IN FEAR – A couple are lost on the backroads of Ireland. They’re driving around in search of an elusive hotel, only the signs keep leading them back to where they started… and it’s getting dark. Another re-watch plucked at random from my tottering pile, my memories of ‘In Fear’ were as vague as decade-old recollections often are, so it was nice to discover that I’d made a sound choice, nicer still that nothing about the opening scenes brought it all rushing back. Because, like the hapless kids in the car, you don’t know where ‘In Fear’ is going at first. There’s something a bit Twilight Zoney about the whole ending up back at ‘go’ thing, and it feels like the film’s landscape and woodlands, at first dour then menacing, might harbour malicious supernature. What does actually happen is sort-of implied by the set-up in the pub at the beginning, but it’s a tense ride before we get there, and I think that a lot of what ‘In Fear’ does well comes from the cabin fever dynamic between driver and passenger, and our worry that off-key bickering between two relative strangers in a state of confinement might lead anywhere. When we finally arrive, we don’t find ourselves anywhere particularly nice, but why would we? It’s a sour and sulky Brit flick, and the chances of the ending turning out to be less then bleak are pretty slim. Maybe there’s nothing all that novel about it all ultimately, but the lean, mean approach works well and overall I’d say that ‘In Fear’ is a solid recommend for all satnav despisers and those who like deft, well-made low budget horror thrillers.
 |