User Reviews

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

Nice try…but that's about the only positive thing you can say about this lackluster attempt to blend psychological thriller with eerie horror monsters. The script desperately tries to be intelligent and innovating but the result is a very poor and tedious movie, even for the already low 90's standards. The story handles about an overly ambitious psychology student who motivates a clique of people to go on a mountain-weekend where he'll finish his thesis about phobias. The point is that all the participants get over their fears by talking about them and, in the meantime, our college boy can process his own childhood trauma. Upon arrival, everyone's fear comes to life in the shape of a life-size wooden dummy. Of course the puppet means trouble! It's made by Indians…it's always the Indians with their spiritual evils, I tell you!! This movie takes itself way too seriously and the makers actually seem to believe that the subject matter is deep and complex! It's not! It's more than obvious that every character hides one of several dark secrets and the viewer figures them all out long before they reveal the "truth" themselves. I've rarely seen a movie so predictable than "The Fear". The story gets more and more annoying near the end and, the more clever it tries to be, the more ridiculous it all looks. The wooden "evil personified" dummy isn't very impressive and the squeaky stretching-sounds he constantly makes aren't my idea of eerie sound effects. Pinocchio actually was a lot scarier…at least he could do tricks with his nose. The acting performances are forgettable, even though I'm sure the guy who came up with the idea to offer Wes Craven a small role is very proud of himself. In case you're looking for some really unsettling evil-dummy horror movies, check out "Pin" (brilliant but disgracefully underrated 80's thriller) and "Magic" (staring a young Anthony Hopkins".

Granted, I've seen better horror flicks in my day, but this is a solid outing. Morty, the life-sized wooden doll, redefines creepy. Throw him in a dark wooden setting, and you get some solid terror.

The plot centers around a student Richard, well played by Eddie Bowz, who invites some friends to a wooden cabin to analyze their fears as study for his thesis papers. While there, Richard must confront his own inner demons which become magnified when he sees his childhood toy Morty at the cabin.

Soon Morty begins to terrorize the group, using their darkest fears as a weapon.

The cast was solid. Bowz handles the lead quite well and genre oddball Darin Heames(Night of the Demons 2 & Dr. Giggles) shines as his best pal with questionable morals. Heather Medway, portraying Bowz' love interest was the best actress involved, outshining Ann Turkel.

I recommend this for people who like to be creeped out. Has a dark atmosphere and the use of the foley artists as Morty chases people was handled well also.

I liked "The Fear", but not that much. It seemed to waste the few elements it had that might have made it a better film. It does not deliver many chills, and the opportunities it has slip by in what ultimately comes across as a poorly thought out and chaotic film. I found the best moments took place in Uncle Pete's Christmas Village. This sequence showcases some of the movies only eerie scenes, turning familiar Christmas elements into a strangely spooky backdrop. Nevertheless, one feels that Vincent Robert (making a directorial debut), allows too many chances to develop his story slip away. He fails to make use of the generally interesting masks and tree carvings that plague Richard's (Eddie Bowz) dreams as anything more than dream fluffery. The legend of Black Peter, another interesting idea, also fails to get more attention. One may surmise that this motif somehow has entered Richard's subconscious (thus explaining the similarities between Black Peter's face and those of the masks in Richard's dreams). Instead, the director moves along ploddingly, showcasing characters stumbling along forced conflicts which feel contrived. When Ashley (Heather Medway) decides to call off her engagement to Richard because he tries to help Tanya (Anna Karin) the audience gets left wondering what they missed. Most of the character interactions feel this artificial. Watch this movie as part of horror marathon, or at the very least, with its sequel `The Fear: Halloween Night', but do not expect too much from it.

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.

If you liked Spookies and Silent Night Deadly Night 2 add this to your list.

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 popped this DVD into my player with no expectations. I just wanted to see a good horror B movie. The creepy picture of "Morty" (the thoroughly menacing wooden monster on the front cover of the DVD box) made me think this movie could deliver the goods.

