Horror Movie Reviews
More Details...Price: $9.98 |
Title: Fear No Evil (2003) |
|
Review of Fear No Evil
No Review at this Current Time
[ Back to Homepage | Back to Horror Movie Reviews Index ]
HellHorror.com not responsible for reviews/comments and they may be removed at any time.
Submit Comment
Login / Join/Register for a free account
Comments for Fear No Evil
- Posted on 2008-06-20
A classic example of "inspired mediocrity"
Well, it's different - you have to give Fear No Evil that, at least. As soon as I saw a reference to "Lucifer in high school," I knew I had to watch this movie. I actually found it to be a rather interesting film, but it's actually the film's weaknesses and faults that make it interesting. Had there been any real cohesiveness to the plot, I suspect this would have been a really boring movie. You know a movie's weird when its greatest strength is actually a product of its faults. Some of the most memorable scenes here revolve around story elements that aren't really connected to the main plot and sometimes seem as if they were just thrown in for the heck of it (or perhaps for padding). Take the dodgeball scene, for example, a bit of surreal theatre that virtually ever viewer will remember long after he's forgotten the actual premise of the film. At one point, the film even goes zombie on us for no apparent reason whatsoever. Maybe the filmmaker put these scenes in to distract the viewer from dwelling on the gaping holes in the overall plot. Then there's the whole homoerotic element, including a surprising amount of male nudity -I don't even want to know why director Frank LaLoggia pushed the envelope in that direction.
Filmed in 1979, Fear No Evil was released in 1981, when "demonic" movies were still all the rage in American culture. This film owes more to The Omen (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) than it does The Exorcist (25th Anniversary Special Edition), though, as the whole thing revolves around Lucifer being incarnated in human form. I don't know why Lucifer would need to be born to human parents in order to come into his power, but there you go. God, of course, isn't going to let his rebellious former archangel run amuck on Earth, so he sends a trio of archangels down to thwart the devil's plans. The three can only keep their "promise" by working together, but for some reason one of the three was born in human form several decades after the first two. That seeming lack of foresight on the Lord's part does much to explain why Andrew Williams (Stefan Arngrim of Land of the Giants - The Full Series (The Giant Collection) fame) - Lucifer in his most recent incarnated form - is able to grow into his powers at age 18 without being identified by any of the three angels (one of whom suffered and died in prison years earlier, while another had yet to show up at all) - despite the fact that word of baby Andrew's disastrous christening must have surely spread all over the small town, where the other archangel in human form lived. Of course, no one would look at Andrew and suspect him to be evil incarnate, as he's basically a big sissy super-geek that gets picked on at school. Anyway, it's up to poor Mikhail / Margaret Buchanan (Elizabeth Hoffman) to find the MIA Gabrielle (Kathleen Rowe McAllen), link up with the spirit of Rafael (John Holland), find Lucifer, and destroy him.
Director Frank LaLoggia does succeed in producing some very interesting iconographic moments, none more so than those juxtaposing a now-vamped up Lucifer calling forth his army of the undead with a traditional reenactment of the Passion of Christ that goes horrifyingly wrong. I can't complain about the soundtrack, either, as it features cuts from such punk and new wave artists as The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, and Talking Heads. Unfortunately, the plot really is quite a mess, much of the acting is below par (although Elizabeth Hoffman turns in what I consider an inspired performance), and LaLoggia goes overboard with what are now some really cheesy special effects in the final part of the movie (up until that point, the special effects had actually been surprisingly good).
In this, his rather daring directorial debut, Frank LaLoggia does manage to do some really nice things with a very limited budget, particularly in the cinematography and lighting departments. In the end, though, he just tries to do too much with too few resources. Still, despite its many problems, Fear No Evil does have some kind of unquantifiable "it" factor (which I'm going to dub "inspired mediocrity") going for it, which makes it worth watching even today.
Score: 3
- Posted on 2008-02-24
WARNING! WARNING! WARNINNNNNNNNNNG!!!!!!!!
