THE FEAR (1966)
Label: Mondo Macabro
Region Code: Region-Free
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 106 Minutes 11 Seconds
Audio: Greek DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1)
Director: Kostas Manoussakis
Cast: Elena Nathanail, Anestis Vlahos, Elli Fotiou, Mairi Hronopoulou, Alexis Damianos, Spyros Fokas, Theodoros Katsadramis, Giorgos Sifis
Directed by Greek director Kostas Manoussakis (Love in the Sand Dunes, Treason) the dark-secret thriller The Fear (1966) would be his third and final film. In it Anna (Elena Nathanail) returns from college in Athens to her families rural farm in the remote Greek countryside, once there she is reunited with her friend, the family's mute servant girl Hrysa (Elli Fotiou), but she soon starts to feel the strange tensions that lay over the home, there's a palpable uneasiness amongst her father Dimitros (Alexis Damianos), mother (Mairi Hronopoulou) and her leering half-brother Anestis, (Anestis Vlahos). Anestis is a sweaty, brooding peeping tom who lustfully spies on the women workers on the farm and people making out on secluded lover's lanes around in the area, he then focuses his salacious attentions on young Hrysa, accidentally stumbling into her room one night when peeping on her through a knothole in her bedroom door. Later Hrysa runs away to escape his harassment, but is returned to the farm when she is found in a neighboring monastery, unable to communicate why it was that she ran away. Anna returns to school a few days later and while she's away Hrysa goes missing once again, she is reported as missing and it's assumed she has run away again or had some sort of accident, but and when Anna returns home she begins to suspect her half-sibling may have murdered her. She's quite correct in her assumption, Anestis has murdered, and surprisingly his mother and father, who both loathe him, learn the truth, but out of fear of shame being brought upon the family help him dispose of the body (sinking it in a nearby lake). Anna is unaware of any of this, but much the same way she detected the tension upon returning home she also picks up on her half-siblings guilt, confronting him several times in an effort to force a confession, including once in a field where he brandishes a knife threateningly, but she steadfastly holds her ground, undeterred in her search for answers. Sending that she will not let go if her pursuing the truth her parents marry her off hurriedly, but during the wedding festival, with all the villagers gathered in celebration, a series of events unfold that will reveal the truth.
Directed by Greek director Kostas Manoussakis (Love in the Sand Dunes, Treason) the dark-secret thriller The Fear (1966) would be his third and final film. In it Anna (Elena Nathanail) returns from college in Athens to her families rural farm in the remote Greek countryside, once there she is reunited with her friend, the family's mute servant girl Hrysa (Elli Fotiou), but she soon starts to feel the strange tensions that lay over the home, there's a palpable uneasiness amongst her father Dimitros (Alexis Damianos), mother (Mairi Hronopoulou) and her leering half-brother Anestis, (Anestis Vlahos). Anestis is a sweaty, brooding peeping tom who lustfully spies on the women workers on the farm and people making out on secluded lover's lanes around in the area, he then focuses his salacious attentions on young Hrysa, accidentally stumbling into her room one night when peeping on her through a knothole in her bedroom door. Later Hrysa runs away to escape his harassment, but is returned to the farm when she is found in a neighboring monastery, unable to communicate why it was that she ran away. Anna returns to school a few days later and while she's away Hrysa goes missing once again, she is reported as missing and it's assumed she has run away again or had some sort of accident, but and when Anna returns home she begins to suspect her half-sibling may have murdered her. She's quite correct in her assumption, Anestis has murdered, and surprisingly his mother and father, who both loathe him, learn the truth, but out of fear of shame being brought upon the family help him dispose of the body (sinking it in a nearby lake). Anna is unaware of any of this, but much the same way she detected the tension upon returning home she also picks up on her half-siblings guilt, confronting him several times in an effort to force a confession, including once in a field where he brandishes a knife threateningly, but she steadfastly holds her ground, undeterred in her search for answers. Sending that she will not let go if her pursuing the truth her parents marry her off hurriedly, but during the wedding festival, with all the villagers gathered in celebration, a series of events unfold that will reveal the truth.
This is a intense slow-burning thriller that looks great and has a phenomenal cast. The arid Greek countryside looks phenomenal in black and white, the Nikos Gardelis (Island of Death) cinematography has a sweaty seediness to it that bleeds right off the screen, capturing claustrophobic moments of lust and violence with and a quiet intensity that really pulled me right into. It also has an powerful avant garde score by Giannis Markopoulos (Young Aphrodite) that accentuates the darker moments of the film, particularly the finale at the wedding party, a scene that is built around a wedding song that builds in intensity till it crescendos in the best possible way, it's a rather stunning finale, building upon the pent-up guilt and paranoia of the culprit, edited to perfection with scenes of a frenzied dance with Anestis at the center, intercut with footage of Hyrsa's body floating to the surface of the lake and discovered by a fisherman, the truth exposed.
Elena Nathanail and Elli Fotiou are both gorgeous and make for striking presences, especially Fotiou who is absent from most of the film but her presence is felt throughout. One of my favorite scenes features Anna returning home from the lake with some fresh caught fish for dinner, the same lake that her father and brother dumped the body in, neither can stomach eating the fish knowing the body's in the lake, one turning violently ill watching Anna eat the fish, it's such a great scene, and the entire film us lousy with these moments of unease that make this such a gem.
Audio/Video: The Fear (1966) makes it's worldwide debut on home video from Mondo Macabro courtesy of a region-free Blu-ray, presented in 1080p HD framed in 1.37:1 fullscreen sourced from a new 2K scan of the original camera negative. The black and white flick looks terrific, while there are there are some minor blemished like speckling and scratches, but overall this is a nicely organic looking transfer with good depth, detail and clarity, with solid black levels. Audio comes by way of Greek DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo with optional newly created English subtitles, dialogue sounds terrific, no serious issues with hiss or distortion, and the Giannis Markopoulos soundtrack is full-bodied.
Extras include the 52-min Kostas Manoussakis: The Exiled Filmmaker, a Greek language documentary about the film and director, a brief 2-min Remembering Elena Nathanail video tribute, plus a 3-min Gallery of Stills and Artwork. The single-disc standard edition release arrives in a keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork.
Special Features:
- Kostas Manoussakis: The Exiled Filmmaker Documentary about the film and director (50:14)
- Video: Remembering Elena Nathanail (2:24)
- Video: Remembering Elena Nathanail (2:24)
- Gallery of Stills and Artwork (2:56)
Screenshots from the Mondo Macabro Blu-ray:
Extras:
