The Fear

This wasn't a great horror movie. You don't actually see any killings and most of them happen at the end. The story revolves around a group who go up to a cabin to face there fears. At the cabin is the leaders large wooden manaquin Morty. Morty is the only highlight of this film, he looks cool and movies cool. The rest of the movie is below average and not worth the watch. I think the makers shouldn't of made it so much a horror but tried to make it more of a thriller and try to make the watchers get scared of what's happening. I would recommend The Fear 2: Halloween Night to you because my friend says that it is much better and more killings and more of a horror type movie.

I wasn't really expecting much from this low budget horror movie, especially considering how cheap it is to buy and the numerous negative comments on IMDb about it, but in all honesty I was pleasantly surprised by ‘The Fear'.

Richard (Eddie Bowz), a psychology student, decides to conduct a group experiment in controlled fear for the purposes of his thesis. After this idea is approved by Dr. Arnold (one of two brief appearances from Wes Craven) he organises a weekend away with his `subjects' at his childhood home. Richard is haunted by nightmares which go back to his childhood, but he is unable to think of what it is that bothers him so much….and what does this wooden mannequin named Morty have to do with his fears?

The first half of this movie is almost like a psychological thriller with a few unnerving parts and some eerie sequences but mainly concentrating on introducing us to the characters. Throughout the first half of movie the viewer learns more about each character as the story progresses but we are also treated to some rather interesting and occasionally dramatic moments. The second half of the film is more like a straight horror film and unfortunately loses some of its appeal due to some rather confusing sequences and unexplained happenings.

The acting was fairly good from all the cast, particularly from Heather Medway who played Ashley and Darin Heames who played Troy. Heames previously played Z-Boy in ‘Night of the Demons 2' and for those who have seen that movie his character was very similar in ‘The Fear'. Also worthy of comment was the direction from Vince Robert which was of fairly good quality and created a certain dark atmosphere to the movie.

It's probably not everyone's cup of tea and the ending left a lot to be desired, including the answers to many important questions but ‘The Fear' is still fairly entertaining in my opinion. There is a distinct lack of action and no real gore to speak of which is why I consider this a fairly adept thriller. My rating for ‘The Fear' – 6.5/10

'The Fear' is a decent enough low budget horror flick from the mid 90's with strong production values, a promising premise with some interesting ideas and a cool looking wooden dummy killer named 'Morty' that does add some effective creepiness whenever it's on screen. The movie does move along at a decent pace and the attempts by the filmmakers at creating something more than the usual slasher fodder is commendable, but it doesn't fully pay off due to the movie being poorly constructed.

The plot = A college student Richard (Eddie Bowz) gathers a group of his friends to his family's secluded cabin in the woods for a psychological experiment called "fear therapy" and finds his old childhood dummy called 'Morty' as part of the experiment, which triggers everyone's darkest secrets and before long it comes to life and starts killing off the group by using their own fears.

The movie is an okay time waster but the attempts at doing more with the characters rather than delivering gory kills doesn't fully work as almost none of these elements ever really comes together as everything feels rushed and underdeveloped. There's perhaps a little too much focus on the story which itself is very much half-baked with side plots adding nothing to the overall film and other elements being poorly explained and becomes very muddled at times. When the horror elements do finally come into play it feels a little bland and despite an okay build up in the first half, the movie ends way too abruptly and should have had a tighter script to help make this a more effective psychological horror film.

The acting is fine Morty himself is a genuinely creepy looking character with decent effects used to bring him to life played by Erick Weiss. Eddie Bowz did fine as the leading man Richard but wasn't very likeable and lacked charisma, but he was hot though so that's a plus. Heather Medway was also decent as Ashley, but was very underwritten, but she was one of the more likable characters in this movie. Darin Heames was fun as the creep stoner Troy, Vince Edwards had some fun over the top moments as Uncle Pete and Wes Craven also made for a fun yet very brief cameo as Dr Arnold.

Overall 'The Fear' is somewhat entertaining with some interesting ideas, but was way too flawed to be considered a cult classic.

Very few horror franchises delve into the psyche of the victim's mind with a unique antagonist. The most memorable villain was Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) because of his power to invade peoples' dreams. In this movie, instead of dreams, the danger is created by fear (which is where the title comes from). When fear is present, a spirit called Morty enters the real world. It's an interesting concept, unfortunately, the execution of this movie needs some work for it to really peak in its value of entertainment. There are a few good parts and they will be covered.

This plot surfaces when a psychologist Richard (Eddie Bowz) gets a project approved for a fear therapy session up in a remote cabin owned by his parents. Upon getting there they begin to encounter strange events that are far from coincidental. Helping with the creepy factor is the character of Morty - a hand carved wooden mannequin that gives very little comfort. This particular aspect to the film is its strongest point. The suit that the actor plays in has looks of wooden textures and moves rigidly as well. Adding to that is the rickety sound that is used for every movement that Morty makes. It's very convincing that this wooden creature isn't the newest thing around. Perhaps what makes this character the most likable is the fact that he says very little. It creates mystery.

The writing by Ron Ford who continues to write today, did an OK job with the concept but everything else needs work. The concept of this creature appearing when fear is in the air is different. Considering that everyone has fears, no one is safe, so that works. However, when it comes to main characters, not one actor ever has scene that means anything more than what is being shown. The motivations behind a few characters are also misguided. One minute a girl is flirting with another man, then later she finds him repulsive - ummm OK. This is just one of a couple. Also, the fact that the casting crew hired a white actor with dreadlocks - just no. In this cast there are a few actors that go on into bigger movies but do not play roles any bigger than this. Surprisingly, Wes Craven has a small part in here. What exactly did he see in this movie? Another mystery.

Other than that there's the music, scares / violence and cinematography. Picture wise, it's OK. It's not bad nor is it anything worth the time mentioning. The music by Robert O. Ragland was average too. It would've been even better though if there wasn't insertions of 90s pop music. It seriously dates the film - not to mention those dreadlocks from earlier. Finally, because this is in the horror genre, the film is practically non-scary. There are a number of scenes where the viewer will question to how even the characters on screen did not see the scare coming. How do you not see something through a transparent surface? Also, for what it presents the gore is very low here. It's probably lower in blood than even John Carpenter's Halloween (1978). If you want gore, it's not your film.

The concept of fear being brought to a reality is commendable and so is the actual design behind the antagonist. Yet, with writing that is unclear, poor scare tactics and other dated elements, the movie rarely works.

Group of college students go up to a friends wooden cabin for a weekend of romance and fun. However, they fall prey to a wooden dummy that makes there worst fears come true with deadly consequences. Not nowhere near as bad as I expected. This is decently made flick, but never generates much in the way of suspense and terror. It owes more then its fair share to Sphere however.

Rated R; Rape, Sexual Situations, Violence and Profanity.