Spikeopath To be honest, I wasn't at all surprised to find that after viewing Jeremy Lovering's "In Fear" that the hatred for it on internet sites was large. It's that type of film, a film existing in the horror field of things that can cause mass debate, disappointments for those after a jolting or gory shocker, and yet there's also pleasures that some have found in it. If you have seen it and hate it then there's no need to read on, I got nothing for you, this is purely a review by someone who loved it and hopes that anyone who hasn't seen it may just give it a chance.A young couple very early in their courting relationship are driving across rural Ireland to a music festival. After a fraught stop at a local public house, they continue on the journey only to get lost. As night draws in and they appear to go around in circles, they start to get menaced by person or persons unknown and unseen...As anyone who has been in the situation will attest, getting lost in an unfamiliar countryside is no fun, especially when the night falls. "In Fear" pitches two young characters (played superbly by Iain De Caestecker & Alice Englert who are reacting naturally) into one such scenario. This is a couple who are only two weeks into their relationship, they don't really know each other do they? So when things start to get tense and scary they are naturally ill at ease with each other's company, they have no idea how to react to what is happening to them - which is continuously ambiguous.Two people in a car in the countryside shouldn't be scary, but it is because things get tense. Things start to happen to them, simple things that suggest an outside force is at work, all while the once pretty scenery has become a menacing backdrop, with the sound work prodding away at our fretful protagonists. Then a third party enters the fray and things get even more ambiguous, but such is the stripped down nature of the pic the nail-biting tension goes up another notch.This is not new horror cinema, in fact it's a little contrived in places, but all the fears on show here are easy to relate to. Both as regards the scary situation and as an early date experience! It's stylishly filmed by Lovering and his cinematographer David Katznelson, with tight close-ups and nifty use of the dark spaces on the country roads turning the tension screws. All of which just leaves the ending, an ending which will either infuriate or baffle you, or conversely have you nodding in admiration at the bare faced cheek of it. 9/10

JustineAssad Tom (Iain de Caestecker) and Lucy (Alice Englert) get themselves lost in the Irish countryside while trying to find an isolated hotel. Their fear deepens when they realise they are perhaps not as alone as they may have thought when things start to go wrong as the night creeps in.Oh shame. What a pity. This started really, really good – it was building some nice tension with the setting and the fleeting appearances of shadowy figures; the anxiety continued to build when, at the beginning, they took turn after turn only to end up at the same little shack from which they departed - the creepiness that slithered across my skin made me smile. It was that good. I continued to smile when Lucy's hair was pulled by invisible hands, and my smile just about became a grin when they found her clothes strewn over and across the bushes. I felt, at that time, that I was in for one thrilling, thrilling ride.Unfortunately – the thrills sorta kinda fizzled out after that, which was disappointing to say the least when the filmmakers had done such an exemplary job in building the suspense. It felt almost as if they failed to capitalise on everything good they had created and had run out of inspiration, just ever so slightly unable to take the film to that next level – and I really believe there was a next level, and that it could have been amazing because there was a lot of potential here. A lot. There was a taut atmosphere, and the fear and unease was almost palpable.Negativity aside, it wasn't the worst film I've seen, but neither was it the scariest especially given its early promise. And also on the plus side, it had some nice photography that greatly benefited the atmospherics. While I felt the performance were good I can't say I liked Lucy all too much – she wasn't the most proactive and I was sorta kinda swearing at her to get out of the car and DO SOMETHING while Tom got the pesh beat out of him. What also bugged me was the fact that she just took off – literally, got into the car and took off – without bothering to even try and find him when Max (Allen Leech) came after them in the woods. Speak of looking out for number one...Anyway: while I can't deny I was disappointed, In Fear is more than watchable, and the first half of the film definitely does deliver on shivers and scares, and perhaps on a second viewing I might appreciate more, knowing what it is, flaws and all.

