FEAR CLINIC (2014)

FEAR CLINIC (2014)

Label: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Rating: R

Duration: 95 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: HD Widescreen (2.40:1)
Cast: Robert Englund, Corey Taylor, Kevin Gage, Felisha Terrell, Thomas Dekker, Fiona Dourif, Brandon Beemer, Angelina Armani
Director: Robert Hall

Robert "Freddy" Krueger appears here as Dr. Andover who runs a fear clinic, the good doc is out to cure extreme phobias in pretty much the same way a lot of folks cure the hiccups, apparently you just gotta scare it out of 'em, the doc this by subjecting his patients to their worst fears. 

He doesn't thrown the arachnophobes into a pit of spiders or anything quite like that, he has developed a fear chamber, which is very much like a sensory deprivation tank which allows them to safely confront their fears while the doc communicated with them through a weird headset, the experience effectively scaring the fear out of them. 

The treatments are a success until one of his patients die while in the chamber which causes him to give up his fear therapy. A few years later several of the victims of a mass shooting that occurred at a restaurant show up at the steps of he clinic suffering what they refer to as "fear aftershocks", each insisting the doc fire up the fear chamber and treat them, which he reluctantly does, but of course terrible things begins to happen shortly afterward. Turns out the treatments have awakened a malevolent force - fear itself - which begins to manifest once the fears begin to flow, growing stronger and stronger. 

The first thing I noticed about the film was the performance of Robert Englund, a man who can elevate  any film, but it's been a while since I've seen him in anything other than the briefest of cameos in the shittiest of movies.  This time out he gives the doc some real pathos and you can feel his anguish as he struggles to cure his patients while fearing that he he may be endangering them, it's a meatier role than the icon has had in awhile, haven't seen Englund in this goof of form since Jack Brooks Monster Slayer. 

The supporting cast is quite decent, too. We have Thomas Dekker from The Sarah Connor Chronicles TV series as a gunshot victim from the diner massacre, plus the very cute Fiona Dourif (daughter of Brad) from HBO's True Blood,  both of whom are very good. Slipknot's Corey Taylor appears as an orderly at the clinic, it's not significant role but will probably bring in the fans.  We also have Kevin Gage who has appeared in most of director Kevin Hall (Laid to Rest), offering up some comic relief throughout as the electrician. 

The numerous digital effects are not too offensive, with the spiders that pop up probably being the worst offender, but I did enjoy the creature design and digital effects used to enhance it. The oily black tendriled creature looks to be partly inspired by Venom from the Spider-Man comics, the last few sequences with the fully manifested creature are pretty damn cool. 

The science fiction part of it I can skip around, I'm not one to scrutinize movie science, as long as they can pull the wool over my eyes to a degree that I can buy into it that is fine by me, it manages to be not too painfully stupid.  

Director Kevin Hall has had years in the special effects business on dozens of big Hollywood film productions, the guy knows how to make an engaging film and he puts the money up on the screen where you can appreciate it, he definitely made the most of the budget and turned in a great looking film. 

There's not a lot of gore but there are some nice effects and atmosphere throughout but no splatter to speak of. You might wish for more of the more of the red stuff but the topless scene from Angelina Armani does offer some form of reparations for the lack of gore. 

The disc from Anchor Bay looks solid, the digital shot film has strong colors and crisp details with an active surround sound audio track. The only extra is a 12-minute behind-the-scenes featurette with interviews from Robert Englund, Robert Hall, Cleopatra Coleman, Fiona Dourif, Corey Taylor, Brandon Beemer and Thomas Dekker which also points out that this was based on a FEARnet web series which Hall also directed starring Englund. 

Not a classic slice of horror but maybe a decent rental, not a lot of re watch value for me but a decent film with a cool premise that doesn't feel phoned in, plus it's great to see Englund in a decent role with some meat on the bone. Fear Clinic is now available on DVD and the Blu-ray is available exclusively from Best Buy. 

DVD Review: Laid To Rest - Unrated Director's Cut (2009)

LAID TO REST - Unrated Director's Cut  (2009)
Anchor Bay Entertainment

RATED: Unrated
RUN TIME: 90 Min.
DIRECTOR: Robert Hall
CAST: Bobbie Sue Luther, Kevin Cage, Sean Whalen, Jonathon Schaech, Thomas Dekker, Nick Principe, Richard Lynch, Lena Headey
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

SUMMARY: A young woman wakes up in a coffin with a traumatic head-injury. She quickly realizes she has been abducted and is being stalked by the masked serial killer ChromeSkull, a knife wielding maniac in a skull mask that brutally slays anyone who tries to come between him and her.

THE FILM: The film opens as an unnamed woman we'll call The Girl wakes-up inside a casket in the funeral parlor of a mortuary. Mr. Jones, the funeral director walks into the parlor and takes notice of the commotion inside the casket and leaves the room, seemingly startled, we find out more later. He is played by actor Richard Lynch, creepy-ass Harris from the film BAD DREAMS (1988). The woman rocks the casket until it tips  off the table spilling her onto the floor. She tries to leave the parlor but Mr. Jones has locked it. He returns momentarily, and while fumbling for the keys he is run-though by a length of rebar by our masked killer ChromeSkull. Leaving through another door the woman escapes the mortuary runs down the road barefoot, confused and frightened.

The Girl does not know where she is, who she is, or what is happening to her. She is picked-up by Tucker (Kevin Gage, MAY), a nice enough fellow with a gruff voice and a kind demeanor. He's on his way home, runnin' on fumes. He tries to figure out who she is and what's happened to her but it's just not happening, her head is pounding, she's out of it and has trouble stringing words together, she barely musters the vocabulary to inform him that someone trying killing her. Low on gas and nowhere else to go he takes her home, and his wife Cindy (Lena Headey, Queen Gorgo from 300) is none too pleased by this. Nonetheless, she takes a hand at helping the girl recall what's happened to her, with no success. In a scenario typical of the slasher genre there's no phone available to call for help, the phone's been disconnected and no cell phone, of course. This is always a hurdle for genre films, to establish a reason no one can call for help, and it's a but clunky here, too. They offer The Girl the use of the shower and she accepts. While in the shower she takes notice of a nasty head-wound that's been hidden by the length of her hair, explaining her memory loss and disorientation. Afterwards she sits on the couch and chats with Tucker, his wife having gone to bed for the night. The Girl recalls  playing with a princess doll and Tucker begins calling her Princess. With that modicum of success he calls it a night and goes to the bedroom, the doors locked, he calls out for his wife, no answer. Concerned he breaks through the door and discovers ChromeSkull has followed them there and has taken his wife through the window. He bolts outside where his wife is being held by the skulled-masked killer, garbed completely in black,  there is a shoulder-harnessed video recorder filming the event from his POV. he wants The Girl, Tucker tried to strike a bargain which displeases ChromeSkull, he plunges the largest most heinous knife I've ever seen through Cindy's temple driving it clear through to the other side and impaling her to the side of the house, he then twist the knife around breaking bone and pulping her brain. Quite a kill, ultra-graphic and grotesque. Tucker and The Girl run to his truck and speed off to find the ea rest home with a  phone. That house belongs to Steven (Sean Whalen, Roach from THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS), a nerdy lil' man who's mother has just recently passed away, like yesterday. Guess what, no phone, but he's got an internet connection and they decide to email the police on his decade old computer. They decide to take Steven's car as Tucker's is out of gas, and drive to the local Sheriff's department, once there it is painfully obvious that the sheriff, the inmates, and deputy have  fallen victim to ChromeSkull, in fact, he's still there and after the girl. I won't get into too much more detail as this is a film worth watching, especially this time of the year, so get on it.

I really enjoyed this film quite a bit. Bobbie Sue Luther as The Girl is great in the role, very likable, though there are revelations in the film that darken her image. Kevin Cage as Tucker was my favorite character. I was just rooting for this guy throughout the film, so damn likable. The addition of Sean "Roach" Whalen was so great, you see him and immediately think "That's Roach! I like this guy!". The SFX of the film are top notch and bloody as hell, this film is steeped in gore, both practical and CGI, both components are used fantastically. This is the bloodiest film I've seen in a while, great stuff. Director Robert Hall has done make-up and special effects for dozens of films including THE CRAZIES (2010), QUARANTINE (2008) and the X-FILES (1998) though he gave those duties to Erik Porn for LAID TO REST and it's just a home run from the start. Great character design for ChromeSkull, very basic, no frills, and memorable. Something that didn't work for me was the killers MO of recording the killings, it served to get some back story out of the way and put forth some expository plot points, but I just didn't care for it Also, the final third of the film takes place in a road-side market and it just didn't work for me, particularly the handling of ChromeSkull's character and some truly mystifying shit that transpires.

CHROMESKULL: LAID TO REST 2  is set to begin filming this November with director Robert Hall returning  as well as actor Thomas Dekker and Nick Principe as ChromeSkull and will feature a new line-up of character including Brian Austin Green (TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNER CHRONICLES), Christopher Nelson (KILL BILL VOL. 1), Daniell Harris (HALLOWEEN, HATCHET 2) and Jennifer Blanc (THE VICTIM).  That's a pretty great cast. In the meantime I'll be checking out Hall's previous film LIGHTNING BUG (2004).

DVD: LAID TO REST comes to us by the way of Anchor Bay Entertainment. The film is presented in the original 1.78:1 anamorphic wide screen aspect ratio. The film is shot almost entirely at night and the black levels were deep, and the image was crisp and clean. The 5.1 Dolby Surround mix is very active and has decent depth to it. Special Features include an Audio Commentary with writer/director Robert Hall and Actor/Producer Bobbie Sue Luther, whom I believe is Hall's wife. A couple of decent featurettes are included: Postmortem: The Making of LAID TO REST is a 30 min. behind the scenes look at the film, looks like a lot of fun was had on the set. There is also the Torture Porn: The SFX of LAID TO REST, a fun 15 min. look at the fantastic gore effects of the film. Plus we get Deleted Scenes, Bloopers and a trailer. A very good overall package from Anchor Bay, good on 'em.
 VERDICT: A really enjoyable modern take on the 80's slasher genre. ChromeSkull is a  strong entry to the masked killer pantheon, the character are well rounded and likable, which is a switch. In the past 10 years few films provide us with likable character with any depth to 'em. The highlight of the film for me were the amazing gore effects, a good mixture of both practical and CGI, totally brutal and well executed. ** * (3 out of 5 stars)