Fear Clinic (2014) User Reviews

Good concept buried by crude execution and inconsistent delivery

[quincytheodore · 5/10 · 22 June 2015]

For a low budget film, Fear Clinic respectably produces several good horrors, they even resemble high fantasy at times. However, aside from the fast introduction early on, the plot stutters with repetitive scenes and the actors' performances are too often flimsy. The concept and visual are decent enough, but the movie just feels that it loses momentum as it progresses and eventually doesn't conclude as strongly as it opens.

Story follows a doctor who has made a method to deal with fears. He would put people inside a chamber and let them experience virtual enactment of said phobia. Problem arises after several people begin to see strange things even when they are not connected to the machine. The first act is arguably the best part, since it delivers a good hook and fast enough for people to invest in.

Unfortunately, the plot suffers from awkward development. Scenes would feel jumbled and needlessly recurring, mostly because the editing is poor. After the initial build-up, the characters are interacting with the excitement of telemarketer or frantic over-the-top. It seems odd since there's barely any coherency between each scene, the characters' reactions appear to be unexpectedly random.

For what it's worth, it has a few good moments. When the visual is accommodating, the thrill is presented admirably. A couple of events look like they belong to sci-fi or fantasy film, or even another higher quality production. It's unfortunate that the film only produce these instances briefly.

Fear Clinic couples together decent concept and presentation, it's just not done consistent enough as it deteriorates anticlimactically.

Mediocre!

[deloudelouvain · 3/10 · 28 February 2015]

Sometimes I should not read the reviews on here when there are only 5 reviews. I think it might have been people that worked on this movie and the reviews are rigged. I started watching it with an open mind, and seeing that it was not the usual horror story but something with a different concept I thought I was going to like it. But even if the theme was good the story was not well executed for me, it could have been much better. First of all it took much too long before it might get interesting and then finally when you could call this movie a horror story the special effects were pretty mediocre. I was glad the movie was over so I could watch something else and better to forget about this one.

Tries Too Hard Not to Look Like a B-Movie

[politehere · 4/10 · 22 June 2015]

As the title suggests the movie deals with people's fears, but sadly it's only a specific type of fear all the patients share because they have all experienced the same traumatic incident; i.e. we don't see a variety of phobias, which is a lost opportunity.

The cast and cinematography are fine and the movie looks like one with high production values, although certain scenes that depend heavily on special effects look really B-movie-sh; surprisingly, even the flickering of the lights looks B-movie-sh. The plot sounds really disjointed and confusing because of the way one scene leads to another; i.e. the editing is absolutely B-movie-sh. I could also tell the director had a thing for old men and used every opportunity to capture the reasonably handsome old doctor naked on camera, even though none of those scenes call for that.

I think despite the fact that the opening scenes are promising, this movie is going to let most people down and leave them with the feeling that they have just watched a B-movie that tried too hard not to look like one and its every attempt to scare the audience failed miserably. It kind of looks like an episode from Dr. Who.

I don't want to be too harsh, because I've seen worse, so I'm tossing in a 4.

Chamber of fears

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 20 August 2018]

Loved the idea for 'Fear Clinic', which for recent modest to low budget film viewings was one that was really quite creative. Executed right, 'Fear Clinic' had potential to be quite decent. The cover/poster/advertising was attention grabbing and does make one want to see the film. Robert Englund too is always watchable, despite being in a lot of bad projects.

'Fear Clinic' could have done so much more with such a great concept and is not necessarily a great film, or even particularly good. There are a fair few problematic elements here, including deciding early on whether to continue watching. That said, it is watchable enough, just about worth sticking with and the potential is not completely wasted. There are plus points, and fortunately in 'Fear Clinic's' case those plus points are quite big.

The best thing about 'Fear Clinic' is the acting which is really quite good, particularly from an against type but refreshingly sympathetic Englund and Fiona Dourif, providing a female lead that in lesser hands would have been completely bland and passive but given some steel with Dourif. There is some assured directing in the latter stages.

Surprisingly the effects are pretty cool and are nowhere near as amateurish as one would fear. The final third does intrigue and does have tension and suspense and the photography has slickness.

Unfortunately, it does take a while to get there. There are moments of promise in the first two thirds certainly, but 'Fear Clinic' does take far too long to get going and the draggy pacing is apparent frequently. Tension, suspense and creepiness are not consistent for such a freaky concept.