Jackson Booth-Millard I saw this British scary movie being discussed on Film 2013 with Claudia Winkleman and Danny Leigh, they gave it some good comments, and it was rated well by critics as well, I was hoping it would be a good offering from my home country. Basically Tom (Iain De Caestecker) and Lucy (Alice Englert) have only been dating two weeks, but he has invited her to join him with friends at a music festival, he has booked a room online at the Kilairney House Hotel, which is hidden away in a remote location on a series of roads in the Irish countryside, before making their way there Tom has a confrontation with some locals in a pub the couple stop at. Tom and Lucy find themselves going in circles as the they travel the empty back road to the hotel, despite following signs, and their satnav stops working, they realise that they are returning to the same point no matter what route they take, and cannot get back to the main road, but stranger things start happening when they occasionally stop and Lucy spots a masked man in the darkness, and she is grabbed by someone. While speeding away from their attacker Tom clips someone on the road, they pick the man up, he says his name is Max (Allen Leech) and claims to be under attack from the same people stalking the couple, but slowly he reveals himself as the true culprit, eventually Max, following a tormenting confrontation, is kicked out the car by Tom, they fight, but Tom has his wrists broken. After driving away Tom and Lucy are forced to use torches and search the woods as their car is running out of petrol, but Tom is grabbed in the darkness and disappears, returning to the car alone Lucy finds the petrol canister on the front seat, she refills and finds the satnav mysteriously working again, she uses it to eventually find the hotel, but it is abandoned, the car park is a graveyard of derelict cars, so Lucy and Tom are not the first victims of this terror. Max returns in a Land Rover and chases Lucy, when she is able to stop she finds a tube running from the exhaust pipe to the boot, opening the boot she discovers Tom bound and dead inside from carbon monoxide poisoning through the tube forced down his throat. Day breaks and Lucy manages to find her way back onto the main road, but as she drives over a lonely moor she sees Max standing in the distance in the middle of the road, he stretches his arms out and smiles at her, in rage Lucy slams her foot on the accelerator and speeds towards Max, the film black out at the point he would be struck. Only consisting of three actors, they all do their parts well, this is a very simple but effective scary movie, there is no monster in the dark and no special effects, it is simply two characters in a confined space terrified by what is outside as they are tormented by a bloke with a grudge, it is a good choice of location, and throughout you have the feelings of suspicion, paranoia and claustrophobia, a worthwhile psychological horror. Good!

lazyaceuk SOME SPOILERSI was scanning the TV pages and this film had a great write up so I thought I would give it a chance as I rate the reviewer and although it was a 'smaller' film than I expected, I was not disappointed.The IMDb fan base scores this as 5.5 at time of writing which I think is far too low.I have scored this as a 7 because for a long time I found a true chiller that had me on the edge of my seat. Far bigger budgets try to fill the screen with CGI and sudden shocks and fail because of the compromise to sell to the market.The film is produced by Big Talk whose TV CV is high end but that does not always transfer to the big screen. That this film debuted at Sundance speaks highly of its aspirations and it certainly would have made a good B flick in the days when you used to get two solid films for your money at the cinema. It was not that long ago either.The story surrounds a young man and a young woman who are heading to an isolated hotel for an engagement. The fact the engagement is celebrating two weeks rather than any thing extensive becomes clearer as the film unravels and the lack of intimate knowledge becomes key to how they react to each other, especially as the hotel is more non existent than isolated.Travelling by car our two young friends are guided on their path by a faceless person in a land rover. All seems good after the land rover departs and the couple head towards the hotel, but not long into the journey 'sat navs' and maps become pointless and the road signs seem to just direct them in circles.As darkness descends and it becomes clear that they are being targeted by one if not more unsavoury characters the couple try and escape the tight country lanes but without any joy as the car's fuel tank heads towards empty.This was the first time I had seen Alice Englert on screen and I found her performance very good adding layers of emotion and complexity in a very easy manner as the film became a roller-coaster of fear towards its conclusion. The young man is played by Iain De Caestecker who many will know as 'Fitz' from 'Agents of Shield' but who first came onto my radar in a BBC production called 'The Fades'. He can often play many of his roles with a wide mouth had a certain intensity that he kept just under the his main performance making a final scene somewhat surprising.The film has a third player whose role is well beyond spoilers so I will merely mention that Allen Leech, yes he of Downton fame, is suitably nasty and very believable.I've checked through IMDb and have no real knowledge of the writer/director's (Ian Lovering) previous work, other than an episode of Sherlock, but that really is a Moffat/Gattis affair to be honest. I just hope that Lovering did not base this on reality.The ending provides a few unexpected twists and overall, as I mentioned I think the IMDb scores are too low.Worth a watch.