Cinema Reviews

In Fear Review

• 13th Nov 2013

In Fear had its premiere at FrightFest this year. A simple and low budget thriller about a new couple who on their way to a festival decide to sidetrack to a hotel in the middle of nowhere. Worryingly it seems the road they travel on to get to the place in question seems to lead them round in circles.

As night starts to draw down they have already had to face off against each other in the car as tension brews, but then they have to worry about outside forces preying in on them as well.

In Fear is fairly reliable at mounting tension naturally in its first half between the two leading characters that it could literally swing in any direction. There are few moments where the couple get to escape the confines of the car. But with a pitch black surrounding out there ultimately you know that if they are to remain safe they’d best get back inside. And it is this feel of claustrophobia and a general fear of the dark that help the film on its way.

The circular nature of their journey also lends itself to the familiar trope of repetition in horror film. Passing the same landmarks, the same signs, shot in the same fashion each time they pass aid the edit of the film in its brewing of any strain.

It can’t be said enough how well the couple in question (Alice Englert and Iain De Caestecker) play off each other in this unfamiliar territory.

If you like your concepts simple, and your drama as real as possible then In Fear is likely to unsettle your nerves in all the right places.

Steven Hurst