The thriller genre isn't exactly short of films that feature a psychic tapping in to the mind of a serial killer, and to be honest; I find them rather boring, but Fear isn't too bad as it makes up for it's overused plot with some fairly original ideas. The lead character is not your usual thriller protagonist, due to the fact that Ally Sheedy is not stunningly beautiful. This gives the film something in the originality department...although it loses a lot in the 'eye candy' department, especially since the cinematography isn't all that nice to look at either. The plot focuses on Cayce Bridges; a psychic who helps the police look for serial murderers. When she is brought in to a new case, there is scepticism at first; but after she reveals some intimate details about the detectives, they start to believe her. She does her usual thing with giving them crime scene and evidence details, but the killer 'links' to her without her linking to him. It becomes obvious that Cayce isn't the only one with psychic powers - and pretty soon the killer won't let her go...
The film never really tries to be brilliant, and so what we end up with is a merely decent thriller that is happy to play out along the same lines as similar films. This does, however, allow the film concentrate on its own strengths. Director Rockne O'Bannon does a good job of building the suspense, and the fact that the murderer is portrayed through a gritty, sleazy voice makes sure that the film is always creepy and foreboding. The acting is nothing special, Ally Sheedy going through the motions alongside a support cast without a standout performance. The cinematography is nothing special either, and Rockne O'Bannon doesn't really seem to care about the look and feel of the film as the locations don't add anything, and the film doesn't have much in the way of atmosphere when the killer isn't on screen. Overall, Fear isn't terrible in spite of the fact that most of it is lacklustre. There are too many films like this already, so this one was always going to have a hard time standing out. However, there are worse films out there and Fear is almost worth watching.
The film never really tries to be brilliant, and so what we end up with is a merely decent thriller that is happy to play out along the same lines as similar films. This does, however, allow the film concentrate on its own strengths. Director Rockne O'Bannon does a good job of building the suspense, and the fact that the murderer is portrayed through a gritty, sleazy voice makes sure that the film is always creepy and foreboding. The acting is nothing special, Ally Sheedy going through the motions alongside a support cast without a standout performance. The cinematography is nothing special either, and Rockne O'Bannon doesn't really seem to care about the look and feel of the film as the locations don't add anything, and the film doesn't have much in the way of atmosphere when the killer isn't on screen. Overall, Fear isn't terrible in spite of the fact that most of it is lacklustre. There are too many films like this already, so this one was always going to have a hard time standing out. However, there are worse films out there and Fear is almost worth watching.