In Fear (I) (2013) User Reviews

The plot is as lost as the characters

[mungflesh · 5/10 · 25 September 2013]

In Fear is a tale of a young couple on their way to a festival, whom detour, at the request of the male half, to a remote idyllic hotel.

Things go horribly wrong.

Tension and paranoia builds nicely in the opening third of the movie. Our couple get lost in a network of country lanes, supposedly leading to the hotel, which turn out to be a maze. As dusk approaches, confusion and anxiety turn to fear and dread ...

This is about as much as I can divulge without spoiling anything, however, the plot from this point onwards goes from irritating to ridiculous. Painful-to-view clichés and "they'd never do that" type gaffs litter the movie until the end which, when it comes, leaves you wondering if the writer got stuck for an ending.

When it's tense, it works well but too much in this film went awry for me. I saw it at the FrightFest film festival and did speak to a lot of fans who loved it, but not I.

I could be wrong, so it's perhaps worth checking out, if you like a claustrophobic, low-budget vibe in your horror but if not, I'd tread with caution.

Excellent Score Only Saving Grace in Otherwise Formulaic Genre Fare

[LostintheDarknessofNight · 4/10 · 10 March 2014]

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.

Left Hanging Yet Again

[lupalover · 5/10 · 23 April 2014]

Contains Spoilers: I have said this over and over but I am sick and tired of movies coming out recently that have no real ending. I don't watch a movie to come up with my own ending. I'm sorry but I want closure. This movie had none. The only reason I gave it 5 stars was because the story and action (although confusing) up to the end was good and kept my attention. I desperately wanted to know why. And I wanted to actually see the end result of her speeding her car towards the killer. Did she hit him? Did she veer off and crash her car as so many others seemingly had? And who was this guy? Did the hotel even really exist or was the guy just advertising it so he could get unsuspecting people out there to mess with? If any writers/producers of movies read this (which I realize is doubtful), please, please, please quit leaving the audience hanging. Most people I've talked to hate it. So Stop Doing It! Thank you

Well-made but ultimately disappointing.

[ghost-65517 · 3/10 · 4 December 2015]

Having read a number of positive reviews, I watched "In Fear" expecting a competent, low-budget genre exercise with perhaps some new twists. There is definitely some skill and creativity involved in this film, but ultimately I think it disappoints because it abandons genre conventions to strain for a psychological depth which it doesn't really have. As many reviews note, it starts off strong but loses focus about halfway through the film.

I just wanted to note a couple of points which I haven't seen discussed elsewhere. (Spoilers follow!)

1) Some of my favorite films deal with the problems that arise from ineffective communication (e.g. "Blood Simple"). "In Fear" touches on this theme, as Tom and Lucy bicker and talk past each other and fail to connect. But this never goes anywhere, and the dialogue is mostly just uninteresting. (Apparently most of it was improvised, which seems like a gimmick that should have been dropped in favor of a tighter script.)

2) The backstory/explanation for the film's events is left vague and largely unclear. I have no problem with films using ambiguity, mystery, and lack of resolution for effect or to suggest a deeper theme. This can work quite well in the horror genre (see the stories of Robert Aickman, or a film like "Kill List"). With "In Fear", though, we just have a very simple bad-guy-terrorizes-innocents-in-creepy-setting plot; and the vague hints and missing pieces come across as an unsuccessful attempt to suggest that there's more going on here than there really is.

3) Having said that, however, there does seem to be a motive to Max's madness buried in the hints. In the title credits we see an auto accident, and later on Max tells of a boy who was pushed into a road as a prank, which caused the oncoming car to crash, killing all passengers. The hotel/auto-graveyard and the final scene where Max encourages Lucy to kill him with her car suggest that Max was that young fellow who inadvertently took innocent lives; and perhaps driven mad by guilt, he's recreated the accidents over and over again (keeping the crashed cars at his "hotel") until finally he decides to push someone (Lucy) to the point where she will intentionally run him down. I think this explanation holds together given the clues in the film; but even so it's not much of a payoff. It doesn't do much to elevate the film beyond its genre and the cliché of a crazy guy in the country tormenting innocent city folk.

