Fear (1996)

Director:

James Foley

Writer (WGA):

Christopher Crowe (written by)

Release Date:

12 April 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

With boyfriends like this, who needs enemies? Not you.

Plot:

A 16 year old girl takes up with a charming young man who quickly shows his colors when he beats a friend simply for walking with her and then goes totally ballistic after she tries to break up with him.

Plot Keywords:

Obsession | Severed Dog's Head | Thrown Through Window | Villain Played By Lead Actor | Car Chase

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Mark Wahlberg	...	David McCall
Reese Witherspoon	...	Nicole Walker
William Petersen	...	Steve Walker
Amy Brenneman	...	Laura Walker
Alyssa Milano	...	Margo Masse
Christopher Gray	...	Toby
Tracy Fraim	...	Logan
Gary Riley	...	Hacker
Jason Kristofer	...	Terry
Jed Rees	...	Knobby
Todd Caldecott	...	Gary Rohmer
John Oliver	...	Eddie Clark
David Fredericks	...	Larry O'Brien
Ravinder Toor	...	Counterman
Andrew Airlie	...	Alex McDowell

Also Known As:

No Fear

MPAA:

Rated R for strong graphic violence and terror, sexuality, language and drug use.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | DTS-Stereo

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #33894) | Netherlands:16 | Philippines:PG-13 | UK:18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Canada:18A | Chile:18 | France:-16 | Germany:18 (w) | Iceland:16 | Norway:15 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Mercer Island, Washington, USA

Company:

Imagine Entertainment

Trivia:

During the scene where William Petersen (Mr.Walker) is ransacking the house that Mark Wahlberg (David) lives in, "Chucky" from the Child Play movies can be seen briefly on the mantle in his room.

Goofs:

Continuity: Steve Walker is on the phone in his office. In one frame he is holding the phone in his left hand. In the next frame he is cradling it with his shoulder, then reaches up with his left hand to hang it up. It is also momentarily a cordless model.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Laura Walker: [calling upstairs to Nicole in the shower] Nicole, save some hot water for your father!

Movie Connections:

Features "Married with Children: Dances with Weezy (#8.10)" (1993)

Soundtrack:

Something's Always Wrong

Works Quite Well

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.

***