Richard (Eddie Bowz) is finishing up his degree in psychology and his final thesis is about fear. But instead of writing some stuffy old paper, he’s gonna stage a fear experiment with his friends and some strangers as guinea pigs at a remote cabin. This would be a terrible idea under the best circumstances, but Richard has some issues. These issues include, but are not limited to, a crippling fear of commitment with his fiancé Ashley (Heather Medway), dreams of his dead mother being buried by robed figures, wearing a leather jacket, and a petrifying fear of Morty, his family’s favorite wooden mannequin. And his thesis advisor is Wes Craven! That can’t be good. Things go bananas at the cabin as his pals succumb to their worst fears and maybe, just maybe Morty is actually alive and something something morning wood joke. Done.
Look, I don’t need every character in a horror film to be loveable or even likeable but damn, The Fear has all the crumbums packed into it. Thankfully, a couple of non-shitheads show up to throw me a lifejacket before I drown in catty dialog and bizarre acts of rudeness. At least no one is pretending that this cabin full of dickweeds is normal as everyone seems genuinely put out during the many uncomfortable scenes of social awkwardness. I love when a main character in a film is named Richard, especially if he’s a dick because that makes them all the more relatable to me. And don’t even get me started on Troy, played by Darin Heames of PCU (1994) fame, his character is a walking nightmare of dialectical appropriation.
Even though some of its melodrama feels a little tired (okay, a lot tired), The Fear has a lot going for it. One thing’s for sure, this film is certainly unique with some dark twists and a redwood-sized amount of psychobabble dialog packed into its weird story. I appreciate the hip hop that’s stashed all over the score, but the criminally hokey saxophone and R&B tangents had me in stitches (or would that be splinters?). Morty is an unsettling marionette without strings, and I love how no one notices how his expression keeps changing while they’re staring right at him! While I wasn’t too keen on this one during the setup, once the horror gets logrolling and the jerks start falling like trees felled by husky lumberjacks, The Fear is a lot of fun.
Vinegar Syndrome adds yet another oddity from the VHS era to their library and gives it the deluxe treatment. The Fear looks really nice, especially during its many nighttime scenes. There are two commentary tracks, one with the film’s first time director Vincent Robert (who I’m surprised didn’t go on to helm more films) and another with executive producer Greg H. Sims, who helped give the world its greatest gift, Return to Horror High (1987). My favorite extra is the 50 minute documentary “Face to Face with Fear”. VS managed to track down so many people involved in the making of the film. It’s a great doc!