4) The aspect of the film which really killed it for me was its reliance on the horror/thriller cliché of the apparently-superhuman stalker, who seems to have the ability to know exactly where the victims will be & what they will do, and to transport himself from one location to another in seconds, so he can lurk menacingly in the background as our heroes pass by, or become invisible to pull Lucy's hair, or gain access to their car undetected when they are only a few feet away. When we realize that Tom & Lucy are being stalked by just one guy who moves hotel signs around to get them lost, the sense of menace drops considerably. Admittedly, Tom & Lucy wouldn't know this - but for the viewers it stretches plausibility past the breaking point. And how did Max manage to stage dozens and dozens of accidents (resulting in the many crashed cars piled up at the hotel) without anyone catching on over the years? This very human villain seems to be able to acquire supernatural powers when the plot requires it.

Simple, short and effective

[BOOGIEMAN-pN · 7/10 · 30 March 2014]

... just the way I like it ! So yes, of course I will be pretty subjective in this review (but aren't everyone else in theirs, after all ?)

In current horror movie era flooded with zombies, haunted houses and paranormal activities, little movies like this one come as real refreshment. To be honest it's more mystery/thriller/suspense than horror, but nevertheless.

Simple plot (Man and woman in a car, lost in a maze of narrow roads at the countryside trying to find a secluded hotel they reserved on internet), combined with nice visuals and directing/editing is just what I wanted to see from a movie. No two and a half hours of over the top action scenes, no special effects, CGI monsters, ghosts and flying sheets ... just a little mystery and healthy dose of suspense.

Yes, the main protagonists maybe don't do and act how one would expect "normal" people to do in such situation, but it's impossible to predict anyway how "normal" people would behave in every situation. This is good enough.

I must say that I find recent British movies (to name a few I can remember without looking at my voting history: Truth or die, The Seasoning House, The Cottage ...) more appealing to me than ones from Hollywood. I think if you hated "Cabin in the woods" or you're just tired of movies like that, there's a big chance you'll like "In Fear"

Getting me to hate a horror movie is not easy, but this one succeeded.

[juliet1426 · 1/10 · 17 March 2014]

The bare bones plot that is nothing but a device.

No chemistry between the two main characters - you'd think they had just met on the movie set. Overuse of extreme facial closeups, which serve no purpose other than to annoy the viewer.

The characters' behavior is inexplicable. Who drives around in circles for hours until it's dark and their car runs out of gas? Why does it not occur to them that the signs they're following are wrong? And why would anyone think this is frightening anyway, unless being dumb is scary? The bad guy doesn't incite fear. He appears to be more of a practical joker, which is not the impression you would get from someone who is supposedly trying to "terrorize" people.

And then ... finally! A car graveyard instead of a hotel! Maybe we're getting somewhere here, maybe it means something, maybe the plot will advance! ... No such luck. Lots of running around in circles in the dark now, finding nothing, getting separated.

Wait! Sudden plot twist out of nowhere... that goes nowhere. And then the final scene, an absurd non-ending that is perfect for this dud.

Thank god the movie is only 85 minutes long. Curious? Don't bother. It's not even bad enough to be good.

Keep It Mysterious

[billygoat1071 · 6/10 · 20 December 2013]

In Fear seems like another one of those teen horror movies that lazily throws whatever a generic horror movie usually brings. Surprisingly, it ends up offering more than a typical horror fare. It is basically an indie-horror film that plays mind games with the audience. It's an intriguing concept indeed, it goes a lot of fun when it presents its plot, but it eventually falters when it hits to its twists and turns. In Fear has a great potential at first. The last act may be pretty senseless, but throughout the film is a watchable cinematic perplex.

The film mainly takes place in a car, spending most of the time with the characters talking about their relationship. Nobody knows about their fate as they drive around the woods, which lets their emotions toward the situation manifest the fear. Everything is a mystery, and getting exasperated by the lack of knowing what the threat is what makes the set up pretty exciting. The ride is remarkable when it doesn't rely on the generic horror tricks, just let the atmospheric tone and the perplex speak the horror. And this is why it's a shame for the film to use jumpy sound effects in some part because it quite hurts the terror. But the coldness still takes over the experience.

When it finally reveals the enemy, it totally stops making sense. Though it doesn't really have to make sense as long as it's "scary", but no. This certain twist suffers by its weak villain that forces things to be psychotic, but it didn't work, thus everyone won't likely bother to care much of the story anymore, unless it throws another twist that looks far more interesting than the other. Unfortunately, the conclusion is another mystery to figure out, and that is the least interesting one among the trip. I think it's only great when none of that is ever revealed. When it comes to the filmmaking, everything is all quite stunning. This is pretty obvious for an independent film, but the shots here just makes audience feel like they're sitting in the car with the characters. For the acting, the main two did a fine enough job.

