esrosedotblog

I am not a fan of horror movies.

But I took a flier on a NYCritics' Pick

In Fear (2014)

It scared the shit out of me.

Once in it I could not get out and I could not get any distance from it at all.

It had me and shook me and wouldn't let go.

A couple are on their way to a music festival.

They stop along a road at dusk.

They are lost.

They get some help. Or seem to.

I can't really write about the movie. What I can do is simply wonder at how a formula of some sort can be concocted that will upset the most resistant and jaded audience.

I suppose that, in a way, the viewer has to want to be scared. And part of the setup is a seduction where one gets to like the nice couple and the idea that they are going to have a good time.

When there is car trouble there is another dynamic that sets in which is that somehow the problem will be solved and that there is nothing evil about the fact that they have lost their way through a series of roadsigns to the hotel they are seeking. The festival.

It does not occur to them or to me that the signs are bogus.

And so on.

This is a great movie. It is an easy 4. I am not sure whether I could see it again. There are, I think, no spoilers here. In fact, if I were to watch it again I would be as upset as I am now as I am de-adrenalyzing.

Labels: films