In Fear (2013)

Driving to a music festival in Ireland, a new couple become lost and are then set upon by a tormentor with an unknown motive.

Director:

Jeremy Lovering

Writers:

Jeremy Lovering (story by), Jon Croker (story consultant)

Stars:

Iain De Caestecker, Alice Englert, Allen Leech

3 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Iain De Caestecker	...	Tom
Alice Englert	...	Lucy
Allen Leech	...	Max

Storyline

Tom and Lucy are both happy young adults eager to set out on their first weekend getaway as a couple. They set off for a planned stay at a remote hotel but quickly find themselves getting lost in a maze of backwoods roads. However they soon discover that they are at the mercies of an unknown tormentor that is eager to take advantage of their vulnerability and distance from civilization.

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Plot Keywords:

backwoods | beating | blood | broken wrist | brutality | 

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some disturbing violent content and terror, and for language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Alice Englert performs the song that plays over the end credits.

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Goofs

In the first ten minutes, whilst Tom is unlocking the gate, Lucy leans out of the car wearing a red jumper. The shot changes and she is shown wearing a brown coat. She gets out of the car in the red jumper again and is then shown putting on the coat.

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Soundtracks

Conversation with Death
Performed by Alice Englert

User Reviews

Excellent Score Only Saving Grace in Otherwise Formulaic Genre Fare

Bored and looking for something to watch, I was browsing through lists of the best horror movies of 2013. The more and more "In Fear" appeared in them, the more my interest was piqued.

Well let's just say the anticipation of watching it was much more exciting than the actual process of watching it. All we have with "In Fear" is a poorly scripted, annoyingly repetitive horror movie that is carried along by a phenomenal score that is way better than it has any right to be. The sounds mesh with the images so well that there were moments that I still felt nervous, even though I knew what was going to happen, courtesy of the by-the-numbers script.

Tom and Lucy are two people that just met two weeks prior. On their way to a music festival in a nearby town, Tom decides to surprise Lucy by taking her to a hotel for a night...a rather questionable move for people that have just met. Thankfully, Lucy seems to be fine with it.

But there are some red flags from the outset: For one, the only way to get to the hotel is to follow a truck, whose owner they never see. Even more alarming? He points to a locked gate, insinuating that is where they should go next, before suddenly leaving them alone. I don't know about you, but that would be enough for me to get the hell out of there and never return, but Tom and Lucy, stupid horror characters that they are, do as they're instructed.

From here, we get thirty minutes of them driving around in circles, inexplicably continuing to follow the same signs to the motel even after learning it only takes them back to where they started. Somehow, these scenes manage to be creepy, at least at first, if for no other reason than the aforementioned score. Of course, once minute twenty rolls around of the same old thing, it starts to lose its luster. Then once Max arrives, things go from bad to worse, both for the characters, and for the viewer, leading to an abomination of an ending.

"In Fear" is certainly a competent example of independent filmmaking, at least from a visual standpoint, and I guess it deserves some points for that. It's well shot, well acted, well lit, and despite a few confusing cuts, pretty well edited. Unfortunately, the one thing it's missing, besides a shred of believability, is a halfway decent script. These characters are ones you've seen in dozens, if not hundreds, of horror movies before, in that they are clearly only reacting to the needs of the script; they do not act like normal people attempting to get out of a desperate situation, but rather. Put any real person in this situation, and it would be a five minute movie with no scares and no real action.

Come to think of it, I've essentially summed up "In Fear", only it somehow needs 85 minutes to do that.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 November 2013 (UK)

Also Known As:

In Fear

Filming Locations:

Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, England, UK

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$274,660

Company Credits

Production Co:

Big Talk Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1