Some of 'Fear Clinic' is very predictable and the clarity not always there, parts are confused and disjointed. Despite the final third being where the film picks up significantly, the climax is on the bizarre side. Not all the production values are good, with far too much of an over-reliance of neon green lighting, which does make one feel there's something wrong with their eyes, a cheap-looking setting and editing that lacks fluidity.

In summary, watchable but not much special. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Meh.

[SinisterTwist · 3/10 · 18 August 2015]

I was pretty disappointed by this film. It wasn't as bad as it could have been since there are some big stinkers out there, but it also could have been a lot better. If you're expecting closure from the web series, look elsewhere. This movie ignores anything that happened before and reinvents the story for a new audience. That isn't entirely bad since it gives the story a chance to reinvent itself, but the problem here is that what we're given doesn't really live up to expectations.

Englund does a pretty good job here and part of me really enjoyed seeing a more sympathetic Anders, but the lack of a cold, calculating Anders willing to achieve results by putting lives in jeopardy was what made the web series so much fun. He wasn't necessarily a sadist, but this posed a good question as to what would happen when things went south and the man in charge is already willing to put people in danger to forge new ground. In a way he was one of the web series's monsters.

The ending wasn't awful, but by the time the film ended I was already ready for the closing credits. There are some great special effects here and everyone tries really, really hard, but this just didn't work out and I can't help but think that this would have fared better as a web series rather than a film.

Above average fear film, slightly anyway...

[Kolobos51 · 5/10 · 13 February 2015]

Fear Clinic, loosely based on a series of shorts that appeared on the now defunct Fearnet, stars horror legend Robert Englund in his best role in years as a once celebrated doctor obsessed with curing humans of fear. But when an early, seemingly successful test group comprised of traumatized survivors of a mass shooting begins to not only regress but get worse, he begins to seriously doubt the validity and even safety of his methods.

However, this doesn't stop his test groups' faith in him. They all return to his clinic for further treatment, being locked up in a weird, sensory deprivation tank and forced to face their fears. But something evil, even supernatural, is lurking in the abyss he thrusts his patients into. It is fear itself, hence the title.

Feart Itself is fairly above average for low budget horror, but you really have to be patient with it. In fact, I have to say the filmmaker, the man behind the middling Laid to Rest movies, requests an unreasonable amount of patience from his viewers. It does not help that movie's production design is atrocious, all neon green lights and phony looking scientific equipment that reminds of the worst elements of 80's horror.

That's the bad part. The good part is that movie has a really good cast behind it. Robert Englund, in a role very different from his mad scientist portrayal in the original Fear Itself series, does a really good job as the benevolent but uncertain doctor. The female lead, Fiona Dourif (who was last seen costarring with her father Brad Dourif in Curse of Chucky) is an outstanding and unconventional horror heroine, more believably smart and capable than most of the female leads in these types of movies. Thomas Dekker also does a fantastic job portraying a troubled young man with a traumatic brain injury. Rounding out the cast are mostly adequate, if not entirely impressive, supporting players like Kevin Gage (Strangeland, Heat) as a crotchety maintenance man, Corey Taylor (that's right, the lead singer of Slipknot and Stone Sour in his first film, and he probably shouldn't quit his day job) as the hotheaded chief orderly, and several vaguely familiar actors as the other patients.

The cast, along with a really solid third act that includes a genuinely surprising twist and some cool creature FX from Robert Kurtzman, make this worth watching for horror fans, but just barely. The movie has major pacing problems, a weak first half, and can never overcome its low budget trappings but it shows glimmers of promise from almost everyone involved making this a more or less entertaining, watchable low budget horror movie.

wasteful

[louisesingleton · 3/10 · 5 April 2015]

I had great expectations for this film considering who stars in it, however I was disappointed.

I love Robert Englund and his acting abilities. The rest of the cast let him down.

It seems to me to be a low budget movie, which is probably why I lost interest after the first 30 minutes (I did though watch it all). Well, when I say I watched it all, it was on while I facebooked and tweeted.

It's such a shame that such a great actor has resorted to this kind of movie.

If I had any piece of advice to anyone thinking of watching it is Don't.

Why such bad reviews on such an awesome film?!

