director's hands, this fact could have become more pertinent than it actually does here, which is a shame.

They are on their way to a music festival and are trying to find a hotel they are booked in at. Seems straightforward enough, right? Of course things don't go as planned; they find themselves driving in circles with no hotel to be seen. Next thing confusion and concern set in; as dusk draws close, the weather worsens, their fuel runs low, their map proves inaccurate, and the country roads they drive all begin to look the same, we are invited to feel the very real fear most of us can relate to, and it must be said in this at least, the film proves extremely effective. Indeed, the first hour or so of 'In Fear' had me gripped and actually feeling something I don't often have the pleasure of when watching a horror/thriller on my own: Genuinely spooked. The performances are reasonable and the tension nicely handled; Lovering's ability to generate palpable horror from a simple scenario and drag it out for quite so long IS impressive.

It is a shame, then, that when the time comes for the film to play its hand a little more, the tension is released and we enter a world of silliness; the reasoning for the situation arising in the first place and its justification seem flimsy. Shattered is the hope that we were going to be dealing with loftier themes of existential fear and relationships, or even something more down to earth and rooted in an important social element, ala 'Eden Lake'; the last twenty minutes takes a direction a lot more simple and I daresay boring, given the promise of the previous acts.

This guy will make a better film than this in future, but for now, this is a reasonable shot at something compelling, even if it falters in the last act. Worth a watch for the promise it makes with its fist hour.

After two weeks of knowing each other, a witless young New Zealander with a dodgy English accent agrees to go to a music festival in Cornwall... er, Ireland with a witless young Scottish guy. They take the ferry to Cornwall... er, Ireland and stop at a pub where the New Zealander sits on the toilet waiting for something to happen. Later, they get into their car and the Scottish guy announces that instead of going to the festival, they are going to a hotel and need to wait for someone to come and show them the way. A Land Rover pulls up behind them and then drives past with a hotel sign on the tailgate so the witless couple follow. Eventually the Land Rover stops and the driver points to the road ahead before taking a right turn and disappearing. The witless couple continue on and get lost. The Scottish guy is driving and starts to drink, while the New Zealander looks increasingly anxious. It gets dark and they car begins to run low on fuel. The New Zealander tries to follow a map but the Scottish guy keeps on drinking and tries to follow a confusing set of signs for the hotel. Then the Scottish guy decides to pull over and wander off into the forest for no apparent reason. The New Zealander gets even more anxious but the Scot returns and they both decide to wander off into the forest, leaving the keys in the car. They don't get far before the car alarm goes off so they return and can't find the keys, until they find they keys on the ground. They drive off and go around in circles until eventually someone tries to attack them and they flee, only to knock a guy over and then all hell breaks loose, but not in a logical way.

Given that the couple are utterly lacking in common sense, and spend most of the time shouting at each other and making stupid decisions, the viewer is left not really caring what happens as the story spirals down one plot hole after another. One day someone will make a movie about sensible folk who despite their best efforts journey into a nightmare. Sadly, this isn't it.

At least Downton Abbey's Allen Leech get's to chew some scenery!