[yasr_overall_rating]
A woman struggles with little things that build to mammoth proportions.
“Fear” tells the story of a young woman (Jessie Rabideau) who is home alone and as the evening advances, she is gradually possessed by anxiety and consternation as every little thing gradually intensifies into an uncontrollable and volatile finale. As she is sitting on the edge of the bathtub, shaving her legs, the camera follows her every stroke as we await the expectant gash that will cause us to turn away. While lying in the bathtub, something scurries into the bathroom and under the sink and we are led to believe that it is some sort of creature or is it her little puppy? While she is looking in the bathroom mirror, we are expecting to see the quintessential reflection of something or someone standing behind her but does it actually transpire?
And as she finally makes her way downstairs after hearing a noise, wearing nothing more than just a towel, what does she find? A boyfriend trying to scare her or someone or something else? Director Steve Kahn taps into the terror and dread that worked so successfully in the “Final Destination” films and indeed, their predecessor, the 1976 classic “The Omen”, movies which let you know that something bad was going to happen and although you might have figured out how, for the most part, you didn’t know when, and it was this aspect that scared so many people. In creating the scenario at hand, a young woman home alone, the audience immediately begins to think of every other horror movie with the same given situation: “Halloween”, “Friday the 13th”, “A Nightmare on Elm Street” or any other number of slasher or monster flicks that came out, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s.
Director Steve Kahn triumphantly sets the stage and lets your mind wonder if his movie will follow in their footsteps or deviate into unknown territory. This is Mr. Kahn’s third short, following his previous two outings “Daños del amor” and “The Pink Balloon” and I would be very curious to see his first feature film. His movies are creative and imaginative and at times, left to the viewers’ imagination and that is something that is lacking in so many films these days. In “Fear”, his lone star, Jessie Rabideau, does an impressive job in carrying the movie and while her resume shows that her first acting job was in 2013, as a newbie I’m sure as she gains more experience, she too will excel. Recommended.
