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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Most underrated film of 1999/2000!, 21 February 2002
10/10
Author: brownbunnyboy from Los Angeles

Simply put, Alex Winter is a genius. Thank you for taking me on this journey. "Fever" is a film any film lover should see with an open mind. Eyes open, ears tuned in... Enter this beautifully atmospheric film... It's unfortunate that it's from another time... ahead of this one. A super film, and a great dvd too! Make some more, Alex! Keep it personal, and don't compromise. This film rocked like Elvis and David Bowie rockin' in New Orleans! Dark, dynamic, and visionary!

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Alex Winter has come a long way..., 23 May 2001
9/10
Author: girlwonder530 from Boulder, Colorado, USA

I'm quite familiar with the name "Alex Winter," and it actually has very little to do with "Bill and Ted." I remember "The Idiot Box," and I loved "Freaked," although few people I know have ever even heard of it, and I hope that now, with the release of "Fever," more people will remember Mr. Winter for something other than the "Bill and Ted" movies. "Fever" is a haunting film, sparked by excellent performances from Henry Thomas and David O'Hara, as well as by Winter's brilliant direction. The old-fashioned stationary camera shots, together with the powerful (if bleak) cinematography, combine to create an affecting, often unsettling whole. Alex Winter seems to know New York pretty well - and as a native, I should know. For example, the shots of the N.Y.C. skyline looking dusky, seared and ominous rather than, as in so (too) many films, impossibly grand and inspiring, help us to see Nick's surroundings in the same skewed and frightening way he does, which in turn gives us a better understanding of his paranoia.

I waited months to see this film, as it was never released in Boulder theaters. I looked up the video release date, made a note of it, and rented it as soon as it was available. I was not disappointed. The only letdown is knowing that I will have to wait awhile for Alex Winter to write and direct another film. For my sake at least, I hope he hurries.

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3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
A Fever in the Blood, 10 July 2005
6/10
Author: sol1218 from brooklyn NY

**SPOILERS** Deep psychological suspense/drama set in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn with a murder of a landlord. That later escalates into a world of insanity as well as the unknown, for one of the tenant's in the building.

Sidney Miskowitz, Sandor Tecsy, is found murdered in his apartment one late evening just hours before Sidney has a bitter argument with one of his tenants Leonard Wooley, Jon Tracy. It's later thought by the police and almost everyone else in the building that Wooley is Sidney's killer. One of the tenants in the building art teacher Nick Parker, Henry Thomas,was a witness to the fight between Sidney and Wooley and is later called by the police as their star witness in the murder.

At first you think your watching a murder/police drama until Nick goes upstairs to talk to his new neighbor Will, David O'Hera. It's then that things really start to get weird. Asking Will, the night of the murder, that he's disturbing Nick in doing his work, by making load noises, Will lets Nick have it about it being none of his business to what he's doing and almost throws him out of his apartment.

Later that morning when the police are called to investigate Sidney's murder Nick tells NYPD Det. Glass, Bill Duke, about Will living upstairs and being a possible suspect and he's shocked to find that Will doesn't live there and In fact the upstairs apartment is empty! You then start to realize that this Will may just be a figment of Nicks imagination. We keep seeing Nick go upstairs and talk to Will, who supposedly is not there, and Will comes across as a man totally out of touch with reality.

Will feeling that the Nazis are in control of the world and that the ancient Gnostics are the real power behind every government on earth. This makes Nick, like those of us watching, feel that this guy is a can or two short of a six-pack when it comes to his mental reasoning.

As the movie goes on it becomes apparent that Nick is suffering from some kind of breakdown but what exactly is causing it? Later Mrs. Miskowitz, Sidney's 80 year-old mom, is also found dead by Nick. Sometime later Nick looks out of his window and sees Will leaving the apartment with a duffel bag. Nick is now certain that he must have murdered Mrs. Miskowitz, as well as her son Sidney, and is trying to escape.

Quickly following Will onto the subway Nick Confronts Will between cars and ends up stabbing him to death. Scared almost to death Nick thinks that he was seen by a witness in the adjoining subway car doing it and then makes his way outside on the street only to be picked up by he police, not for Will's murder but for being a bit lost and out of his mind.

It's not until the very last few minutes in the film that you realize just what's wrong with Nick; his past has finally caught up with him. Nick indeed did witness a horrible event but not to the Miskowitz's or to the imaginary Will but to someone very dear and close to him. It may very well have been the murder of Sidney Miskowitz being so close to home that brought all this out.

Carrying this guilt with him all his adult life Nick tried to hide it in his subconscious all these years. When it finally broke out and he was at last forced to face what he did. It was that dark and deadly secret that Nick kept hidden so deeply from himself all that time that in the end, when it finally resurfaced, drove Nick to lose not only his mind but later even his life.

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A decent psychotic thriller, 2 May 2008
7/10
Author: Bozo

Fever is a movie that appears very shallow at first glance, but is actually quite complex.