[melissalunsford · 7/10 · 16 January 2017]

I stumbled across Fear Clinic while searching for Fiona Dourif films, the reviews were so terrible I almost didn't bother watching. I noticed a lot of the other users said things like "terrible b- movie", "disappointing" and "pretty lame" but wondered why the great Robert Englund would participate in such a bad film so I decided to check it out despite the comments...I was so GLAD I did, this movie rocks!! I am proud to call myself an extreme horror buff and having seen almost every horror film ever made I can be a harsh critic, this film easily deserves 7 out of 10 stars. Not only does it star Mr. Robert Englund himself, it also showcased the fantastic acting skills of Fiona Dourif (daughter of the one and only Brad Dourif, the voice of Chucky himself) and Slipknot's Corey Taylor in his first movie role. I'll admit I was weary of Taylor's acting skills but remained optimistic, as it turns out he does not disappoint and the film even included his music and a Slipknot related Easter egg in one of the diner scenes, you'll know it when you see it. The special effects were great quality and the story line kept me hanging on until the very end. If you gave this film a bad review you should probably stick with Disney movies and leave the horror to the true fans of the genre, I strongly recommend giving this flick a chance and I assure you that you wont be disappointed.

Spinning

[kosmasp · 5/10 · 16 September 2015]

Never watched the web series this is based on/off/spinned of. But there seems to be flashes that have snippets of that in them. I might be wrong about that, and if so they did a good editing job making people believe it was something from the past in this movie. Robert Englund is really good in this, as expected.

The cast in general is pretty solid (no pun intended) and the gore effects are good too. Tension is OK and the movie has a twist or two along the way (though again, no idea if you'd be aware of anything if you have already seen the web series). There's one bit of nudity, if that's something you hate or are looking forward too, but in general it's about ... fear. Obviously, and the effect it can have on people - with a bit of a science fiction bit thrown in for good measure

My Review Of "Fear Clinic"

[ASouthernHorrorFan · 7/10 · 20 October 2015]

"Fear Clinic" taps into those over-the-top, fantasy subjects such as tapping into our fear through science to face and overcome phobias, only to learn that fear has a form, an appetite, and fear bleeds black. It is all similar to classic philosophical tropes like "Dreamscape", "The Cell", and "Nightmare On Elm Street". Although here things are more H.P. Lovecraft than Wes Craven.The story is a nice, exciting nightmare scenario that gives us the classic characters, a creeping, eccentric doctor, and some 'out of this world' experimental technology.

The evil, or ultimate antagonist in "Fear Clinic" is unhinged demonic energy that is black, oozy, gluttonous, and terrifying. The cast give decent enough performances and the dialog is delivered nicely. Some of the scenes with character development seem more staged for theatrical purposes than for the sake of the story, but again, it all is keeping with those more, over-the-top, fantasy horror films of the 80's.

The special effects are stellar. The CGI and practical effects mix perfectly to create chilling and creepy scenes that are entertaining, Some of the shock moments fall flat but there are a few that build intense, suspenseful moments, and give good, chilling scares. The sound effects and musical score offer cool, chilling atmosphere and keep the energy dark, and ominous. I really didn't find much wrong with the special effects or creature design. Some scenes go a bit overboard with the theatrics but "Fear Clinic" is fully committed to playing with surrealism concepts.

Overall "Fear Clinic" is a cool modern horror than hearkens back to 80's VHS heydays. I thought some of the staging and conceptual scenes were a bit too much, but I liked that every moment was well thought out as far as creating visual, artistic fantasy moments from the point of view of fear and horror. The evil, or creature is creepy, Lovecraftian, and one that I would definitely fight to wake up from if I found it entering my fear chamber session. "Fear Clinic" doesn't really deal in dreams but the horror, and nightmare situations it gives us are the dreams of demons, and they dream of feeding on our fears!

Pretty lame supernatural horror effort

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 4/10 · 5 August 2015]

After an experimental phobia treatment is stopped, a group of people find their nightmares returning and seek the aid of their original doctor and his specialized machine, unaware of the dangers with starting it up again.

