Feardotcom [DVD] [2003]

Even the opening death scene is problematic. You have this weird guy somehow standing in a subway station that is miraculously empty, only to get himself killed after seeing a creepy girl in white playing on the tracks; the guy seemed to have reached a safe spot only to jump back in front of the train for no apparent reason. Stephen Dorff plays Mike Reilly, the lead detective in the case, and he is joined by Terry Huston from the Department of Health (Natascha McElhone) because the victim apparently began bleeding from his eyes before he was killed. Huston's initial suspicions of an Ebola-type virus are soon disproved, yet she somehow manages to stay on the case and be treated like a bonafide detective by the whole department. Some other people die in a similar manner, including Terry's boss, and it turns out that the only thing the victims had in common was a recent visit (exactly two days before their time of death) to a certain web site. As all of this is going on, we see the handiwork of "the Doctor" and get to enjoy a few peeks at his web site; what this guy does is to torture victims online while other sickos watch, killing them only when they beg for death. It sounds pretty cool, but it isn't; it's especially hard to be frightened of a guy who talks like Liberace having a bad hair day. Terry begs Mike not to visit the website in question, but you can imagine how all of this plays out. Two-thirds of the way in, the movie really falls apart; all the promising plot lines are allowed to go their own separate directions, and the ultimate confrontation is really just silly. After all of this, we are treated to a final scene that means absolutely nothing as far as I can tell.

What really frustrated me about this film, though, is not the inferior plot. It is the fact that the director seemingly refused to use any lighting whatsoever for any of the scenes. I can understand the desire to make a film dark and dreary, but what we get here is ridiculous. I was constantly peering into a dark screen simply trying to see what was happening. No one in this movie turns on a light, and the sight of a flashlight was a joyous occasion for me; these New Yorkers don't even turn on a light when they arrive home in the middle of the night. Autopsies are performed in the dark - it's ridiculous. Why go to the trouble of even constructing a set if you're not going to let your audience actually see any of it?

I would be remiss if I did not mention the presence of horror icon Jeffrey Combs in this film, but I have to say his is basically a throwaway role that contributes almost nothing to the story. The DVD does feature a deleted scene that failed to impress me, and a short featurette on the making of the film. The featurette and the trailer can make the film sound pretty good, but it is really a major disappointment. I should probably listen to the commentary with director William Malone just to see how he explains himself, but given the fact that this would require me to watch this movie again, I think I will pass.

My partner wanted to see this film and talked me into seeing it. The preview didn't look all that bad, the title amused me, and Stephen Rea happened to be in it, the talented star of The Crying Game. How bad could it be?

Astonishingly bad is the answer, and not in an "oh, but I love bad movies" kind of way. This is a monotonous, dull, confusing trainwreck of a film with nothing to redeem it but the occasional atmospheric camera shot. The plot has something to do with a website that contains a subliminal advertisement which triggers hallucinations of a little girl bouncing a ball. Somehow, these hallucinations lead to the characters' deaths, which didn't happen quickly enough for my liking, as none of them were particularly interesting. Even Stephen Rea fails to generate any real sense of emotion, momentum or (heavens forbid) danger, despite playing as macabre a villain as any in recent memory.

After apologizing for dragging me to it, my partner proceeded to kill the rest of our evening by fuming about what a terrible waste of film it was, and how shamelessly it ripped off The Ring, Poltergeist, Seven, etc. I can safely say I've had better evenings.

Derivative, rambling and incoherent, Feardotcom tries to be genuinely frightening, but succeeds only at being unpleasant. Not recommended.

sorry but again no no no - do not go near this movie!!

Scared? Well at the beginning where the premise is fear you do hope that it will be a goody but alas....... no.

the pace is plodding, the actors poor (is there ANY chemistry at all between the 2 leads?) and the direction er....well there isn;t any direction.

A good chance to convey a real fear factor is completely wasted. The film meanders on and on and in the end you just want everyone to die!! (no kidding)

I feel like writing toi the director and demanding my money back!!lol

Honestly do not hire/buy/watch this movie - you have been warned!