Fear (1996) Reviews

• Surprisingly entertaining, despite the negative reviews

  Raydio2001-08-17

  The story behind the film "Fear" is nothing new. Obsessive love leading to dangerous fatal attraction. But I'm not ashamed to say that I really enjoyed watching this movie. To be sure, there were the typical cliches (did anyone not know that the security guard was SO dead!). However, the action in the film keeps things moving along at a steady pace, and the tension builds towards the reasonably satisfying climax. Performances by the lead characters were generally quite good. I found Mark Wahlbergs character to be quite convincing and quite menacing, though I agree he would certainly benefit from some speech coaching. The two young female leads, Reese Witherspoon and Alyssa Milano, did a good job playing the victims, and certainly add value to the film for their attractiveness alone. The standout performance for me was that of William L. Petersen as the father. Most of his actions/reactions rang true to me. Was "Fear" a great movie? Not really. Was it a good, satisfying and ultimately entertaining way to spend 97 minutes? Yes indeed. Even my wife stayed awake till the end, and that's worth an 8/10 alone.

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• Works Quite Well

  Deniro681999-10-16

  Movie like this either reach out and pull you in or they don't. Fear pulled me in. I rented this movie about a week after Halloween of 1996 and put it in my VCR not sure what to expect. 2 hours later I ejected the movie from the VCR feeling somewhat dazed and overwhelmed. Fear isn't a classic. But it works well. It is scary, violent gory and well made. The reason it works so well is because it was made by people who knew what they were doing. The whole stalker style of movies is full of uninspired trash that sounds like it was made for the USA network. Fear stands heads and shoulders above that (And to some extent above the original Fatal Attraction). It's not afraid to push, to pull us inside, to scare us and give us a good conclusion at the end, one that movies of this type always mess up. ***

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• Far Better Than I Expected It To Be

  Theo Robertson2005-09-03

  I had very low hopes for FEAR . I'd read the synopsis in the TV guide and the plot sounded like one of those psycho killer stalker from hell thrillers that were being churned out without any thought in the mid 1990s . Considering it starred singer Marky Mark , Reese Witherspoon and William Petersen who's a rival to Eric Roberts in the straight to video / cable TV movie stakes I didn't think this was going to be up to much While not being a classic thriller FEAR certainly did hold my attention , probably because much of the characterisation is credible . All too often in this genre the actor or actress playing the villain really goes to town showing the audience what a bad ass they are thereby parodying the role . Mark Wahlberg as David is very restrained for the most part which makes David and credible character and his on screen chemistry with Reese Witherspoon's Nicole is believable , you can believe these two characters are genuinely in love with one another something that is all too rare in this type of movie I should also point out that much of the movie revolves around the interaction of Petersen's Mr Walker who is concerned about his daughter's relationship with David . You can't blame the guy for wanting what's best for his offspring and it enhances the credibility of the story . It's refreshing to have a more thoughtful approach to this type of genre because if people start turning up dead after 15 minutes then things start to get silly , so the violence is kept to a minimum until almost at the end of the movie which does suffer something of a plot hole because no one seems to have a mobile telephone at readily hand and don't tell me professional people didn't have mobile phones in 1996 . Also watch out for references to STRAW DOGS , THE SHINING and NOSFERATU at the climax Even if you're burned out on those 90s stalker from hell thrillers you could do worse than watch this on a wet Friday evening

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• Above average psycho thriller

  preppy-32000-12-20

  Nice, innocent teen Nicole (Reese Witherspoon) falls for handsome, muscular, soft spoken David (Mark Wahlberg) not knowing he's a psycho who wants her--forever. Good thing she's got a nice, muscular, protective father (William Petersen). OK, it's no masterpiece and the plot is very familiar, but I was never bored. It's well-directed (especially a roller coaster ride), has beautiful scenery and architecture (look at the house where Witherspoon lives with her family) and a script that, if not always credible, never stops moving. The last 20 minutes really rock. A little unpleasant at times though. As for the acting--Witherspoon is OK. At times, she's totally believable--other times she's not. And she's obviously over 17. Petersen is very good playing the understanding, protective dad. A nice, understated performance. Mark Wahlberg is (surprisingly) very good as the psycho. He plays the nice guy and the evil guy very effectively. REALLY nice bod too--what a chest! But he needs some serious voice lessons--his Boston accent kept creeping in. So, a pretty good thriller. You could do worse.

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• Not as bad as you might expect...

  insomniac_rod2004-08-22

  "Fear" is a teen thriller with no intentions others than entertain the audience and show good looking teen stars like Mark Wahlberg, Reese Whiterspoon, and the always lovely Alyssa Milano. This is not a good movie by any means but it has positive things to underline. First, Wahlberg and Whiterspoon can act and their performances are the best thing about the movie. Milano is a delight to watch even that she's not very required in the movie but still shines in the few minutes she appears. Second and best of all; "Fear" goes directly to the point and makes it very easy to watch. *SPOILERS* There's nothing much to comment about "Fear" except for some infamous scenes like the dog's head, the drilling in the hand, and the three sex scenes. There are some Slasher elements a la Scream in this movie that in the time were very effective (stabbing, dog's head cut off, minimal gore, and a psycho killer) and worked very well in order to create a tense atmosphere. The ending is quite predictable and expected. The actors they chose perform surprisingly good. If the plot is not very interesting then the least you can expect is to feel some sympathy for the characters. Whiterspoon is tender and beautiful and you totally believe her when she has different feelings for her boyfriend. Wahlberg delivers a good performance as a crazed angry boyfriend. Come on, everybody feels anger jealous acts... this is exactly where I think that "Fear" succeeds. The movie is directed to a teenager audience that immediately feels similarities in their personal life with the events of it. The movie works in that aspect and there's no question about it. Watch it with minimal expectations and you will be surprised maybe a little. 6/10

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