Fear X (2003)

I wanted to like this movie, i really did. I am a fan of Lynch and movies with a slow pace that gradually build up, but i am sorry to say this movie is total garbage.

Try as i might there is no sense to this plot (!), i have read some opinions but ultimately they are all simply made up by people trying to find some meaning in the hour and a half of their lives that went down the drain.

This plot looks like a dog chewed the scripts of "Memento", "Lost Highway" and "1 Hour Photo", someone picked up the remains, glued them up and said to themselves "wow, this would make an interesting movie". It doesn't.

There is no point in talking about plot holes, there is no plot, that is the surprise ending. Or it would be if it wasn't so obvious halfway through the movie that it would lead nowhere. Saying it has a slow pace is an euphemism, a turtle on Thorazine moves faster than this. And what for? Does it lead anywhere? NO! It just goes nowhere slow...

Gosh, i have seen some bad movies in my life, but most have some redeeming quality to them, and those that don't are so bad that it becomes obvious it wont be worth your time and you simply drop them like a sack of bricks. This movie starts in and interesting direction but after 1/3 of it you start thinking that the director is lost. He isn't lost, he just has nowhere to go, simple as that! And that is how you watch the last half of the movie, with the conscience that it will end up going nowhere and that the director is just playing with you to gain enough time to fill up the 91 minutes.

This is the lowest rate i ever gave to a movie 2 out of 10, it's just too bad to be true

Avoid it like it where an Ebola carrying monkey. Do something more useful and interesting with your time such as finding anagrams for newspaper headlines.

Fmovies: I've often been extremely critical of PG-13 horror and thriller films. Here's one that adds fuel to that fire, I'm afraid.

The core of this film revolves around John Turturro working as a security guard for a mall. For some reason he sits alone at home watching the security tapes over and over, pauses them occasionally to take pictures of people in them and then he hangs the picture on his wall with a few notes. Presumably, it's because he's hunting for the man who killed his wife. However, he doesn't see a picture of said man or the mystery security tape which shows her murder until after we see him whiling away in front of his television with his digital camera. Eventually, he thinks he's on the right track, and tries to track down old Mr. Wife-Killer.

Here's the breakdown:

The Good:

--The film's set-up is rather slow and weird enough to hold interest—but not for very long.

--The acting is alright—John Turturro is pretty creepy.

Didn't Hurt It, Didn't Help:

--There's barely any music.

--Slow pace may build tension for some, but is more likely to bore most people viewing the movie.

--Seemingly linear film.

--OK atmosphere.

The Bad:

--The sets constantly reminded me of Kubrick's "The Shining." You know, because they were bland, yet coated heavy with designs from the seventies. Perhaps I thought that way because of the bland hotel that John Turturro stays in which was designed in the early seventies, and never changed—ever.

--We see an image of a face pressed through a red plasticy-sheet occasionally—but it's never explained what the face represents. It's either tension, anger, or fear. Who knows?

--Occasional "nightmare-like" cinematography which also contains no explanation. Sure, it looks pretty good, but what the hell does it mean?

--Bland characters.

The Ugly:

--***POSSIBLE SPOILER*** This film meanders for about 100 minutes without going anywhere, getting to know anyone, or explaining anything. Husband hunts for wife's killer and gets revenge. That should've been a very simple movie—and very linear. But several points are made to a sub-plot that seemed like it would have been pretty important to the story—but it's never explained!!

--A sub-plot about a cop and his fragile relationship with his wife is also never explained—or properly developed--but it is needlessly touched upon.

Memorable Scene:

--There really wasn't anything very memorable about this movie. An hour and a half of yawn.

Acting: 7/10 Story: 4/10 Atmosphere: 6/10 Cinematography: 6/10 Character Development: 4/10 Special Effects/Make-up: 0/10 (Nothing to note) Nudity/Sexuality: 0/10 Violence/Gore: 2/10 (very little violence, only slow tension) Dialogue: 7/10 Music: 6/10 Direction: 5/10

Cheesiness: 0/10 Crappiness: 5/10

Overall: 4/10

This film offers almost nothing for the viewer to enjoy. It's a terribly slow thriller that goes nowhere and explains nothing. Very bland. Certain movies and directors can get away with doing and showing things that they never explain. But this movie can't. Only for people who are bland or people who really like dull, uninteresting films that explain little or nothing.

www.ResidentHazard.com

Psychological thriller about a security guard, Harry, trying to identify who killed his wife and why. The pursuit of justice does of course run closely in parallel with Harry trying to come to terms with the murder of his wife in a shopping mall. His investigations uncover police corruption as well as linking to anti-corruption activities. Harry's obsession with his investigation leave us wondering how much of what he perceives is real and how much is imagined.