I thought it was an interesting premise. I love horror movies where inanimate objects come to life and kill! Kill! KILL!! I love brutal death scenes. I love evil, sickening monsters that commit unspeakable acts on the human form, and I love movies that have the guts (no pun intended!) to show it all in gruesome gory detail.

Despite the interesting premise, the film completely fails to deliver the goods!

First, the characters are absolutely horribly written and completely unlikeable. The actors didn't do that bad of a job, its just the way all these cliched characters were written that makes me not give anything resembling a damn about them. All the cliches are here: the whiny bitch, the new-ager who predicts beforehand that something weird/supernatural is happening, the dirty psycho/sleazebag, and the token black guy (first to get killed of course!). Not helping is this white guy with dreadlocks. I guess he supposed to be comic relief, but he fails so, so badly.

Second, The action is virtually non-existent. Not a one cool death in the whole lame film. No blood, no gore, no nudity, no one-liners, none of the things that make B horror movies fun to watch. Not to mention, the movie is so dark, its nearly impossible too see the pathetic action sequences when they do occur. Morty looks scary but acts stupid and moves like a retarded zombie.

FINAL RATING: 3/10 Bad pacing makes this wholly unscary, and complete lack of violence and nudity make it wholly uncool. Movie takes itself way too seriously! It tires to be deep but comes off boring. Only minimal skill was evident. Not even a decent B horror genre flick...and come on, thats not asking much!

Noob Aalox

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.

The Fear (1995) was a total snooze fest. I saw this movie several years ago on cable t.v. For the life of me I had no idea why I even bother watching the entire movie. I never thought I would experience such a lame horror film (that was until I watched a couple of Asylum productions). The only saving grace was the attractive mail order bride from Europe that guest star Vince Edwards shared screen time with. The story (if you want to know or bothering even caring about) has something to do with a wooden statue and a psycho killer. Horror hack Wes Craven makes a cameo appearance as a doctor.

Put this bad boy in your D.V.D. player. Is it so lame and offensive that'll make you want to smash your t.v. set? No, it's lame in the sense that it'll put you to sleep in no time. Just wait until the European woman makes an appearance, then you'll have something to think about when you nod off. I would have to pass on this movie and run away from it the next time I see it on the video store shelf or on t.v.

Not at all recommended.

'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.

Okay, first off, stay away from the R1 DVD. It's cut/censored to the point where some scenes don't even make sense.

This movie started with an interesting premise and did a pretty good job with it. It's not a typical monster/slasher and has a little bit of a psychological lean to it. It's got a mix of you and old actors so the acting tends to be pretty good especially from Ann Turkel and Vince Edwards. Even the ending was a little different from your typical hack and slash. And if you watch the VHS or R2 version you get a smattering of gore and nudity.

On the other hand it was a little like the Melrose Place of horror movies, everyone was hitting on everyone and I don't think one character had any fidelity to their current relationships.

It didn't succeed 100% but if you want to see something a little different horror-wise you could do worse. If you're looking for action (it drags in spots) and gore, then skip this. If you like to check out different kinds of horror movies, can get in to somewhat psychological films, and don't require stuff that's all formula this might do for a rental. Just don't set your hopes too high.

I wasn't expecting this one to be good and I was right."The Fear" isn't the worst horror movie I have ever seen,but it surely comes close.The acting is awful,the gore is non-existent as well as suspense.Wes Craven is completely wasted here as Dr.Arnold but it is nice to see Ann Turkel from cult exploitation/horror film "Humanoids from the Deep"(1980).There are some interesting shades of Jung's philosophy floating in "The Fear",but I wouldn't recommend this film to anybody.2 out of 10-a total trash!

