Fear Town, USA (2014) User Reviews

Really hit-or-miss comedic effort

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 4/10 · 15 September 2018]

Heading out to a local party, a group of losers attempting to meet women to lose their virginity not only come upon a vicious killer stalking the party but other stumbling blocks on their way to get there.

For the most part, this was a pretty tough horror/comedy parody. The main focus here on the type of raunchy comedy present here is so hit-or-miss that the film is incredibly painful to sit through as it just doesn't fit in this type of genre effort. It's all based on character stupidity that doesn't have any real-world connection that renders the jokes utterly moronic and lame while the physical gags are just groan-inducing which is inherently not funny in the sex-based style that's prevalent here. The low-budget nature does play a part as well as the inherently bad acting, non-existent special effects and utterly awful characters in these stupid situations that exist solely as a way to bring zanier situations out which just hold the slasher elements down to barely any features in the film. Those are barely even a part of the film due to the jokes and situations so the horror gets pushed to the side in favor of lame comedy bits, really making it hard to be seen as one of these films. Although it does have a few funny moments and a rather enjoyable final half that makes it enjoyable enough, on the whole it's not all that enjoyable.

Rated Unrated/R: Extreme Graphic Language, Violence, continuous drug use, sex scenes and comedic sexual situations.

Terrible attempt at comedy

[Leofwine_draca · 2/10 · 16 May 2017]

FEAR TOWN, USA is an indie comedy horror yarn shot in New York state. Watching it, it immediately becomes apparent that this is nothing more than a lowbrow comedy throughout and really silly staging. It professes to be a spoof of the slasher genre of old, but it just seems aimless with broad gags that fail to hit home and a general lack of effort all round. The superimposed people/green screen stuff is terrible, as is the random plotting and overacting from the majority of the cast. It's a dog of a film.

Watch it for the writing

[graham-tillotson · 7/10 · 28 January 2015]

I normally give low-budget movies about 5-10 minutes before I stay with them or bail out, and this one was really close with the couple in the car scene. I let it run, though, and got hooked by the consistency of the writing and how it was smart and funny. The acting is decent for the budget, and the construction of the sub-plots is well done.

For me the writing got better as the movie went along, and I liked the creative treatment of things such as guys breaking into "private" girl conversations. Also the van full of weirdos, being lost on the way to the party, the lure of the "other" party, the secret society using the VFW hall ("ka kaw! ka kaw!"), and so on. It just keeps coming and it is consistently good.

Just a really fun movie that was made by people who like horror and get all the tropes and conventions.

A comedy homerun and controversial! What more could you want?

[danjarron · 8/10 · 17 December 2014]

This is a shorter review I have written for IMDb; my full review is linked in the external reviews. The reason I am posting a review on IMDb as well is because there are none posted as of yet, and Fear Town, USA is a very funny movie I feel a lot of people may be missing out on because of a lack of reviews. Hopefully it will be seen more and more reviews will be posted soon.

It is St. Blevins Day and a big party is being thrown by a descendant of the person for whom the holiday is named. Among the many guests showing up for the party, whether they were invited or not, are a group of roleplayers suffering from the same malady affecting roleplayers the world over, they've never been laid, three college girls with one of them harboring a dark secret that could endanger them all, a teenager looking for love in all the wrong places, and a group of party-wannabes so unpopular with the party goers they were sent a special invitation stressing they are not invited.

But these guests are not the only ones showing up at the party as the night before the party news was broadcast of an escaped mental patient on the loose. Now there is a stranger in a welding mask stalking the party goers, but that's not all, not by a long shot as there is also a ghost, guys in black robes, and even the devil himself! Any movie you start to watch, as a reviewer, has a mystery to it as you just don't know what to expect. This can be especially true of an indie film. I have been lucky so far in the indie films i have reviewed as I have seen 3 very good films in a row, including this one.

Fear Town, USA starts off with a bang (seriously, no pun intended) and ends with a...a....an ending so bizarre and controversial it will have you thinking by comparison that the ending of Sleepaway Camp is as tame as a newborn pup.

What takes place between the beginning and end is not a roller coaster ride, as a roller coaster ride has it ups and downs and gives you a chance to catch your breath, but don't get so complacent with the thought the comedy is going to let up enough to allow you to catch your breath between laughs, because it will not.

Fear Town, USA spoofs horror movies from the 70s and 80s, but it's not just a parody, as a parody usually requires a familiarity with the subject it parodies. Fear Town, USA will hit those sensitive laugh chords whether you are familiar with some of the movies it spoofs or not. The comedy writing in this movie is so well done and so rapid-fire in successfully hitting its target.

It's not just the writing that works well in this movie as the acting is above what one would expect from a low budget movie. These people know what they are doing and it shows. There is one scene, of course among many, that involves the geeks and a cult, and, without spoiling it, the body language of the actors combined with the writing just hits it out of the park in a comic homerun. Each of the three college girls alone would be an asset to any movie, but they are all three in this one movie and play off of each other well.

The three college girls, the geeks, the teenager, the outcast stoners, the mind reader, the feuding couple, the devil himself, among others (excuse me while I catch my breath) could all carry their own without the need for anybody else, and yet they are all here in the same movie doing their own thing and working off of each other, and the end result is simply hilarious and in my opinion well above any of those horror parody movies, you know the ones I'm talking about, and other parody movies in the past few years that have big name stars and millions of dollars behind them.

Don't get me wrong, this is a low budget movie not made on expensive Hollywood sets or on expensive film equipment. Fear Town, USA was made on a budget of $10,000 by film school students and improv comics and the end result just knocks one comedy homerun after another out of the park and is simply amazing what they have achieved with such a budget that is well beyond any expectations.

Do be aware, as I did mention earlier, that the ending of this movie is truly something unto itself that just simply makes Sleepaway Camp lukewarm by comparison. You have been warned! Presently this movie is available to watch online for free. You can find it on YouTube and Vimeo.

A really good time if you know what you're getting in to

[aliensshadows · 9/10 · 14 March 2018]

It's a movie you can lay back and have a couple of drinks with your friends. It knows what it is and doesn't take any plot/sub plot too seriously, making it quite enjoyable

Excellent B Horror Movie

[bthigdon · 8/10 · 16 January 2024]

This movie knows what it is and doesn't try and be anything else. There's so much going on here, in a rather enjoyably convoluted plot. It embraces and breaks all the established conventions of horror movies and distills it down to this absurd day in the haunted life of a group of kids partying in the woods. It gives us so many antagonists, that the writers become antagonists themselves. But they deliver the goods, especially when a group of girls are haunted by the most disrespectful poltergeist of all time. It's refreshing to see gender swapping applied to horny teens and their quest to crush... well, this review doesn't have spoilers.

You Must Watch This! Watch It Now

[christinemartin891 · 10/10 · 20 October 2019]

If you like horror, comedies, or films. Then this is for you I tell everyone to watch these movies when they complain nobody makes good movies anymore. No famous stars, no ridiculously expensive effects, all movie awesomeness. This is the way movies were meant to be made. Great scripts with great acting. Anyone who doesn't like these films is an idiot who is to blame for everything wrong with the world. The world will fail if you don't watch these films again and again. Buy them now. Buy them as gifts. Buy them so true independent film can continue to be made.