This was a decidedly disappointing and uneven effort. What really tends to hold this one back is the overall lack of feeling like this one was a true horror film, as it's only in the final minutes where this one goes for that kind of feeling and really loses a lot of steam on the rest here without this one really going for the horror. The first half here is simply boring about the group finding their fears coming back and trying to cope with the reluctance to start using up the machine again, which is compounded by this one simply going off on useless tangents about the staff and the patients' lives that aren't in the least bit horror-based and let it really lose steam as it gathers along trying to gain some momentum about the machine but it just falls apart due it's decided non-use that keeps this one from really doing anything. This is due mostly to this one taking place more as a drama about the power of fears potentially taking over a person rather than actually doing anything horrific to showcase that, leading to more scenes here featuring everyone going around talking about how to get them over their fears or him trying to get the nerve to use his machine again rather than letting loose and really showing it off, which makes this one feel quite slow-paced and drawn-out. Likewise, the finale is pretty over-done with the rather lame and tedious CGI that comes barreling out of nowhere to look so out-of-place in what's going on that there's a real sense of being dragged out of time with it when the creature shows up which is so painfully obvious here it takes a lot of the potential fear out of it, along with the lame pacing of the scenes draining a lot of suspense taking forever to get going and a disorienting effect of flickering lighting throughout these scenes that makes it nearly impossible to focus on anything. These here are enough to drag this one down enough that the few flaws here aren't really given all that much weight. About all that works for this here is that utterly delirious final half when the fears come out to haunt the facility and there's plenty of suspense in trying to get out, some great action with the creature chasing them through the hallways and corridors and offering up some utterly schizoid images that makes for a truly thrilling time here. It's just too little too late against the other flaws here.

Rated R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence, Full Nudity, a strong sex scene and strong drug use.

Robert....Robert

[mr-rob-c · 5/10 · 24 June 2015]

robert englund became famous with freddy...and this is what he can, the rest...maybe he is not a bad actor, but choose bad roles...

the film is nothing special, you can skip it, if you have nothing to do and only this film to watch...okay...do it, but except nothing ! very fast you know what will happen, and who the bad guy is, the effects are nothing special, the camera, the picture and the acting ...sorry i have to say...but it is bad.... sorry freddy...stay where you were good at...another bad "horror" film which you don't have to watch, skip it....it is better ,-)

greetings from cologne and sorry for the English ,-)

Mess saved by cast & special effects

[Stevieboy666 · 4/10 · 29 July 2017]

Dr Andover (horror legend Robert Englund) cures people's phobias using his Fear Chamber at his clinic. Naturally being a horror movie things go horribly wrong, with fear itself becoming a physical manifestation. At several points in the film characters state that they don't know what's happening. I felt the same. It does, however, all come together in the end, but if it were not for some OK acting & special effects then I'd have scored it less than 4/10. This is one clinic that I will not be revisiting!

I wanted to like it

[Tmeverett69 · 4/10 · 9 July 2022]

I wanted so much to like this but I just couldn't get into it. The actors were great, the effects were pretty cool and setting was right on. But the storyline was a bit weird and hard to follow in some areas.

No Fear Clinic... No Imagination Clinic... Welcome To The... Yawn Clinic...

[P3n-E-W1s3 · 4/10 · 31 August 2019]

Boy, was this ever a wasted opportunity?

There are two presentable features to this film. One is the story; or at least the premise of it. The second is the acting.

The premise of the story is that Dr Andover has found a way to combat fear by taking on the amygdala itself, through the use of a deprivation tank style piece of machinery called the Fear Chamber. The trouble is something else is using the chamber... to come through into our world.

This concept allows for a lot of leeway in the story. The only constriction is your imagination. Shame that the writers, Aaron Drane and Robert Hall, were lacking in the inventiveness department. There's a nice moment when entomophobic Megan is in the clinic claiming to have insects burrowing under her skin. She's opened up a wound by constantly scratching. Dr Osborn cuts into the wound to lessen the swelling and the fear essence starts to seep out. Spiders start to leave their burrow and scurry over her body onto the floor. They leave this idea right there... on the floor.

This would have been the ideal way for the fear essence to get around. Manifest itself os one person's fear and infect the next person they come across, rinse and repeat... Just imagine a hundred spiders crawling into peoples open mouths, ears, and nostrils. Then their fears would manifest, say, a fear of rejection. The infected could become multiple personalities speaking in different voices, each of which rejects the main host. What would be worse than you rejecting yourself? These screams and arguments could then infect anybody within hearing distance... and their fears would manifest... rinse and repeat.