This movie is pathetic. I don't know how I stayed up through the whole thing. There are plenty of bad horror movies I like but the problem with this is it looks like the creators of this one thought they were making a good movie. This movie features a killer mannequin. But most of the deaths happen at the end. Of course we don't actually see anyone get killed. Two girls get raped and another fights off an attempt. Not exactly what makes a good plot. This reminds me of lame movies like Uncle Sam and Ice Cream Man. They could have been good if they hadn't been so serious and had some gore. The only reason I rented this was because the soundtrack featured horror-core rap like Esham and Gravediggaz. But the soundtrack didn't fit the movie at all. Modern American horror is terrible. If you want to see good recent horror movies, check out some European stuff like Cemetery Man and Evil Ed.

Rob-Bob

The Fear, is nothing but an insipid, washed up horror/suspense film gone completely wrong. The Fear has all of the basics that an average horror film needs, it has good acting (surprisingly), a little bit of nudity, and lots of dirty language, but all that is gone to complete waste because this film falls short on entertainment. There is a good plot, that might interest some people, but overall, this film lacks in blood and gore, and most of all, suspense. The plot is overall good, and interesting. Here's the story: This group of people all show up at a remote cabin in hope of conquering their worst fears. While they're there, they are all terrorized by a wooden dummy named `Morty'. Like I said, the plot in general, is interesting, and the plot is what will lead you to watch this movie. The acting was surprisingly good, considering the fact that this movie was almost never known to the world. Each actor gave moderately good performances, that at least gave the movie something good. Now here's the bad parts of the film. The sound effects are very horrible, when the wooden dummy walks, he makes loud `CLUMP!' sounds that lack in realism. The second reason is because the movie is VERY talkative. Throughout the entire film, it is basically talking, and nothing else. Third reason, is because you don't really see Morty walk much at all, and there is a lack of death scenes. If you want a better version of this film, watch part 2, it was WAY better. The Fear had so much potential, but it all went to waste. 4 out of 10

This movie is seriously lacking in its one fundamental ingredient; horror. It's amazingly shocking to see what weird choices the film-makers made with this movie, that all go at the expense of the quality of the movie.

The main concept and idea behind this movie certainly deserved to get a better treatment. And I also must admit that when the true horror/slasher aspects of the movie kick in, the movie is actually still quite good and enjoyable to watch. But only problem is that it isn't until the last 20 minutes or so that the movie truly becomes a slasher and 10 minutes later it has all ended again already. And what an horrible sudden ending it has. So there is actually very little to enjoy for the horror lovers among us, myself included.

The movie is basically all build up and no pay off. The movie keeps dragging on with its character development and only throws in some fake scares to help you to remind that this is supposed to be an horror movie you're watching.

This movie is some real wasted potential. I really liked the killer and the whole idea behind him, which makes me wish that this movie was given into the hands of someone more capable, or someone with some more experience with the genre at the very least. This was the first and only, as of yet, movie that Vincent Robert directed. Prior to this he also had very little experience with the movie making business, so why he ever was given the opportunity to directed this movie is a bit of a mystery to me. Wes Craven was in the cast, couldn't he at least had given the film-makers a couple of tips on film-making as well.

The movie has a cheap video look over it but hey, that's what you get from an '90's movie. It tries to be like a good genre movie from the '80's but it basically only does this by throwing in a bunch of unlikeable persons, who are also all sleeping with each other, or at least are busy trying to.

Granted that this is far from the worst thing I have ever seen but it unfortunately ain't much good, original or interesting enough either.

4/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

This might be one of the top 3 worst movies that I have ever seen. I feel that it is my duty to warn other people not to see this. I can only assume the people involved in the making of this film are now working at McDonald's full time. I had a compound fracture of my arm and, really, it didn't hurt as bad as watching this. First off, the bad guy is a giant marionette puppet-looking wood thingee. (Do you really want me to go on?) None of the characters make any sense, and I don't think that character growth exists. Loose ends abound and plot is bad. Really bad. I can't even describe how bad this is. Wes Craven makes an appearance in this film (He looks like John Cleese) and is the best actor. Rumor has it that there is a sequel out there and this film is also on DVD. Yikes.

