Cradle of Fear (2001) (V)

User Rating:

4.5/10   

Director:

Alex Chandon

Writer:

Alex Chandon (writer)

Release Date:

4 July 2001 (UK)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

It's Not If They Die... It's How

Plot:

A gruesome homage to the cult Amicus anthology Asylum, Cradle of Fear unfolds four screamplays all linked...

Plot Keywords:

House | Detective | Internet | Old Man | Killing

Cast

Dani Filth	...	The Man
David McEwen	...	Kemper
Edmund Dehn	...	Detective Neilson
Emily Booth	...	Melissa (as Emily Bouffante)
Eileen Daly	...	Natalie
Rebecca Eden	...	Sophie
Melissa Forti	...	Nikki
Louie Brownsell	...	Nick
Emma Rice	...	Emma
Stuart Laing	...	Richard Neilson
Barry Lee-Thomas	...	Chief Inspector Roper
Angela Kay	...	Nurse McAllister
Mark Rathbone	...	Pringle
Al Stokes	...	The Old Man
Willie Evans	...	The Short Man

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Ireland:18 (re-rating) | Australia:R | Germany:18 | Iceland:(Banned) | Ireland:(Banned) | New Zealand:R18 | UK:18 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Pragmatic Pictures Ltd.

Trivia:

In the end credits Dani Filth is credited as both Dani Filth and Dani Davey.

Goofs:

Continuity: Near the beginning of the film, when the photographer is taking pictures of Melissa and Nikki's corpses, Melissa's eyes are open. But, in the scene where Melissa stabs herself, she dies with her eyes closed.

Movie Connections:

References Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Soundtrack:

At the Gates of Midian

Strange But Entertaining Splatter Film...

I didn't have very high-hopes going into CRADLE OF FEAR. The first scene shows some "scary" goth-kid killing some guys in an alley, with pretty poor gore FX and an insanely obvious SOV feel to it. Number one - people who dress up like vampires at an S&M party are about the most un-scary things humanly possible - and two - I typically don't care for extremely obvious SOV productions...so you can see as how from the first five minutes I didn't think I would be feelin' this one. I have to admit though, that as it went along, CRADLE OF FEAR ended up being quite entertaining, despite (and in some cases because of...) it's numerous flaws...

The film is made up of four vignettes that center around a mental patient who was a hypnotist and child rapist/murderer. In each vignette, one or more people die in different splattery ways, that are related to people that had to do with the hypnotist's incarceration. The stories themselves are all relatively entertaining: the first dealing with the same goth kid from the beginning (who is apparently mind-controlled by the hypnotist) who bones a semi-hot goth whore and some crazy baby/spider-thing busts out of her stomach. The next has two friends who rob an old man and the robbery goes seriously wrong. The next is about a one-legged guy who goes to seek a "donor" for his missing leg, and the last (and in my opinion, most interesting) story deals with a kid who becomes obsessed with a snuff web-site. The four stories are all semi-amusing excuses to show some tits and gore, and still stay within the context of the film...

CRADLE OF FEAR is a very disjointed film. The way it's shot makes it look like a bad UK soap-opera. There are some decent performances from some of the cast - others are atrocious. There are a few sets of decent goth-chick tits in this one, and that's never a bad thing. Some of the gore FX are convincing or at least decent - others suck completely. There are a few CGI special FX that are so bad they're absolutely hilarious (car-chase/crash, anyone???) - but somehow this mess of a film still works. It is a little long, clocking in at a solid two hours, and could probably use a little bit of a trim, but even so - it manages to stay pretty quick-paced and entertaining throughout. Not a great film by any stretch - but it's quirky and worth a look to splatter fans...8/10