The film currently gets a lot of praise, even a perfect score currently at Rotten Tomatoes, but seeing those hyperboles would just mess up the experience, because apparently the film is best seen if the viewer doesn't have any expectation or idea what it is about. The film would have been greater without knowing the second half at all, but that's just too silly to view it. In Fear is not exactly scary, the tip to enjoy what is happening is to keep it all mysterious. Therefore you'll get a sense of fun and anxiety, even if the conundrum at the finale is something that no one can really ignore.

Car in the Woods

[kosmasp · 5/10 · 3 December 2013]

The reactions at the Frightfest in London where this was playing were ranging from "liked" to "totally hated it". There weren't too many people who were completely taken aback by the story (if you can call it that). Two people in a car and "absolute fear". Or something like that. It has its fair share of moments and I wouldn't say it's a waste of time to watch. But I'm pretty sure many people will get fed up with the characters and the twists.

There should've been a little more work on the script and there might have been better dialog and better overall options. The shooting style is optimal for low budget and it did suit the movie. But it didn't elevate it enough to make it something that will stand out. "Them" and a few other horror gems have done terror in a far better way. With characters the viewer is actually rooting for

Fun Movie; Worth a Viewing

[chrismackey1972 · 7/10 · 27 August 2014]

It was gripping, and the tension was really good. I thought the passenger they hit had something to do with it. It would've been better had he actually been a victim like the two main stars, because it was kinda clichéd. But cliché is not necessarily bad. However - and maybe I missed it - but was there more of a motive for this guy terrorizing them other than Tom having spilled some guy's drink? The acting was very good. The two leads looked terrified at the right time. I loved the atmosphere. I have to say that it wasn't what I thought it was going to be. I thought it would suck out loud, but thankfully, it was well done. Good job, film makers :D If I was gonna be the star in a horror film, and I was gonna be driving, I'd bring along an extra can of gas. hahaha I gave this 7-star rating because of the originality, acting, atmosphere, and script. It was impressive, even though they most likely put very little money into the movie.

Good acting, great potential, awful plot and execution

[wymantim · 3/10 · 13 April 2014]

First of all, the acting in this movie is pretty darn good, but other than that i can't give it any other merits. The dialogue and the way the characters act makes it so unbelievable that the movie becomes painful to watch. It's hard to become immersed when you are screaming at the characters to be smart for a few seconds. The plot is so full of holes and boring that it feels like you just want it to end after a half hour. the setting is perfect for the horror genre, unfortunately there is no horror, not even any suspense. Nothing ever changes in this movie so you feel like one scene is constantly on repeat. The whole movie feels as though it's stuck in it's first five minutes and nothing gives this movie the nudge it needs to become truly frightening. I really can not recommend this movie to anyone because it has nothing positive from any genre out there. This movie is a pass.

Good atmosphere chiller

[searchanddestroy-1 · 8/10 · 27 June 2020]

I was never bored watching this little film from UK, never. A couple lost in the middle of nowhere in the Irish - or Cornwall - landscape, at night, looking for a hotel, was sufficiently scary to be satisfied. And the second part, especially the ending, is a kind of tribute to HITCHER, the man looking to be killed, stopped by his victim(s). No other viewer seems to have noticed it. There should be more stuff like this one.

This Got Funded?

[robert-connor · 30 August 2014]

After two weeks of knowing each other, a witless young New Zealander with a dodgy English accent agrees to go to a music festival in Cornwall... er, Ireland with a witless young Scottish guy. They take the ferry to Cornwall... er, Ireland and stop at a pub where the New Zealander sits on the toilet waiting for something to happen. Later, they get into their car and the Scottish guy announces that instead of going to the festival, they are going to a hotel and need to wait for someone to come and show them the way. A Land Rover pulls up behind them and then drives past with a hotel sign on the tailgate so the witless couple follow. Eventually the Land Rover stops and the driver points to the road ahead before taking a right turn and disappearing. The witless couple continue on and get lost. The Scottish guy is driving and starts to drink, while the New Zealander looks increasingly anxious. It gets dark and they car begins to run low on fuel. The New Zealander tries to follow a map but the Scottish guy keeps on drinking and tries to follow a confusing set of signs for the hotel. Then the Scottish guy decides to pull over and wander off into the forest for no apparent reason. The New Zealander gets even more anxious but the Scot returns and they both decide to wander off into the forest, leaving the keys in the car. They don't get far before the car alarm goes off so they return and can't find the keys, until they find they keys on the ground. They drive off and go around in circles until eventually someone tries to attack them and they flee, only to knock a guy over and then all hell breaks loose, but not in a logical way.