I just bought this movie yesterday.& I'm returning it today.This movie SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKED more D. then a prostitute.Dont EVEN waist your money.Even though I'm not gonna get all my money back when I return it that's fine.There aint NO way in HELL this movie is going in my 80's horror collection.& TO THE PEOPLE WHO GAVE THIS MOVIE A GOOD REVIEW.YOU HAVE NOOOOOOO TAISTE IN HORROR AT ALL!!!!!!I should of listen to my friend when he read the reviews to me over the phone.NEXT TIME I WILL. P.S. I would've gave this movie 0 stars.But UNFORTUNATLY the lowest I can give is 1 star :(
Score: 1
- Posted on 2007-11-10
Lucifer on Earth
This film depicts the story of Lucifer in high school who gets revenge on the local jocks. Totally 80s clothes, reminiscent of AIP or Amicus. This is the best version I've seen, a right here now 80s evil drama depicting church life in the inner cities. Like it or not, it is the best I could find that night at the movie store. No big stars, cheap sets or phony acting, a realistic bombast in the Exorcist tradition. A far cry away from the original concept of the Unholy Trinity.
Score: 5
- Posted on 2007-09-28
See It Once Then Never Watch Again In Life
The premise of the movie was great but was poorly executed. I tried to like this movie but soon it just gave me a headache and ultimately felt like a waste of time by the time it ended. Like another poster said this was a confused movie and I totally agree. It left me confused. The directing, acting, makeup, special effects, character development, and editing was very poor. This movie is supposed to be similar to "The Omen" but failed tremendously probably due to the $150,000 budget for the movie. There was just a mish mash of everything thrown together from the homoerotic undertones, the bleeding baby, the Atari light show, the dog killing, etc. that nothing made any sense. I was going to say avoid this movie at all costs but I recommend a person to see it once but never watch it again in life after that.
Score: 1 - Posted on 2006-10-27
Classic devil fun with a killer new wave/punk soundtrack
FEAR NO EVIL
Review by Nickolas Cook
What do you get when you mix a rock and roll teen movie with devil horror? Of course, you get FEAR NO EVIL, Frank LaLoggia's 1980 low budget drive-in masterpiece of young lust and a vengeful Satan.
For those of you unfamiliar with the movie it's a simple tale of three angels, now in contemporary human forms, who must destroy a young satanic youth (played straight faced by uber-Goth looking Stefan Arngrim), possessed by an ancient Lucifer. The forms that the three defending angels take, an elderly priest, his aged serenely spirited sister, and a young innocent high school girl, are only slightly reminiscent of THE EXORCIST, but owe a great deal to the success of Friedken's bigger budget devil scare. Thrown into the mix, we have teen sex, drinking, drugs, guns, fighting (even a fatal game of dodge ball), and lots of very cool 80s style alternative music. The soundtrack alone is worth the viewing.
But the strengths of the film lay mostly in the older actors' strong performances, as they work hard to make the mostly silly plot believable. Arngrim also turns in a stark, maybe at times a bit overacted, performance as the reincarnated Lucifer. His reactions tend to pull us along with him, and make him a very sympathetic evil. The unfortunate casting of a talentless young Kathleen Rowe McAllen is the biggest detraction from the movie, as she looks woefully into the camera and tries hard to convince as a high school girl. But she does almost nothing to help the ailing plot, and seems almost an afterthought to the cast.
FEAR NO EVIL has a quick beginning, but lags in the middle, as it stumbles through a couple of wasted sub-plots that fall short of logic and emotion.
Don't get me wrong: There are some fine creepy moments in FEAR NO EVIL, but most of them tale place in the last twenty minutes. I especially liked the Easter play gone awry. Bloody and surprisingly nasty.
The special effects are what you'd expect from a low budget drive-in flick. Nothing fancy, some explosive pre-green screen effects, and a great orchestral music to back it up. But what works best for the film is when the effects are low key; as when the dead workmen are resurrected by their unholy master.
LaLoggia chose his locations well for the climax, an eerie castle, punctuated by sparse lighting and lots of mid-frame camera work. He really makes the atmosphere work for the story. But one can only wish he had used it more throughout the film.
In 1980 this was considered quite a successful low budget film, and helped spawn even more EXORCIST ripoffs. The movie holds up as well for me as it did back then, and might just be considered classic status in this post-Scream UPN/FOX teen horror PG13 horror backlash.
If you like your devil films cheap and dirty, this is the one for you.
--Nickolas Cook
Score: 3