A Problem with Fear (2003)

A young man in Calgary, Alberta is multiphobic: nonetheless, he believes that he is the cause of the fear which is killing people around him.

Director:

Gary Burns

Writers:

Donna Brunsdale, Gary Burns

Stars:

Paulo Costanzo, Emily Hampshire, Camille Sullivan

2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Paulo Costanzo	...	Laurie
Emily Hampshire	...	Dot
Camille Sullivan	...	Michelle
Benjamin Ratner	...	Alan
Keegan Connor Tracy	...	Vicky
Jennifer Clement	...	Tina
James McBurney	...	Bill
Willie Garson	...	Erin
Marnie Alton	...	Daphne
Donna Brunsdale	...	Wanda
Peter Strand Rumpel	...	Jerry
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gregory D. Alvas	...	Stylish Young Man
Michael Matthew Barker	...	Business Man
Rita Bozi	...	P.A. Announcer
Lee Cameron	...	Businessman #1

Storyline

A young man in Calgary, Alberta is multiphobic: nonetheless, he believes that he is the cause of the fear which is killing people around him.

---

Plot Keywords:

anxiety | female frontal nudity | freak accident | nudity | elevator | 

---

Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Fantasy

---

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 April 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Parano

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Burns Film Ltd., Fear Alberta Ltd., micro_scope

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min 92 min 94 min (Ontario)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Shots in the Montreal subway's were clearly done at night as newsstands in the main station are closed while it is supposedly a normal work day.

---

Connections

Featured in Weird Sex and Snowshoes: A Trek Through the Canadian Cinematic Psyche (2004)

---

Soundtracks

"Walking Lizard"
Written by Mouserocket
Performers include Alicja Trout, Robby Grant, and T-Mo
Heard in shopping mall scene

User Reviews

Would work as a short Film

Gary Burns likes to be cool. His movies are cool. "waydowntown" was really cool. "A Problem With Fear" is not cool.

"A Problem With Fear" has a great premise, is well acted and (sometimes) well shot. The problem is it just does not work for 90 mins. It could have if the director gave us more plot and less cool. Instead of giving a little more exposition and back round, Gary Burns decided to populate his movie with lots of subplots and shots of naked women running across the street. I'm sure it all means something...something really cool.

"A Problem With Fear" is set (I think) in the "Not So Distant Future" where one company is trying to cause the stock market to crash by sort of 'V' chipping the city into a "Fear Storm" (this happens by having the most phobic person on the planet send telepathic waves of fear which manifest into real tragedies: escalator deaths, elevator deaths, traffic deaths...) Make sense? No? Well that's okay neither does the movie.

"A Problem With Fear" is just too busy being a satire to really get a grasp on what it's satirizing: Corporate fear mongering for profit (Code Yellow anyone?). If Gary Burns had spent a little more time with plot points and character arcs and a little less time on glib hipster-mall -culture wit he might have made a movie worth thinking about. As it stands now this film is just a wannabe Lynchian fable. Sorry but the naked woman running in slow motion, for no reason, isn't symbolic...it's dumb. I don't know, maybe I'm just not hip enough to get it.

Gary Burns should keep doing what he's doing, eventually he'll make a REALLY COOL Movie. As it stands "A Problem With Fear" should have been a really cool short film.