I think Abel Ferrara is quite possible the most underrated director working in America today. I have seen most of his movies, and even though they are a mixed bag, even his "failures" are at the very least interesting. Well I would have said that until finally seeing 'Fear City' his follow up to his revenge exploitation classic 'Ms. 45'. Like that movie 'Fear City' is written by Ferrara's regular collaborator Nicholas St.John so it's hard to see initially why this movie is so mediocre. At first, listening to the cheesy AOR title song ('New York Doll', by bizarrely enough former New York Doll David Johansen!), I thought I was in for some 80s damaged thriller, slightly flawed but still tough and substantial, ala Frankenheimer's '52 Pick-Up'. But no, as the movie progressed it became rapidly apparent that this was a major compromise, with little if any of Ferrara's usual sense of danger. Seeing someone like Tom Berenger star instead of an actor of the Keitel/Walken calibre, and Melanie Griffith instead of say, the late Zoe Lund, really tells you where this movie is coming from. The supporting cast includes hacks and non-talents like Jack Scalia, Billy Dee Williams, Rae Dawn Chong and Joe Santos. The only actor on screen I enjoyed at all was Michael V. Gazzo, who played Harvey Keitel's money lending old man in the brilliant 'Fingers'. Apart from his few noteworthy scenes, this is a tedious serial killer "thriller" pretty much on a made for TV level. A major disappointment and easily the least worthwhile Ferrara movie I've seen. For completests, or possibly masochists only.
