New York, 2 heures du matin

Some great shots of the old New York, before the Disney-fication of it all. If you like sleazy strip clubs, mobsters, drug alleys, and brutal killings, then this is a solid thriller. And seeing Billy Dee is always welcome. He does a fine job as the intense cop, even though his role is small.

Abel Ferrara has definitely done better things in his life. But I think this is just the uneasy transition point between the early gritty horror of Ms. 45 and the later high gloss of "King of New York." There are many points at which Ferara has rarely been as outrageous as such as the stabbing of a stripper montaged together with a sexy strip routine. I also think he deserves points for putting half naked women in almost every scene.

But the martial arts fighting serial killer was utterly ridiculous and in the ending fighht scene I didn't see why he had to be so tough if his aim in life was to beat up women half his size and weight.., This was made for cable by the way, they just decided not to air it.

Although FEAR CITY is provocatively titillating, and sex drenched, it really never manages to seduce. However, the film does a remarkable job of capturing the essence of early 80's tawdry 42nd St. Midtown Manhattan (Pre-Disneyfication). And, the film boasts a cavalcade of 80's talent; Tom Berenger, Billy Dee Williams, Melanie Griffith, and Rae Dawn Chong. Although director Able Ferrara was throttled by too many producers, he has still managed to craft a fairly interesting picture. What makes FEAR CITY slightly unusual is the treatment of the killer. In most films of this nature, the primary aim is to identify and demonstrate the Evil Doer's, Means, Motive, and Opportunity. However, in FEAR CITY Ferrara only shows the manifestation of the killer's violence, and nearly nothing is divulged of his character or motivation. The killer is shown as a mere cipher, and such a depiction is more in keeping with the Horror Genre rather than Detective Fiction. FEAR CITY is certainly not a great film, or even one of Able Ferrar's better efforts, but it is still worthy of a look.

This early flick from Abel Ferrara piles on the sleaze as it deals with a group of strippers being hounded by an unknown night-time assailant; from a surprisingly good cast for such cheap exploitation fare, Melanie Griffith scores best as the most popular stripper around, who also happens to be her moody boss (Tom Berenger)'s ex, indulges in a lesbian relationship on the side (with fellow stripper Rae Dawn Chong) and turns into a full-blown junkie when the latter dies at the hands of our good friend, the serial killer. Nice clean family fare, then, right? While the film remains watchable throughout and even has a handful of amusing sequences (most notably when, having been mistaken for the killer, the wrong guy gets beaten up in the kitchen of one of these clubs) and performances (in particular, Michael V. Gazzo as an irascible strip-joint owner), it is seriously damaged by a frankly dull hero (or rather anti-hero, since we're basically talking about an ex-boxer-turned-pimp here) and a very silly villain (a karate expert/fitness freak/budding writer). Billy Dee Williams also stars as an irate cop disgusted by all the squalor around him and Rossano Brazzi turns up for a free plate of pasta as the pre-requisite "respectable" mobster overseeing NYC's underworld. For the record, the film was originally bankrolled by Twentieth-Century Fox but they eventually sold the property to an independent company in view of its objectionable content and a cleaned-up, padded-out version eventually made the rounds on US TV and European videos; also, the actor playing the serial killer remains uncredited to the end, just as the killer's name is never known throughout the film.

I'd be lying if I said this wasn't a somewhat peculiar movie. The bursts of violence are horrific, and the picture maintains an emphatically gritty tone, yet scenes spotlighting the killer feel a tad contrived. There's several noteworthy names and faces appearing here, and the roles they are given to fill have complicated histories and backgrounds that could be teased out to even more splendid, visceral or emotional ends. Yet most of the figures quietly come and go in the narrative, and the one centered as the protagonist - Matt Rossi, portrayed by Tom Berenger - feels more like a man caught in a whirlwind than an active force driving the story. For all the characters and threads of plot herein, the development of that plot comes across less as a line moving forward, and more as a grim malaise of wretchedness slowly spreading outward in all directions. As such, each subsequent concrete story beat that propels the runtime almost feels out of place. 'Fear City' is solidly enjoyable, but it's a bit of an oddity, and I can't begrudge anyone who holds it in lower esteem.

The vibe is definitely one of neo-noir - seedy characters all around, dubious dealings, bad business, and circumstances that progressively spin out of control. Within that vague context, there's a lot to love about Nicholas St. John's screenplay: the very human characters; the dialogue oozing fear, exhaustion, and broad spite; the scene writing that over the course of the length adopts an evermore dire air of immediacy. And I do quite like the overall narrative, for while it feels a trifle unorthodox, and perhaps unsteady on its feet, the curiousness of the approach here is by no means an inherent mark against it. In fact, by keeping the storytelling relatively nebulous and fuzzy, one can infer a measure of universality - this could be anywhere, at any time, and the themes and characters could apply elsewhere and otherwise - in contrast to the specificity that a more streamlined, distinct narrative would impose. Similarly, even as the killer is shown to have a couple qualities that set him apart from any average John Doe, the movie declines to impart a precise motive or reasoning, lending credence to the notion that this unnamed attacker who voices such strident misogyny is a stand-in for every person who by any account exhibits the same senseless hatred of women. And, if one reads such harsh connotations into the amorphous, open slant of the writing, 'Fear City' becomes even more bleak - and for that, even more engrossing.

Combine all this with the tremendous film-making skills of Abel Ferrara, who makes all the grime of New York feel extra real and personal, and it's hard not to become invested in the movie even though something feels persistently, indescribably "off." I won't say that this is a "fun" viewing experience, but at length it's a strongly engaging one. The hair and makeup work, costume design, and broad production design are swell, and the cinematography is excellent. The sequencing partly suffers from and feeds into the same muddied haze that clouds the writing, but the film editing at large is executed well. And yet for all the fine contributions that characterize 'Fear City,' and for as enjoyable as the picture is overall, the aspect of its craft to stand out the most isn't what you'd think. "New York doll," a song performed by David Johansen that opens the film and closes the end credits, is marvelous. It quickly sets a dark tone for this 80s picture, and exemplifies a brilliant, invigorating score and soundtrack that may be the single best part of the feature.

It's not without its flaws. At the same time that the approach to storytelling opens different possibilities, the strangely noncommittal writing of characters and narrative development is a little off-putting. It's a fine, quixotic balance the feature tries to strike, and the results are mixed. All this is kind of beside the point, though: one can dissect the minutiae of the title from top to bottom, but at the end of the day, it's dark, it's violent, and it keeps us watching. Warts and all, 'Fear City' is better than not, and its imperfections kind of add to its appeal. Content warnings should be noted for substantial nudity, and violence against women, and even putting these aside Ferrara's style won't meet the personal preferences of all viewers. Still, if you have the chance to watch it, there's a lot to like about 'Fear City,' and I think it's worth checking out.