This would have opened the way for a more script-driven movie and the inventiveness in the story may have made it into the filming too. Unfortunately for the viewers, the writer Robert Hall is less imaginative in his direction. There really is nothing new here. Truthfully, the direction appears below parr. There is one scene where Sara returns to the clinic where Hall tried to get creative. The camera is about twenty feet off the ground looking at the clinic. It drops down to shoulder height. I thought it would then move towards the clinic, which would have been nice and then Sara could have walked passed into the vision and on to the clinic. What happens after the drop though is a nasty cut to Sara's back as she strolls to the clinic. This feels not only nasty but looks awful. And the film is filled with similar camera work.

Luckily enough all the actors and actresses are more than passible in their portrayals. I enjoyed Fiona Dourif (she has those same scary killer eyes of her father - you can tell she's Brad's daughter) in the two Chucky flicks she's been in and she's better in this as the lead, Sara. It's a solid and engaging performance. Robert England, who drew me into watching this film, comes across, as always, perfectly. This guy has scared me in the Nightmare films, made me laugh in V the series, and entertained me in everything else. As Dr Andover, he comes across as confident, controlled, and ambitious. His ambition is to help people. However, when this ambition gets tainted by the fact that the people he's helped are coming back to the clinic because their fears are resurfacing, he starts to fall apart. His confidence is knocked and is usurped with doubt. England does a great job of showing this change in his character. Shame the direction damages his performance.

Doing a little research, I cannot believe this film came from a TV series. There were five episodes back in 2009, five years before the film. I have to say I'm not going to hunt them out as both the writer and the director for the series were the same as the film.

All in all, I wouldn't advocate watching this movie unless you're a die-hard England or Dourif fan. If you like horror, there is very little in this film as it lacks atmosphere. Something you would really expect would be evident in a film based on fear itself. So if you want a horror flick to watch and enjoy there are plenty more. Go check out my Absolute Horror list for an idea and to see where I've charted this miserable waste of time...

I'd rated this as a 4.5 so it should have been a 5 on IMDb but I just couldn't bring myself to do it...

Not at all bad, just not great

[jackmeat · 5/10 · 26 June 2015]

My quick rating - 5,3/10. Not a bad movie in the "fear consumes" ideal. Slightly above average flick revolving around people being tested on in a chamber to face their fears, in this case, that of a masked man shooting up everyone in a restaurant. All the characters are intertwined to this shooting in some way until Fear itself is able to enter the real world to destroy them. Sounds hooky, which it is, but done fairly well and has a few nice chilling spots. All and all, worth watching (a Chiller TV original, so find it there) and don't be upset they tried so hard not to be a b-budget flick..it was hidden well. Oh, and yes, Corey Taylors first movie....but...he had hardly anything to do with it, just a character. BUT at the end the credits do roll to Stone Sour remaking the song "The Dark" by Metal Church, so it has that going for it.

Ambitious, Great Casting

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 12 February 2015]

A doctor (Robert Englund) works to cure patients suffering from crippling phobias by placing them inside his invention which induces and controls hallucinations.

We Got This Covered panned the film as "underwhelming", writing "Fear Clinic is an ambitious project stitched together by unsteady hands, as the threads holding everything together threaten to unravel". Somehow in the recent past, WGTC has risen to the level of Dread Central as an authority on all things horror, but they tend to be very wrong. Other than correctly calling this "ambitious", they missed the mark.

This is horror film 101, with a great director (Robert Hall), great effects artist (Robert Kurtzman), and a handful of horror stars: Robert Englund, Fiona Dourif and Corey Taylor. Even if the film was a failure, just watching this team do their thing would be worthwhile.

Hall goes dark, and he brings the nastiness. While this might not pack the punch that "Laid to Rest" did, it offers plenty to admire: a clever concept, some cool looking medical gadgets, and more than enough blood and bile to coat the screen red and black. What more could anyone want? And, for fans who have to have the best-looking version out there, Best Buy is exclusively offering the blu-ray for a very reasonable price. Well worth picking up for anyone who enjoyed this on Chiller and wants to catch the fear again and again.

