Fear: Resurrection (The) AKA The Fear 2: Halloween Night
R2 - United Kingdom - Planet DVD
Review written by and copyright: Sam Scott. (14th December 2006).
The Film

"The Fear 2: Halloween Night" is Chris Angel's second attempt at directing after Mr. October and unfortunately, isn't a very inspiring one.

Starring Gordon Currie (Friday The 13th VIII, Puppet Master 4), Stacey Grant (Shanghai Noon, TV miniseries Taken) and Brendan Beiser (Excess Baggage, Savage Island) amongst many other unknowns, this sequel to "The Fear" follows a group of friends who go to visit Mike's (Currie) grandparents out in the sticks. They know they are there to perform a ritual that will rid them of their fears and that they must wear a costume that night that expresses what they fear, and they also know that the town they are in is infamous for a spate of killings twenty years earlier.

What they don't actually know, is that the serial killer was Mike's father and that the ritual is supposed to rid the world of the evil spirit that has stayed behind. The spirit, however, has other ideas, and is actually now inhabiting a life size wooden mannequin called Morty, a mannequin that has been kept in the family for many generations. When Morty comes alive, he starts to kill the members of the party, with all the death scenes playing on what they said they are afraid of.

Unfortunately, despite a reasonable idea for a horror film, it falls short of expectations. The script is poor and the acting very hammy, with the death scenes being badly filmed. When you're watching a horror film, you want to feel tense, not disappointment at the lameness of what should be the scary, jumpy moments.

Apart from all this, the thing that bugged me the most about this film, were the extremely obvious plot holes for anyone who has seen the first film, which is set just four years earlier. Both films feature a group of young adults, who both have had Morty in their families for many generations.

It makes me wonder if the scriptwriter, Kevin Richards, has even seen the first film and it doesn't surprise me that he is has only managed to get writing credits for two films over his career, with the other (Pariah The Red Man) only being seven minutes long and a student film.

All in all, it had the ideas of a good film but was ultimately let down by a poor script, poor casting, poor direction and a low budget.

Video

Presented in full frame, the picture quality is what you would expect for a film of this ilk on a budget release. With a lot of grain visible and the tone of the colours being too dark, this is barely better than a VHS release.

Audio

The only track available is an English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track and it is perfectly adequate. Dialogue is clear throughout and there were no signs of audio dropouts, or volume consistency problems. I would've liked a 5.1 track or even just a 2.0 Surround track, for the 'eerie' settings to make you feel uneasy, but unfortunately, you have to make do with what you're given.

Extras

Just a trailer.

Overall

The Film: D Video: D+ Audio: C Extras: E Overall: D-

 


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