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Released by: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Released on: March 11th, 2014.
Director: Jeremy Lovering
Cast: Iain De Caestecker, Alice Englert, Allen Leech
Year: 2013
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The Movie:
Directed by Jeremy Lovering, 2013's In Fear follows a young couple, Tom (Iain De Caestecker) and Lucy (Alice Englert), who decide to blow off the music festival they were going to go to with her friends and celebrate their two week anniversary at a remote hotel in the Irish countryside where Tom, romantic devil that he is, has booked them a room. And so they set out in Tom's car to their destination and along the way, Tom mentions he got into a minor altercation at the pub they've just left. Someone bumped into him, a drink was spilt, but it's okay because he but the other guy and his friends a round of beers to make up for it. They think nothing of it and head off into the country side.
As they get close to their destination, the start to follow the signs laid out along the way directing them to the hotel, but after driving for a longer period of time than they expected, Lucy decides to call the hotel. The call gets disconnected and then, as their gas runs low and the day starts to turn into night, she starts thinking she's seeing someone outside whenever they stop. As their fear starts to intensify they decide to try to head back to civilization but along the way their car strikes a man at the side of the road. They stop and begrudgingly let the bleeding guy into the back seat. He introduces himself as Max (Allen Leech) and he tells them he's been attacked…
A pretty solid example of doing more with less, In Fear is basically a movie that takes place almost entirely in a car and made with only three characters (excluding a quick bit where a bunch of nameless frat boys drive by and moon Lucy and Tom). There's isn't really a whole lot here in terms of plot, it's a deceptively simple story of one couple getting lost and encountering some scary stuff and for the most part, it not only works but it works quite well. The story starts to unravel a bit towards the end where our two protagonists start to act a little irrationally. You could make the argument that at this point in the story they've started to snap but horror movies tend to be more effective when cooler heads prevail. That complaint aside, however, this builds really nicely and lays in the tension nice and thick like.
Central to all of this are the three performances, all of which are convincing enough to work. As things turn sour, the initially light and breezy relationship that Lucy and Tom seem to share starts to crumble and once Max is introduced into the scenario, the entire dichotomy shifts. Full credit to De Caestecker and Engler for crafting believable characters and to Leech for creating a villain that is actually frightening without losing sight of the human aspect of the character. As all of this plays out we see it through some interesting camerawork. Close up shots are used to enhance tension and accentuate character action and reaction. We see things sometimes from outside the car, sometimes from inside it but the way in which the camera is placed is consistent in how it helps to bring us into the car and the events that unfold therein. Despite some issues with the big finish, In Fear is a smart and well-made low budget thriller worth seeking out.
Video/Audio/Extras:
In Fear debuts on Blu-ray framed at 2.35.1 widescreen in AVC encoded 1080p high definition and it looks about as good as a movie that takes place almost entirely inside a car at night can look. It's a very dark film, there isn't a whole lot of color here but what there is looks fine. Skin tones are natural enough and black levels are pretty solid. Some minor compression artifacts and crush can be spotted here and there but the digitally shot feature is obviously free of any print damage. This isn't going to be placed in the upper echelon of HD transfers but it would seem to be a perfectly accurate representation of the dreary looking source material.
The only audio option on the disc is an English language Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix but there are subtitles provided in English SDH and Spanish. The audio here is pretty good. Rears aren't used constantly but they kick into gear when the movie calls for it and the intensity picks up. Often times you'll notice some subtle background noises and what not filling in the soundscape nicely. The levels are well balanced and as you'd guess for such a recent movie, there are no issues with any hiss or distortion.
Aside from a menu and chapter selection the only extra on the disc is a twelve minute making of featurette that contains a bit of behind the scenes footage and some cast and crew interviews. It's not particularly deep but it's worth watching once. Unfortunately the trailer for the feature is not included.
The Final Word:
In Fear leaves its finale open for interpretation and that might not sit well with viewers who want a concrete conclusion to the story. While the movie can't quite maintain the suspense it manages to build in its first half, it's still a pretty tense ride. It's also very well shot considering the limited locations and it benefits from some strong acting across the board. It's not a masterpiece, but it's a good movie and if Anchor Bay's Blu-ray is light on extras, at least it looks and sounds pretty good.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