Nothing redeeming here

[gameoveraus · 2/10 · 5 July 2019]

The idea is there but it takes way too long to get to the pay off. Robert Englund plays a different role to what he would normally be typcast, the rest of the cast is just "ok"

No scares, more of a very weak suspense thriller that drags on too long

The low budget horror film ..That doesn't know its low budget.

[markmywordyup · 9/10 · 4 April 2015]

New Anchor Bay release, "Fear Clinic" is an unexpected thrill ride that's fun at every turn. It's a low budget horror film …..That doesn't know its low budget.

"Fear Clinic" is loosely based on the 2009 fearnet.com web series of the same name. It stars Robert Englung (Nightmare on Elm Street, Wishmaster, Urban Legend). The story follows Englunds Dr. Andover who's created a device that attempts to cure people of their worst fears. (Of course, no horror film would be worth its weight without something… going horribly wrong.)

The films stand out is Englund himself. Being a horror icon, you'd probably expect a phoned in, overzealous, scenery chewing performance. But that is just not true. He gives a vulnerable, emotional, unguarded and in the end, heart wrenching performance, that's by far, distanced from any other (sans make-up) character he's ever played. To his credit, Englund has little dialogue and utilizes his screen time speaking a thousand words, exuding recognizable emotion with just his eyes: A rarity now a days with all the You Tube instant celeb mediocrity regurgitated daily. It's a trick that only a seasoned actor of Englund's stature can convey.

Englund's Andover is a Doctor who truly believes he can help mankind. He becomes so emotionally involved, that he himself is, ultimately corrupted by the same evil force he's trying to cure.

Another stand out is actor Thomas Dekker. Dekker is best known for playing a young John Conner in the short lived "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles". Dekker, a veteran of "….Clinic" director Robert Hall's (Laid to Rest), here plays a wheel chair bound Blake, incapacitated and unable to speak. Dekker could have thrown on the cheese and played the character with reckless cliché : Instead, he's fearless here, walking a fine tightrope, inviting us in to share his characters tortured past, peeled back in delicate layers, all leading to a third act twist I defy you to see coming. This is Dekker's best work since playing Smith, the "Chosen Son" in the Canne', Palm Award winning film, "Kaboom" by director Gregg Araki.

Other cast stand outs include level headed Sara, played by Fiona Dourif, phobic crippled Megan, played with relish by Cleopatra Coleman, as well as worthy cast member and reluctant victim of Dr. Andover's device, the deliciously devious, possessed Paige, embodied with zeal by Bonnie Morgan (and helped by an outstanding special effects team): All, rising stars waiting to happen. Rounding out the cast are the horror film, "comedy relief staples", personified with glee by Kevin Gage and Corey Taylor.

Director Robert Hall, whose original web series the film is based on, returns here, showing his chops by leading his cast down a road of atypical mayhem. The director could have ridden a murder every 30 minute wave that most low budgeters settle for. Instead, he doubles down on the phobias and in turn, with the help of dynamic camera work by Cinematographer, Joseph White and interesting editing choices by Sherwood Jones, the film takes us on a ride with peaks and valleys that are fun and solidly different.

If I had to make one critical call I'd have to say my only regret was the over use of colored lighting gels that at times, bordered on annoying. But, if that's the worst thing that happened while viewing "Fear Clinic', I'm in pretty good shape.

If you're looking for seen it before, duplicated dreck, check out "Michael Myers: Part 15" or "Jason Voorhees: Part 18". But, if you want to see an unexpectedly original horror franchise villain, waiting to exploit endless possibilities of fear in the human mind, step out of your huge budget comfort zone. Take a leap of faith and give over to the delicate moments of horror fun. Then, watch it again and discover what new interpretations can be discovered in this low budget horror/thriller with each subsequent viewing.

A shout out to Sean Evans of "Back to the Movies" (http://bttm.co.uk ): It was through his web site, I was tipped off to this surprising gem. For that…. I am grateful.

Meh

[drowzgamer · 4/10 · 30 January 2023]

It was alright. Not super exciting or scary though. Kinda a show to watch in the background while doing other things. Had potential, but didn't do much with it.

The acting is sub-par, and its really sad because it was a movie that could've been up there, but it's not even as good as "Truth or Dare" and even "Smile" was more interesting.

