Disc Reviews

In Fear Review

5th Mar 2014

Tom (Liam De Caestecker, Marvel’s Agents of Sheild) and Lucy (Alice Englert, Beautiful Creatures) are on their way to a festival to meet up with friends; having stopped in a quaint little pub in the middle of nowhere Tom announces that he’s taken the liberty of booking a night in a remote hotel for him and Lucy, who’ve known each other for all of two weeks. After a little persuasion Lucy agrees to go and they set off to find the hotel. But driving through the countryside they find themselves going in circles, lost in a nightmare of country roads. As the night draws in and the petrol runs low it becomes apparent that someone playing a very nasty game with them.

In Fear takes the concept of a romantic break in the remote countryside of Ireland and, along with the stereotypical image of the Irish, completely and successfully turns it on its head. More impressively it does so without employing the use of gore, excessive violence or the supernatural. In fact, the film simply plays on our base fears: being lost, being disconnected from the wider world and the general creepiness of the deserted countryside at night (the unsung heroes of this film being the dark, dense woods and hedgerows).

Although the majority of the film takes place in a car it is engaging and the tension continues to build throughout the course of the film. The characterization is subtle and is developed in such a way that the viewer will find themselves suspicious of everyone on screen. A good soundtrack and clever camera work contributes to the sinister atmosphere and the ever building anxiety (for both the characters and the audience). Both leads are relatively unknown but they manage to deliver nuanced performances which elicit dual feelings of sympathy and suspicion from the audience. The appearance by Allen Leech (Downton Abbey) is electrifyingly tense and breathes life into the film just as it’s beginning to slow down. Full credit should be given to the director, Jeremy Lovering (Sherlock), for taking very little and making it terrifying with, what appears to be, a very small budget. Especially as this is something that many directors can’t seem to achieve even with a Hollywood budget.

All in all this is a great low-budget, psychological horror Brit-flick. Like Kill List this film refuses to treat the audience like idiots with excessive exposition, instead it leaves the viewer to draw their own conclusions. There are also moments that reminiscent of Spielberg’s early classic Duel and the good, frightening half of Jeepers Creepers. There’s no reliance on cheap thrills yet it still manages to radiate unease and anxiety. It’s a shame that there aren’t more horror films of this quality being produced and it serves as reminder, in the torture porn era, that sometimes less is far more. Brilliant!