With: Joseph Sikora, Annie Ilonzeh, Terrence Jenkins, Tyler Abron, Jessica Allain, Andrew Bachelor, Ruby Modine, Tip "T.I." Harris, Iddo Goldberg
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Written by: Deon Taylor, John Ferry
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Directed by: Deon Taylor
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MPAA Rating: R for bloody violence and language
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Running Time: 98
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Date: 01/27/2023
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Lodge-Podge
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
Despite a nicely diverse cast and a nifty location, this soggy, inert horror movie unfolds with a most unimaginative collection of worn-out genre staples, starting with its unimaginative title.
Best-selling writer Rom (Joseph Sikora) invites his girlfriend Bianca (Annie Ilonzeh) to a weekend getaway at a remote lodge, in hopes of proposing to her. He has also invited their best friends, Russ (Terrence Jenkins), Kim (Tyler Abron), Meg (Jessica Allain), Benny (Andrew Bachelor), Serena (Ruby Modine), and Lou (Tip "T.I." Harris), as well as Rom's agent Mike (Iddo Goldberg), to help celebrate.
Over a campfire, they all reveal their deepest fears, and then they open a bottle of complimentary wine. Not long after, some of the friends begin to see things. Worse, the news reports a deadly airborne virus, and Lou, who has begun coughing, seems to be getting sicker. Then, Rom finds some clues in the basement that suggest the true nature of the lodge. He and his friends must master their fears to escape.
Fear begins with its hero failing to propose to his girlfriend, despite the fact that he's a best-selling author with a superhero build, and weird, yet invincible-sounding name "Rom." From there, the friends somehow decide to tell each other their deepest fears, a checklist that will — and does — inevitably come into play later in the movie.
When it does, it's with flashing lights, rumbling noises, jump-scares, spooky mirrors, twitchy video, CG tentacles, distorted old songs, clunky exposition, and just about anything else lifted from any number of other horror movies. (One character mutters, "I feel like we're in Get Out." If only.)
Characters blunder around the lodge with no sense of time; while we cut away to certain characters, it takes other characters an absurdly long time to get from one room to another. This lack of rhythm makes it feel like Fear takes forever to get started, and when it finally does, during the final third, we're just eager for it to end.
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