Fear Clinic Reviewed: Should You Check In and Check It Out?
Robert Englund – yes, the original Freddie Krueger himself – stars in the feature film, Fear Clinic, which was based on a popular web series about a doctor who believes he has invented a way to cure fear, permanently. The movie is available for digital download on Amazon.com, iTunes and Xbox video tomorrow – but is it worth your time to check into the clinic?
Read on!
Plot Summary, Spoiler Free!
“Fear Clinic” is based on a fantastic premise: what if a doctor could invent a form of therapy that could completely cure you of your fears? Since fear is a basic human instinct that is hard-wired into every single one of us, would there be dangerous repercussions of such a “cure?”
The film centers around a group of five people who survived a bloody massacre at the hands of a masked lunatic in a local restaurant. Four of the five survivors wound up visiting Dr. Andover (Englund) at his Fear Clinic in order to lay their fears to rest, once and for all, and Dr. Andover’s fear chamber helped them do exactly that . . .
. . . or so everyone thought, including the good doctor, who was surprised to see one of his “cured” patients return. Soon, all of the survivors find themselves back at his clinic, suffering from hallucinations that are incredibly life-like. Now, Dr. Andover must figure out whether his fear chamber is slamming the door shut on his patient’s fears, or opening the door to something much worse.
What Worked
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I can’t say this enough: this is a great idea for a movie, one which allows the writers and director Robert Hall to do two things really: create characters we (mostly) care about, and serve up some really trippy moments, mostly in the form of the characters’ hallucinations.
For starters, it pays to have likeable, sympathetic, or at least interesting characters in a horror film – go figure. For once, the temptation to make the doctor into an evil scientist-cliche was avoided, which was a nice surprise. The survivors themselves don’t receive much in the way of plot development, aside from our heroine, Sara, and a scarred, mute guy named Blake who has a few skeletons in his closet – but we still get enough of their history to want to give a **** when their lives are in danger. The only character who served no discernible purpose in the film is Dylan, a douchebag who appears to feel that seeing a restaurant full of people -including your girlfriend’s young brother! – gunned down is no big deal.
Even a well-written character can fail to win the audience over if the acting sucks, but “Fear Clinic” never falls prey to that pitfall, either. Englund doesn’t turn in his best performance as Andover, but at the very least he seems earnest and genuinely interested in helping his patients. Fiona Dourif manages to infuse Sara with a nice blend of compassion, determination, and vulnerability, and Ted Dekker nails the mysterious Blake, elevating his fate to near-tragedy. Perhaps the best performances belong to Kevin Gage and Corey Taylor – yes, Slipknot’s lead singer! – whose maintenance man and orderly provide great comic relief.
The special effects and makeup in this movie are pretty cool, too – not surprising, given the fact that they were whipped up by Robert Kurtzman (“Tusk,” among other films) and Steve Johnson (way too many movies you have heard of!). Granted, the movie holds off on putting the talents of these two masters on display until the final third of the story, probably due to budget restraints, but when the story asks, these guys deliver. This is one area in which the film definitely shines.
Unique premise, believable characters who are brought to life by solid acting, creepy hallucinations, and cool special effects – “Fear Clinic” must be a must-see film, right?
Right?
Not Quite
“Fear Clinic” is going to get my recommendation, but that recommendations comes with a few caveats, the first being that this film takes forever before it finally earns the “horror” label that is attached to it. Mind you, I don’t a movie taking its time to tell the story, develop its characters, and build suspense – but when the movie is a mere 90 minutes long, you’re asking a lot of your audience by making them wait nearly an hour to start turning the scare on. I was torn watching this, because part of me appreciated that the filmmakers were trusting the story to generate legitimate scares at the right time, while the other part was asking, “But couldn’t they kill SOMEBODY meaningful, soon?”
The pacing may turn off some of you more impatient types, but I could have forgiven the slow build 100% if the final third of the story left me completely satisfied . . . which it did not. Again, I’m torn – once the story embraces the dark side, it goes all-out until the end, providing us with not one but two formidable monsters to fear. Problem is, things happen so fast that there are still a lot of questions that have not been answered by the closing credits, and at least one character’s death that makes you say, “WTF?!?” I hear that one of the screenwriters has already outlines the plots of Fear Clinics 2 & 3 – but dammit, if those movies were not planned from the start, leaving gaping plot holes unexplained is not excusable. Could the sequels answer all of our questions? Sure – but that’s only if they get made.
All in all, “Fear Clinic” tries to do something new, and has a lot going for it, but proves to be a hit-and-miss affair that leaves you wanting more scares and answers by the end. It currently has a ranking of 6.2 out of 10 at IMDb, which I would say is fair, but never take my word for it. At the very least, this is worth a rental, especially if the trilogy goes on and gets completed. To whet your appetite, I have included a few previews. If you do watch “Fear Clinic,” mak sure you come back and let me know what you thought!