I guess if you have a phobia some scenes might be uncomfortable for you, but otherwise it's not scary in the slightest. There's some twists that you don't expect, but any effect they would've had was lost in translation/the lack of effective acting.

Waste of time to watch. Spend your time on something else.

Interesting for Fiona Dourif

[jmbovan-47-160173 · 6/10 · 23 February 2020]

Interesring concept and well acted. Some stereotypical aspects in characters. Fiona Dourif does this role well: believable, emotive, strong, and vulnerable. Robert Englund as well played against type and did an excellent job. (And kudos to him for the bathtub scene. Age doesn't define beauty.)

A Horror movie that makes you think!

[seanevansSmash · 10/10 · 31 January 2015]

The film revolves around a shooting that takes place in a diner that traumatizes a group of survivors who check themselves into the Fear Clinic, a clinic run by Dr.Andover a man who has created a unique way of treating phobia's using a revolutionary new technology called the fear chamber. The fear chamber works by re-animating your worst fears into hallucinations so you can combat your fear face to face. However within the story the fears start manifesting themselves in the real world and this new technology that Dr.Andover has created is slowly opening up a doorway to allow fear incarnate to wreak havoc on the patients of the clinic.

Fear Clinic has an incredibly strong cast line up with Robert Englund (Nightmare on Elm Street) reprising his role as Dr.Andover, Thomas Dekker (Heroes) as Blake, Fiona Dourif (Curse of Chucky) as Sara a survivor of the diner shooting, Angelina Armani (Chromeskull 2) as another survivor Caylee and Corey Taylor in his first ever acting role as Bauer a porter at the clinic. Joining this stellar cast are a whole host of other amazing talent including Brandon Beemer, Cleopatra Coleman, Kevin Gage and Felisha Tirrell.

The movie as a whole was incredibly strong, what started off as an incredibly slow build up actually built the story up rather nicely and gave us some in depth character building and information, it is rare to see a good character build in indy horrors but Fear Clinic did it maybe even too much at times. Either way the second half of the movie eclipses the first by a long shot, once the story is set the action begins and with Bob Kurtzman and Steve Johnson behind the SPFX team the excitement and effects do not disappoint. As fear incarnate slowly starts to develop in the real world the SPFX team has amazingly brought this character to life taking on a persona that was unsettling to watch (Minus the visible bald cap on Robert Englund's head). The intro to the movie however slow always had a creepy and uncomfortable vibe, almost putting you in the clinic itself, testing your nerves, straining your ability to relax and always putting you on edge for what is about to come. It was a great touch and full credit to the team for drawing it out over the films duration without letting go of that emotion.

The film contains deep undertones and emotional depth in terms of people's fears and phobia's but there are some points within the movie that need to be tightened up a bit. Certain scenes need explaining more and as fear incarnate starts to manifest itself the build up and gore is lacking within the story so even thou the creature looks amazing, it doesn't strike fear into the audience which is a shame as now the audience is isolated from the story. Never the less the movie flows nicely and as it stands its a great introduction to a franchise but it does feels quite rushed in places and action is scarce in places as the build up is painstakingly drawn out, hopefully this is tightened up for the DVD release version or Director's cut.

Convoluted in places but a movie that stands higher than most Horror's that are being released at the present, a new generation of cerebral Horror. A movie that will make you think rather than spaced out watching the screen, a movie that when finished you'll rewind to make the jigsaw pieces fit. A very smart movie.

If you're used to watching Horror movies with a vacant mind then you will be disappointed with Fear Clinic, it's time to engage your brain, the Fear Clinic is open for business.

FEAR ON!

Can you fears come to life?

[MoviesReviews101 · 6/10 · 30 January 2015]

