In Fear (2013) Reviews

• The plot is as lost as the characters

  mungflesh2013-09-25

  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.

• Excellent Score Only Saving Grace in Otherwise Formulaic Genre Fare

  LostintheDarknessofNight2014-03-10

  Bored and looking for something to watch, I was browsing through lists of the best horror movies of 2013. The more and more "In Fear" appeared in them, the more my interest was piqued. Well let's just say the anticipation of watching it was much more exciting than the actual process of watching it. All we have with "In Fear" is a poorly scripted, annoyingly repetitive horror movie that is carried along by a phenomenal score that is way better than it has any right to be. The sounds mesh with the images so well that there were moments that I still felt nervous, even though I knew what was going to happen, courtesy of the by-the-numbers script. Tom and Lucy are two people that just met two weeks prior. On their way to a music festival in a nearby town, Tom decides to surprise Lucy by taking her to a hotel for a night...a rather questionable move for people that have just met. Thankfully, Lucy seems to be fine with it. But there are some red flags from the outset: For one, the only way to get to the hotel is to follow a truck, whose owner they never see. Even more alarming? He points to a locked gate, insinuating that is where they should go next, before suddenly leaving them alone. I don't know about you, but that would be enough for me to get the hell out of there and never return, but Tom and Lucy, stupid horror characters that they are, do as they're instructed. From here, we get thirty minutes of them driving around in circles, inexplicably continuing to follow the same signs to the motel even after learning it only takes them back to where they started. Somehow, these scenes manage to be creepy, at least at first, if for no other reason than the aforementioned score. Of course, once minute twenty rolls around of the same old thing, it starts to lose its luster. Then once Max arrives, things go from bad to worse, both for the characters, and for the viewer, leading to an abomination of an ending. "In Fear" is certainly a competent example of independent filmmaking, at least from a visual standpoint, and I guess it deserves some points for that. It's well shot, well acted, well lit, and despite a few confusing cuts, pretty well edited. Unfortunately, the one thing it's missing, besides a shred of believability, is a halfway decent script. These characters are ones you've seen in dozens, if not hundreds, of horror movies before, in that they are clearly only reacting to the needs of the script; they do not act like normal people attempting to get out of a desperate situation, but rather. Put any real person in this situation, and it would be a five minute movie with no scares and no real action. Come to think of it, I've essentially summed up "In Fear", only it somehow needs 85 minutes to do that.

• Good acting, great potential, awful plot and execution

  wymantim2014-04-13

  First of all, the acting in this movie is pretty darn good, but other than that i can't give it any other merits. The dialogue and the way the characters act makes it so unbelievable that the movie becomes painful to watch. It's hard to become immersed when you are screaming at the characters to be smart for a few seconds. The plot is so full of holes and boring that it feels like you just want it to end after a half hour. the setting is perfect for the horror genre, unfortunately there is no horror, not even any suspense. Nothing ever changes in this movie so you feel like one scene is constantly on repeat. The whole movie feels as though it's stuck in it's first five minutes and nothing gives this movie the nudge it needs to become truly frightening. I really can not recommend this movie to anyone because it has nothing positive from any genre out there. This movie is a pass.

• Car in the Woods

  kosmasp2013-12-03

  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

• Keep It Mysterious

  billygoat10712013-12-20

  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.