Richard takes a group of his friends up to a secluded cottage to discuss their fears as a part of his university report. He finds an old wooden life-size dummy which is named "Morty". It was in his family for years. Anyways, they decide to tell Morty their fears. Some of their fears include bugs, water, heights, growing old, etc. Eventually, Morty begins to pop up in places scaring the group. And it isn't long before Morty comes to life and begins killing a few of them by using their fears.

There are some subplots involved in the movie such as the identity of the campus rapist. We see a woman attacked on campus by an unknown assailant and discover that someone has been raping girls at the college. It is quickly obvious that the rapist is among the group of friends. And we also follow the individual relationships between each of the couples, which are mostly dysfunctional. There is also some weird borderline incest scene which was unnecessary. A lot of it just seemed to over the place.

The acting is decent enough to not ruin the movie. And there are some interesting twists regarding some of the character's pasts (especially Richard's), but the film is too all over the place. The Fear never sticks to one plot for long periods of time. We've got this wooden person roaming around, but we are also trying to figure out the identity of the campus rapist.

I think The Fear would have been better if it focused more on the creepy wooden dummy Morty. It trailed off too much onto other story lines and failed to provide any scares or frightening moments. Interesting twists, but this did not scare me in the slightest which is what a horror movie should do.

4/10

this movie far excels over typical horror movies, as it a.) making at least some attempts to bring depth and reason to a monster killing people...morty scares people until they can face their fears, based on pseudo-psychological reasons; and b.) morty is pretty scary. both of those can't be said about some guy in a hockey mask.

because the human characters are so damn annoying, morty is truly the star of the show. the makeup is great (it lost the 1995 academy award to ed wood. why, i have no idea) and really is scary-looking...i was scared of statues and dolls when i was a kid, so morty struck a cord in me...when they were telling morty their fears, i was saying "im scared of YOU, morty!" it took me a couple minutes to realize morty was a human in makeup and not a real statue.

the diametric/matricide thing completely blindsided me. it made sense and was less predicable than "redrum/murder" from the shining.

yeah, there's plenty of things wrong with this movie, most of which was fully and long-windedly explained already, but no one noticed (or mentioned) the terrible soundtrack errors, especially with the guy with the dreadlocks. the last word of every other sentence he says is accidentally looped and repeated..."I can't believe you're really my mother, my mother!"

nonetheless it's top-rate. i just wish there was more morty. viva morty! cheers to the wooden soccer-ball retriever!

A group of college students go on a field trip to help out a fellow student do his psychology major. He studies fear, and it's effect on people. After going to his childhood home/cabin in the woods, he discovers his old "childhood friend" Morty- an old wooden dummy. He uses the dummy in his sessions for his friends to tell their fears to. Twist is, this dummy is alive, and soon kills everyone off using their fears.

I actually enjoyed this film. I first saw it about 8 years ago- after buying it for $10 on video. The first thing I noticed about the film was yes, it is cheesy as hell, but the story and acting made it worth watching. It's one of the better acted B-Grade horror/thriller films out there. It cameos Wes Craven as the professor allowing the whole "field trip".

I particularly liked the soundtrack to the film. Each song is about fears and death. Esham's title track (The Fear (Morty's Theme)) is a great song.

I recommend this film to anyone who likes a good night in with a campy horror flick or two.

7/10

Recently picking up this film on DVD I was disappointed to find the film HEAVILY cut. All the profanity has been cut out, and it looks/sounds terrible. AVOID THE FILM ON DVD.

It's the worst horror movie I've ever seen. Not only is it silly and boring, but it conveys the absurd and inhuman moral that people who are so rational as not to believe in supernatural forces deserve a cruel death. A good horror story or movie comes as a fancy tale, not as a sermon.

What a horrible movie! I won't even go into how bad it was, because this movie doesn't deserve it. What I will say is that if that stupid mannequin, Morty, was chasing me, I'd throw water on him and he'd warp! End of story.