Given that the couple are utterly lacking in common sense, and spend most of the time shouting at each other and making stupid decisions, the viewer is left not really caring what happens as the story spirals down one plot hole after another. One day someone will make a movie about sensible folk who despite their best efforts journey into a nightmare. Sadly, this isn't it.

At least Downton Abbey's Allen Leech get's to chew some scenery!

A nice surprise

[MOscarbradley · 7/10 · 28 December 2014]

"In Fear" is a small budget British horror movie that disappeared before anyone even knew it was out there, which is something of a pity since Jeremy Lovering's debut displays both flair and imagination and provides all the requisite chills. Tom, (Iain De Caestecker), and Lucy, (Alice Englert), arrive in Ireland for a music festival but get lost in what we tend to call 'the middle of nowhere'; easily done, I remember once driving around in circles in a part of County Donegal I really should have known. After stopping to get their bearings a mysterious man in a mask attacks Lucy and in their attempt to get away they first knock down and then pick up a stranger, ("Downton Abbey's Allen Leech, very good).

There's nothing particularly original about any of this, of course, but through judicious editing and some superbly atmospheric cinematography Lovering manages to create a nightmare scenario. Maybe it's because I live in a part of Ireland where I can imagine this kind of thing happening that I found the film so effective or perhaps it's just that Lovering has managed to get so much out of so little. Either way, "In Fear" is one well worth seeking out.

LONG pointless film.

[ICanNeverThinkOfAGoodUsername · 1/10 · 6 January 2015]

This was bad. Even when I was watching it I had hope that it would get better. It didn't. The film consists of two characters driving around in circles trying to a find a hotel, but it seems someone/something is after them. That's it. Nothing more and nothing less. That sentence pretty much sums up the film. I will also add to that the film is extremely long, it's not interesting yet drags on.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

1. Around 1 hour into the film we find out who is behind this... After this point onwards I don't see the point of the film. I see the point if the film makers had a background story to why this was happening - they didn't thus making it a waste of time. The film unnecessarily dragged on.

2. The start of the film was extremely stupid and unrealistic. Since when do hotels send someone out for you to follow them so you can find the hotel. The hotel would give the person directions. What didn't make sense is the guy had a SatNav so surely he could have entered the postcode in? If the hotel was in the middle of no where and a SatNav couldn't reach it... Why would the guy book such a hotel? Surely alarm bells were ringing when they said they'd send a car for him to follow.

3. The film consisted of them just driving round and round in circles. It was boring. It was worse because they'd only just met each other so there was no interesting conversation either.

4. It was Max. So what? Who is Max? And why is he doing this? If the film didn't drag on for so much and it just ended... It may have even added suspense that we didn't know why Max was doing this.

Overall. An extremely long film which had no storyline what so ever.

In Fear had so much potential, but this film ultimately fell flat

[aloveland-41860 · 4/10 · 30 May 2015]

************** ***SPOILERS*** **************

The film starts off a little oddly with a confusing bathroom scene and then a curious decision by Tom to take his new girlfriend Lucy to a hotel for the night instead of going straight to a music festival, where they each have friends waiting for them, like they had originally planned. Nevertheless it picks up and the suspense starts to build nicely as Tom and Lucy get lost on their way to the hotel and end up passing the same landmarks multiple times. Lucy catches a couple of glimpses of a mysterious figure seemingly stalking the young couple. They are caught up in a ghoulish maze in the Irish countryside and can't seem to find their way back out. After a few more run-ins with the mystery figure the couple is starting to panic. The stalker is becoming more and more aggressive and the couple is running out of petrol. They need to find their way out. The suspense is really ramping up at this point.

...And then it flatlines. As Tom and Lucy are racing to find their way out they nearly run over a bloodied man standing in the road. The man, named Max, gets in their car and says he too is being hunted by this figure and he knows how to get out. Turns out Max is actually the stalker who has been chasing Lucy and Tom around. This would be all well and good if not for the fact that Max looks more like an IT administrator than a maniacal backwoods murderer. This is who we're supposed to be "in fear" of? The second the mystery figure was revealed all the suspense that had been building went out the window for me. I found it way more captivating when the identity of the stalker(s) was left a mystery.

