Review - In Fear (2014)

Two Kids Alone in a Car in the Country...What Could Go Wrong?

 

Three actors, two cars, two dilapidated houses, and some country roads. That is the list of ingredients for the recipe of In Fear, a gratifyingly simple English gothic horror film directed by Jeremy Lovering.

Lucy (Alice Englert) and Tom (Iain De Caestecker) play a pair of young adults that have only been dating for two weeks before deciding to head off into the countryside to join friends for a music festival. Tom reveals that he booked a room at a local hotel for the night. With a little convincing, Lucy puts aside Tom's presumptuousness and agrees to the hotel. They head off into the countryside to find their hotel but soon find themselves lost in what Lucy quickly deduces is a maze.

Events escalate, and it becomes apparent that someone is terrorizing this couple and stalking them through this countryside maze. But who? And why? Or does that even matter until they figure a way out of their maze?

Lovering quickly establishes that Lucy is the centerpiece of this production, and the audience is meant to share her doubts and fear as events escalate. The film leaves open the possibility that Tom might be in league with whoever is orchestrating events, which riffs off the fact that Lucy really doesn't know this guy she's with at all.

The ability of the film to generate fear and angst in the audience while doing very little at all beyond relying on the creepiness of what is happening is a strength. Lovering leaves the audience guessing throughout as to what exactly is going on, allowing the audience to dream up elaborate plots in their own head rather than smothering the audience. Allowing the audience to use their imaginations along with the filmmaker is a powerful tool.

Events eventually do begin to escalate and the film reveals that there really is an endgame here, although the film is decidedly ambiguous as to meaning in the end. Where the film succeeds is not coming up with some elaborate plot, but in merely generating an emotional response - a true emotional response.

Most horror films (at least the bad ones) rely on sensory shock to generate response in lieu of building true anxiety and fear in the audience. It is a hell of a lot easier to shock the audience with a well-timed "boo" and loud jolt of music, or to shock them with some horrible gore, than it is to actually make someone genuinely afraid. One of the best horror films I've ever seen is the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a film with surprisingly little blood given the title. Tobe Hooper's film simply creates a feeling of dread from beginning to end (with one or two "boo" moments along the way). While In Fear doesn't quite live up to Chainsaw, it follows in that tradition - opting for the hard work of crafting dread rather than simply trying to be loud (visually or aurally).

As things start to escalate, there are one or two logical problems (the most serious I cannot say without spoilers), but they do not serve to divest the film of its successes. Some will complain that the film is too relentless in mood (there's no humor here) or that the final act leaves too many questions unanswered, but I think neither is a satisfying criticism. The whole point here seems to be to create a feeling and to sustain that in the audience for an hour and a half. It almost feels like a filmmaker's experiment in seeing if he can really do it; thankfully, I enjoyed being part of the experiment. The film is as simple as its title, and as we approach a summer that will inevitably feature a number of theme-park ride films that throw in everything but the kitchen sink in terms of plot, a film this simple and effective is a most welcome aperitif.

Extra credit for the score by Daniel Pemberton and Roly Porter, which helps to sustain the film's unrelenting atmosphere of dread and fear.

Screened in the theater.

Very limited availability in theaters, but it is available for streaming. Amazon has In Fear, as of March 13, 2014 for $4.99 for an HD rental (obviously that price is subject to change).