The plot is a little confusing, but after a close look; not all that difficult to get. An artist (Nick Parker) is struggling to keep his job as an art instructor. After a grisly murder at his apartment, he begins to slip slowly into insanity.

Henry Thomas was OK as Nick Parker. I think they could have gotten someone else to play him, but Thomas wasn't really bad, so to speak. David O'Hara (The Departed) was really good as Will, Nick's neighbor and new slightly insane, creepy friend. Probably my favorite character. Teri Hatcher was very good as Charlotte Parker, Nick's worried, caring sister. You really sympathize with her throughout the entire movie. Bill Duke (Predator) was also very good as Detective Glass.

The lighting was what really set the mood for the film. As Nick's sanity vanishes slowly, scenes tend to be darker. And with a low-tone music score added to it, you have a very dark film.

Not a bad film, see it before you judge it. 7/10.

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intriguing, 8 April 2008
7/10
Author: (tottenhamtillidie@gmail.com) from sacramento, ca

Being a big fan of bill and ted back in my teen years, I was very interested to see what sort of writer/director Alex winter had become. After seeing this, I'm amazed his resume is so light and he has not made or written more movies. While this wasn't brilliant, this was a very atmospheric dark film about a guy trying to make ends meet and living in a slumflat. Henry Thomas was great in the lead role ably directed by Winter who keeps the suspense for the whole movie so that even when the credits roll, many questions still remain. With more efforts like this, hopefully Winter will move out Keano's shadow and not just be remembered for being a airhead who did fake guitar riffs.

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A great American indie..., 13 April 2002
8/10
Author: Jan Edwards from Manchester, England

This is an amazing little film. Deserving of more attention (if at least not a better rating guys!). Rented it with friends in the States and we were all caught in its dark, tragic web. Now we are trying to find other films from this director. Stands up to the best Indies from outside the US and head and shoulders above the general product from that country. If you like Lynch, you'll love this one.

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A great, dark thriller in the Hitchcock style. Superb cinematography, 31 July 2001
9/10
Author: thomaswis from NY

Alex Winter has done a fantastic job portraying real life characters, and weaving a dark, intriguing plot. His use of camera angles and stark imagery add to its psychological depth: is this the nightmares of a sick guy, or reality? what is real and what is surreal or imagined.....Overall: hard to find, but not to be missed.

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1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Very moody thriller., 5 January 2004
8/10
Author: HumanoidOfFlesh from Chyby, Poland

Alex Winter's "Fever" is one of the creepiest independent thrillers I have ever seen.Nick Parker,a struggling young painter,is suffering a mental and physical breakdown.When a violent murder occurs in his apartment building,Nick begins to suspect that he may have committed the crime himself.From this event begins the downward spiral of paranoia and illness that ends in the horrifying climax.The film is extremely atmospheric as it looks almost like painting.The hallucinations of Nick are undeniably creepy.The photography by Joe DeSalvo is excellent and the production design adds a lot to the atmosphere.The film is pretty tough to find,but if you get a chance watch it.Highly recommended.

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1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Ultimately Disappointing, 2 December 2003
Author: CriticwithAngerTowardsSatan (madatsatan@bolt.com) from Texas

To sum-up: Fever is a very dark, shadow-filled look into the formation of emotional disease and discomfort. The acting is very good on Henry Thomas' part as well as the direction by Alex Winter (Bill from the infamous Bill & Ted films) but the storyline has a few out-of-place moments and enough awkwardness to make even the sleepiest of viewers cringe.

Pro's & con's:

+ Henry Thomas' performance (you'll have trouble believing that it's the kid from E.T.)

+ Alex Winter's high quality and sometimes colorful directing style (including some nice, steady camera work which was more fitting for a film like this)

- Very cheap visual effects

- By the time it ends you'll feel like you've wasted your time

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1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Surprisingly well made thriller., 5 April 2003
8/10
Author: Rigor from Chicago, USA

I was completely unprepared for this surprisingly well made thriller. The films stars Henry Thomas as Nick Parker a struggling painter living in a realistically terrible New York Apartment building. Nick lives at the poverty line, his only income being continuing education classes he teaches at a community college. Early in the film a terrible murder occurs in his building and Nick and the audience spend the rest of the film coming to terms with what may have really happened.

The film was written and directed by Alex Winter, most famous as the star of The Bill and Ted films, from this effort he has great promise to become a major director. He works extremely well here with the actors getting good performances from Thomas, Teri Hatcher, Bill Duke and David O'Hara. It is the cinematography by Joe DeSalvo that lifts this film to the level of something truly special. DeSalvo manages to capture shots of the New York skyline that seem unprecedented in American film and his interior work is remarkable evocative and reminiscent of the very best work of Gordon Willis and John Alonzo. Surprisingly this is the last film DeSalvo has made (it is now 2003) I am not sure why this is, but, one hopes he will have a long and prosperous c

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