My second biggest issue was the behavior of Lucy and Tom. Other reviewers have commented on their lack of chemistry, but I'm OK with that given the fact that they've only been a couple for 2 weeks and still don't really know each other too well. Where my issue lies is in the way they react to their situation. Constantly leaving their car to check things out even after they've had physical altercations with their stalker. Why are you leaving the car when you know a potential killer is following you around? They each leave their car numerous times, often alone with the other person staying put. Why would they separate? It just seems so foolish and not at all how people in real life would act.

Thirdly, the ending. It's another one of those "deep" endings where you're supposed to come up with your own hypothesis of what ended up happening. In my opinion it seemed like the writer couldn't quite come up with a good enough ending so he left it up to the audience to create their own. For some movies those types of endings work well, In Fear is not one of them.

To sum it up, this movie started out well and was building as if it was going to be a really good film. However at the climax it completely fell flat for me. I was really disappointed because up until the big reveal it had me hooked and I was willing to look past the ridiculous behavior of our young couple. In the end, though, it just couldn't maintain that momentum. I would still say In Fear is worth a watch though as it seems some people really enjoyed it.

Entertaining

[Lucabrasisleeps · 6/10 · 21 July 2014]

I was entertained, I guess. It is not bad but somehow the characters sort of got on my nerves. It is always the case of not following the easy way out and instead making it hard for themselves.

Just a question. If you are going to book a hotel room, would you do it in a forest sort of a place or in a place where there are lots of people around? I would choose the latter. I would just book a hotel room in a nice city and walk around and go to pubs. Apparently this guy isn't intelligent enough. He wants to make everything hard.

And finally he still won't let go and gets into trouble. Idiot.

Anyway I was entertained watching the stupidity. As a horror movie, it is not bad, it has some nice jump scares and stuff. Not many but they are there. Maybe logic is a casualty.

Anyway 6/10

this is not acceptable!!

[ideorium · 2/10 · 12 August 2014]

I am sorry, but I am very frustrated with this film... yes there were parts I liked and got very excited that this film would have been turned out to be a very good one and a fresh one in the genre.. I always find myself excited with less famous projects when they come out. so I was feeling the same with this one and went to see it without a second though..but no it turns out to be a student project which was run out of thoughts towards the end. yes I like the idea of a maze - brunches - signs - dark and gloomy weather. this could let to a very intriguing happenings in the film But this is not enough if you don't have a solid story ahead.. plus oh please less macro face shots!!! so overall totally waste of my good 80 over minutes..

Low budget horror builds suspense well but is ruined by sub par script.

[DapsBtVS · 6/10 · 19 November 2013]

In Fear is a low budget horror movie set in Ireland. A newly dating couple are supposed to be on their way to a festival, but he has booked them into a hotel as a surprise. Despite being equipped with a satnav and maps, they are unable to find the hotel and begin to suspect something is wrong...

The setting of almost the entire film in the car works to its advantage and the film manages to create a fair amount of tension in the first half. Once the film starts to reveal what's going on it starts to go fall apart. It seems a clear case of a writer having a good premise for a movie and beginning it strongly, but not knowing where to take the idea.

In a trait that is unfortunately more common for horror movies than any other genre, the characters begin to act in completely unrealistic ways to set up scares and some of the events in the movie are entire unrealistic and unexplained, and this serves to reduce the tension. If horror writers would realise that far more tension is created when we believe the characters are acting realistically and that the events taking place in the movie make sense, we'd have been spared a heck of a lot of bad cinema over the past couple of decades! This is not one of the worst horrors in recent years by any stretch, it was well directed, well acted, and with a script that didn't run out of ideas halfway through could have been a strong movie. The good first half, short length of the movie, and excellent use of rural Ireland as a setting push the movie into the 'worth watching' category, if you are OK with low budget horror and all of the clichés and issues that accompany the genre.

First half great, then pretty tedious, then ends very lame

[derekjager · 5/10 · 25 April 2017]

This is a well-made film. Great directing and acting. The first 30 minutes are a great set up. But then...well, it just seems to run out of ideas.

