As I sat down to watch the 2023 horror movie "Fear" from director Deon Taylor, I had not heard about it. So I wasn't really sure what I was in for here. Not that it really mattered, because with it being a horror movie then my interest was already hooked.
The storyline in "Fear", as written by John Ferry and Deon Taylor, was adequate. The movie starts out well enough, and gradually things start to intensify and build up. And I will say that the way that the narrative was constructed definitely worked well, because director Deon Taylor gradually added upon the layers of fear and confusion. However, it just went a bit too far, and the narrative sort of tumbled into utter confusion, and I have to admit that throughout the last quarter of the movie, my interest in the narrative was starting to wane, simply because I didn't really know what was going on anymore.
The acting performances in "Fear" were good, and they had a good cast ensemble. Sure, I wasn't familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list, but they put on good performances in bringing their characters to life on the screen.
Visually then "Fear" works well. Director Deon Taylor is good at using even the simplest of tricks in order to build up atmosphere and to gently tear at the audience's threshold of fear. I liked the special effects in the movie.
While "Fear" certainly is a watchable horror movie, it felt like a movie with a social commentary that would have had a much bigger impact one or two years ago. The whole Covid-19 pandemic and the outbreaks of fear that followed in its wake is what the writers are utilizing throughout the course of the movie in some extend, and it just feels a bit out of place and without much punch and impact now in 2023.
My rating of "Fear" lands on a five out of ten stars, simply because the movie's narrative just spiraled out of control throughout the last quarter of the movie, making it feel like a slap to the face after having sat through a rather intense three-quarters of the movie.
The storyline in "Fear", as written by John Ferry and Deon Taylor, was adequate. The movie starts out well enough, and gradually things start to intensify and build up. And I will say that the way that the narrative was constructed definitely worked well, because director Deon Taylor gradually added upon the layers of fear and confusion. However, it just went a bit too far, and the narrative sort of tumbled into utter confusion, and I have to admit that throughout the last quarter of the movie, my interest in the narrative was starting to wane, simply because I didn't really know what was going on anymore.
The acting performances in "Fear" were good, and they had a good cast ensemble. Sure, I wasn't familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list, but they put on good performances in bringing their characters to life on the screen.
Visually then "Fear" works well. Director Deon Taylor is good at using even the simplest of tricks in order to build up atmosphere and to gently tear at the audience's threshold of fear. I liked the special effects in the movie.
While "Fear" certainly is a watchable horror movie, it felt like a movie with a social commentary that would have had a much bigger impact one or two years ago. The whole Covid-19 pandemic and the outbreaks of fear that followed in its wake is what the writers are utilizing throughout the course of the movie in some extend, and it just feels a bit out of place and without much punch and impact now in 2023.
My rating of "Fear" lands on a five out of ten stars, simply because the movie's narrative just spiraled out of control throughout the last quarter of the movie, making it feel like a slap to the face after having sat through a rather intense three-quarters of the movie.