Story: Fear Clinic starts by Dr Andover (Englund) talking about fears and how he has come up with a cure to people's fears. We learn that after he got endless praise for his work we hear that something went wrong with his ideas. Move to a diner where a lone gun man bursts in on a killing spree which is just part of the experiment that the girl gets lost in. Moving forward a whole year we meet Sara (Dourif) who is student that during a blackout has her own nightmare about the gun man. Sara goes to the fear clinic in search for answers or a treatment for her fears from Dr Andover. With Andover not the same man it appears certain patients are having relapses and one of the patients died. Andover is full of regret for what happened to Paige and is very reluctant to let anyone use the chamber again. This doesn't stop Osborn (Terrell) going behind his back to set up the chamber to try and save another sick patient. Andover learns that what he had been working on has bought something back and created a substance that pushes people to reach newer more intense levels of fear. The third patient Blake (Dekker) gets bought in we learn that his fear is to do a real incident. Andover finally gives the machine another chance and the first patient is Blake, while things don't go bad they don't get any real answers. Each member of the study was all part of a restaurant shooting and each member is trying to get over the fear that has been created from the situation. A force is trying to get through to the real world by using the fears created by these people and the chamber Andover created. Fear Clinic takes us into a world where we see the characters already taken over by their fears but for now controlling them. We get to see how one event could change lives forever and how the affects will scar them for life. We also end up having to see how messing with science could lead people into trouble especially where no one thinks about side effects. The story follows the characters with all of these mixing together as they must learn to control the fear rather than run from it because we see fear take control and become real. The films uses psychological horror to get the most part over and though the jumps are easy you will be thinking about what happens for a while. (7/10) Actor Review Thomas Dekker: Blake a gunshot victim who was part of the clinic but this time he has started to improve after going into the chamber. Thomas does a solid job but spends half his screen time not in a working state but his character does hold some secrets. (6/10) Robert Englund: Dr Andover genius scientist who at one time was at once the leading name in scientific research but after his tests go wrong things take a turn for the worse, but this is his chance to redeem himself by saving these people. Robert does a solid job in a role that was going to gather the horror fans. (7/10) Fiona Dourif: Sara our heroine who is trying to get answers and seems to be the connection between everyone while she is trying to cure her own fear. Fiona continues to look like she might be a star of bigger and better things with this performance. (7/10) Support Cast: Fear Clinic has a supporting cast that includes patients, doctors and nurses who all help the story continue as most of them are who get affects most by whatever it is that is after them. Director Review: Robert Hall – Robert does a solid job creating a horror that makes you think. (7/10) Horror: Fear Clinic uses psychological horror making you think about what is happening with a couple of attempted jump scares. (7/10) Settings: Fear Clinic uses the setting of the clinic well putting our characters trapped and isolated. (8/10) Special Effects: Fear Clinic uses solid special effects especially with the twisted creature creation. (7/10) Suggestion: Fear Clinic is one for the horror fans to give a go to I think they will enjoy the way this film unfolds. (Horror Fans Watch) Best Part: The chamber secrets. Worst Part: I think a few too many things to ask about. Believability: No (0/10) Chances of Tears: No (0/10) Chances of Sequel: No Post Credits Scene: No Oscar Chances: No Budget: $1 Million Runtime: 1 Hour 35 Minutes Trivia: Corey Taylor's first film role Overall: Fear Clinic isn't the scariest of horror films out there but it will make you think so if you like that idea for horror you will like this. Rating 65

Enjoyable, but forgetable

[motorskallen-53806 · 6/10 · 11 June 2021]

I bought this at Ginza, one of the bigger web-based discshops in Sweden. I found it in the outlet-section, I think it cost me 10 kronor (about an American dollar). It was worth every krona, hehe.

Robert Englund is good, as in most his films. It sets the mood quite early. Then it pases of a bit, before taking some dark turns. Unfortunately, the good parts are few and far between. It feels like they had a great idea, but didnt followed through. They had the budget, so the overall feeling is crisp, but that's about it.

This is more the kind of film you put on if you got a date and dont want anything too complicated to watch. You can have it on in the background. Hopefully your date will jump in your lap a couple of times.

Dont know what to say more. It's an okay little flick, not more than that.

Good low budget flik

[draciron · 6/10 · 16 November 2023]

The plot is actually really good. The acting for what is obviously a really low budget film was very good, including Englund as one of the stars.

The film however relies on too many cliches to really build the kind of suspense it should have and the really low budget special effects hurt the film tremendously. A better director, special effects and camera work and this could have easily been a cult classic or box office hit.

The film tries to spook you right away, but fails and then attempts to build characters that are just getting red shirted before long. That time wasted there could have been used for creating suspense and instead of repeated flashbacks to the incident, tidbits could have been doled out before rolling the whole sequence.

The plot forks and entwines, and the director manged the forking of the plot and likely left out important things the writer tried to convey in the process.

Still well worth watching even if it fails to live up to what it could have been.