(SPOILERS) Who pulled her hair? Even if someone is switching the signs around, they really can't figure it out or give up before nightfall? Why does the GPS quit...and the cell phones? How are her clothes removed when they've been in the car the whole time?

If you're going to introduce supernatural causes, then you need to be faithful to them and pay them off. Or explain them away with a natural explanation. The spooky stuff is great, but none of it is paid off. Turns out one (?) lone psycho is after them? It just falls apart the last 40 minutes.

Again, great talent in front and behind the camera, but just no story to tell, just an idea.

In Fear- Review

[esme-beeby97-24-175464 · 11 June 2014]

In Fear- review

The film makes you really get into it, as you don't know exactly who the person is who is terrorising the couple. The story of the film is very clever, as it tells you the whole plot of the story line at the beginning when 'Lucy' is in the cubical at the pubs toilets.

The films' destination was in Ireland, but was actually set in the south of England. The characters Tom (Iain De Caestecker) and Lucy (Alice Englert), who are a couple that met in a bar. They are going to a music festival and meeting their friends there, but Tom books a hotel for a night for them to stay in before they head to the festival. So they head out to the Hotel, but things start to go wrong as they follow the directions, but seem to be going round in circles. The setting of where they are driving around looks pretty within the day, but as it gets darker, you can tell that it dramatically changes and seems very creepy, which makes Tom and Lucy feel scared and therefore fear the 'darkness' as Lucy starts 'seeing things'.

One disadvantage about the film would be that at times, it's very difficult to know what is happening as the camera work is very quick and fast paced, which makes it very hard to see what's going on within the scenes. Also, the ending of the film would most likely irritate some of the audience members, as although it's clear as to what happens, they could have made a better ending, for example, seeing what happens to Lucy.

Overall, I believe that the film 'In Fear' is a very good film as it hooks the audience interest and makes people wants to watch more and know the plot about it, as the plot of the film is very different compared to other different horror films. Also you wouldn't know that the film was unscripted as the acting was very good and so it engages you more into the film, as you feel for some of the actors. I would recommend this film to anyone who likes horrors.

Another poor script letting a movie down

[juan-uk · 6/10 · 29 February 2020]

I found it quite promising at the begining. A young couple in rural surroundings looking for a hotel. Beautiful photography. The lady is one of the most beautiful actresses I've seen recently and she's good at acting. Well shot with vibrant colours. Realistic if you forget all the holes in the plot, never boring and kept the tension. So it was ok, watchable. But this movie fails where many before have done, an implausible set of circumstances and scenes that you have to overlook to watch it. It has good scenes well done and realistic but when put together don't make too much sense. For instance, you met a guy two weeks ago , agree to go on your own to a music festival with him and end up in rural desolate surroundings and the guy is now telling you that he has a hotel room waiting for you but that hotel is out of nowhere so he's going to follow someone else who will show him to the place. Well, most girls would be nervous at this stage. Then the girl is not much into him but she still gives him a long snog over the bonnet of the car when they are by a closed gate that supposedly leads to the hotel. But the most annoying thing is that the guy who torment them seems to have the ability to be everywhere near them at all the time without them spotting him despite the fact they drive around for miles. They stop somewhere at ramdon and the guy happens to be there watching them. And like this all the time. They stop in a number of occasions at random and there is the guy like he has the power to anticipate where they will make a stop. They have an incident with him, drive away as fast as they can and further down the road he's there again. So totally implausible. Another silly thing of many...you are running away from someone in the middle of the night in the woods and there you are like an idiot advertising your location to everyone who might be chasing you with a big torch pointing everywhere. And another more silly thing of many more...the girl finally manages to get to the hotel on her own, the front yard is littered with broken cars, it's obviouly been turned into a car graveyard and the hotel seems abandoned, so alarm bells should be ringing on her and it should dawn pretty quickly the hotel was abandoned and that they had been tricked so it should made her scared but instead she drives all the way in, gets off the car and walks towards the hotel like hoping the hotel is still in bussiness? Come on!

Oh, and the ending. How did the guy got there in the middle of nowhere, a barren landscape? His car is nowhere to be seem. How did he know the girl would be driving along there? oh dear, another implausible scene.

So the movie could have been much better if they gave a thought to the poor script.