The film is also about bereavement, loneliness, fear and obsession, well portrayed by John Turturro as the grieving security guard. An intriguing film that keeps the viewer guessing. However, the story ultimately isn't satisfying and is at times too loose and aimless. Not a brilliant film but a certainly a good film.

Fear X fmovies. Fear X is a psychological-thriller that focuses mostly on atmosphere. Harry, a security guard, tries to discover the true circumstances surrounding the murder of his wife. He also sees visions, that act as psychic pointers of sorts.

Very well directed, Fear X has some of the eerie ambiance of the films of Atom Egoyan, a bit of the distorted wonderland feel of the films of David Lynch, and some of the enigma of Antonioni's Blow Up. What is lacking is the meaning cultivated in the works of the afore-mentioned directors. There simply isn't much meaning apart from the rather simplistic notion that Harry should get on with his life.

This doesn't mean that there aren't interesting themes floating around the film. They just aren't explored thoroughly. One theme is the constant monitoring, which is then magnified and abstracted to a point of paranoia. As a security guard, Harry monitors the shopping mall he works in. His co-worker friend also monitors the place via multiple cameras, from which then he gets the tapes and hands them to Harry. At home, Harry obsessively watches the tapes assembling an abstract mosaic of suspects and motives.

Another theme is the mystique lying beneath what seems an ordinary everyday-life existence: the investigation by the police seemingly carrying some secret meaning, the prostitution ring in the hotel, Lieutenant Peter Northrup operating in a secret society of sorts etc. Sadly, the metaphysical aspects in the ending are obscure and unclear, but Harry seems to be moving on with his life (if he's not dead, which again is not clear).

In general, the atmosphere makes up for the anemic meaning.

This film takes a few viewings, and you will still be puzzling over the theme. John Turturro is Harry Cain, a mall security guard mourning the death of his wife.

The film is very visual (the hotel in Montana was filmed by a renowned Kubrick photographer) Some scenes are ominous, and may remind you of "The Shining". The winter environment, Harry's work as an anonymous security guard, all seem to infer his alienation from reality. Also the house across the street, which he begins to fixate on, believing he saw his wife go into the house. Is he hallucinating, or is this really happening?.

The film starts slow, but is suspenseful and atmospheric. If you like psychological drama, you will truly enjoy this film. 9/10

Fear X proceeds on two levels that are of interest to me. The troubled Harry Caine searches for the killer of his wife but more importantly the reason for her death, the basic thrust of the film therefore is the penetration of a mystery. But at its core it's a film about obsession, about a man meticulously constructing meaning where there may be none, with methodology that may work on strict rationale but to the outside observer comes across as less than sane. I enjoy puzzles and obsessive minds, especially those that approach a task with rigour, so parts of Fear X were fascinating to me, Harry watching security tapes from the mall in which he works security (his wife was killed in the car park), Harry taking photograph screen captures from said tapes and using them for his wall of information (a wall that we never get too much of a look at) bits and pieces like this. The splashes of light upon the mystery are of interest as well, they come as odd and unheralded jolts rather than as part of a traditional unveiling, there's a sense of arbitrariness and lack of control that works rather well. As far as plotting goes this goes left-field even of the realms of gialli where whodunnit set ups were at times almost an irrelevance. Of course, none of this would work without a quality actor to anchor things and the film has John Tuturro as Harry, giving a fine performance. He grips with low key intensity, his face a rarely troubled mask that nonetheless seems to hide deep feeling, a terrific creepily convincing turn. Solid support comes from Stephen McIntyre, a quietly emotive Deborah Kara Unger and particularly noble but conflicted James Remar, buts its Tuturro's show all the way. It could almost be excellent as well, nicely winding its intrigue for just about the entire first two thirds before things start to go wrong. Essentially, everything ends up rather pat, I've read plenty of reviews claiming the end doesn't explain things well enough but really the problem is that the ending is partly too conventional and partly just not that well handled. I won't spoil details, but I craved something a bit more outlandish or oblique in the explanation department and the film switches from lightly sprinkled hallucinatory sequences that work well to a climatic colourful freak out that doesn't. This said, the ending still has nearly as much to appreciate as the rest of the film owing to the performances and particularly cinematography. Moody lighting and hot claustrophobia make for much tension, even if plot-wise things are slipping away. Still, overall I rather enjoyed this one and I suspect it will lend itself nicely to rewatches. Not so good if you don't enjoy using your imagination and require everything spelled out, but worth a watch for fans of the offbeat and low key.