Good Acting Wasted by a Terrible Story

[claudio_carvalho · 3/10 · 23 December 2014]

In Ireland, Tom (Iain De Caestecker) and Lucy (Alice Englert) are traveling for a music festival. They have been together for a couple of weeks only and Tom decides to make a surprise to Lucy and spend the night with her in a remote hotel in the woods. They follow the signs on the narrow and winding road and soon they realize that they are lost and the backwoods road is a maze. Soon they are frightened by a stranger that threatens them and Tom realizes that their car is running out of gas. While escaping from the stranger, they hit a man on the road and they bring him to their car. The stranger is called Max (Allen Leech) and soon they discover that he is the man that is tormenting them along the night. What is the motive for Max to torture them?

"In Fear" is a tense thriller with good performances. Unfortunately the good acting is wasted by a terrible story full of holes and awful conclusion. Who would go to a remote place without filling the tank of the car? How could one guy bring so many people to a derelict hotel in the middle of nowhere without any investigation from the police? The plot has a promising beginning but in a certain moment it becomes annoying. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Uma Noite Para Esquecer" ("One Night to Forget")

Needle In a Haystack

[Total_Dynamic · 9/10 · 20 November 2013]

Being a fan of horror movies can, and has, to a degree, become a tiresome love affair. I constantly find myself paying my hard-earned cash to watch a horror movie that promises to scare the living daylights out of me and often reneges on that very promise. I find myself leaving the cinema after the majority of 'horror' films nowadays questioning firstly, why I continue to believe Hollywood are capable of making a good horror film and, secondly, if I'm ever going to be scared watching one again.

However, every once in a while (and its been a while), a horror film comes along and reminds me of why I sit through all the weak dross that Hollywood churns out such as Sinister, Insidious 2, You're Next, The Conjuring. I could go on but I'm sure you get the picture. What I find more baffling than these films inability to scare is the ratings they often gather on this very site. Anyway, one of those films, that diamond in the rough if you like, that needle in the horror haystack, came along this evening when I decided to go and see In Fear.

I like to go in 'blind' as it were to horror films and I suggest anybody thinking of watching this film avoids delving too deep into it before they go and see it (if you haven't already). All I knew going into the cinema was that it had a pretty poor rating of 5.4 on here, but 100% from 23 critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. The former, rather worrying, the latter being an accolade not to be sniffed at.

And I was pleasantly surprised. More than pleasantly surprised. Let's put it this way, I'm glad I missed the showing of the Counselor that I was originally planning on seeing tonight and watched In Fear instead.

Its only a short film, less than an hour and half, yet its incredible the amount of tension and anxiety that director Jeremy Lovering has crammed into those 85 or so minutes. Couple that with fantastic performances from the two main protagonists in the film, Alice Englert and Iain De Caestaecker, and it didn't take long for things to turn weird.

In Fear has a couple of very genuinely, creepy scares, just enough for the viewer to remain both interested and tense enough to care. It utilises its two best scares sparingly, yet hauntingly and effectively, the primal fear of the dark and the claustrophobic nature of the films setting.

In Fear is a genuinely scary film. Like Kill List (2011) and Maniac (2012), it is that needle in the haystack, that diamond in the rough and its re-ignited inside me the reasons why I persist and love the horror genre. Give this film a chance whilst its on its limited and undoubtedly short release, it might just do the same for you.

Decent little horror

[jenniferclark1 · 7/10 · 8 December 2020]

This film is simple, there are no flashy effects, no huge cast of extras, or spectacular scenery. Its a simple premise and it works because we've all been in those situations - you take a wrong turn, your GPS messes up or you lose signal, and you think 'what if?' - this is the 'what if' scenario happening. I found the cast were good, the pacing was fine, yes there were annoying things that happened and some moments where I said "I wouldn't do that" but overall its a good watch and I liked the ending. If you liked Eden Lake, Wolf Creek and Killing Ground; you will like this.

Only in fear it would never end!!!

[kmess61 · 3/10 · 22 March 2014]

This was a film with promise from reading the preview, but sadly the characters in this movie are beyond incredibly stupid. No one would do half the things these two do without checking themselves first. Totally unbelievable. It's boring and predictable.

The story needed more work. I am not sure whether it was just the writing itself, or whether the story was amended to fit a low budget. The actors weren't so bad, and tried hard with the material provided. Few twists, and few shocks. I had to wait Zzzzzzzzz. And wait Zzzzzzzz. And wait Zzzzzzz. And wait for the end Zzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzz!!!!!! DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME!!!