Movie Review: Fear Inc

Number 24 on the Countdown to Halloween

Fear Inc

Movie Review by Siobahn Harris

I heard about Fear Inc a long time ago, but I was avoiding it for one reason, Patrick Renna. I know, don’t judge me! Honestly, I didn’t think I could take this movie seriously with him in it. However, I heard a little bit more about it on a horror forum and I had to look into it.

It appears that Fear Inc started as a short. I only found this out while looking for the full length movie. The short is great and I think they did an amazing job transitioning it to a full length feature. Take a look for yourself.

By the way, just for fun, call that number. If you can’t see it anymore it’s 516-900-FEAR, enjoy.

Breakdown:

So, here you have a guy, Joe Foster (Lucas Neff) who I think won the award for douche bag of the year. He and his girlfriend Lindsey (Caitlin Stasey) spend every date night at a haunted house that just isn’t scary enough for Joe. But when they are approached by a guy who tells them about Fear Inc, Joe is ready to call. However, Lindsey isn’t as excited about it. Joe’s friend explains that Fear Inc is not a company to be messed with because they tend to take things too far. Unfortunately for everyone, this just makes Joe more interested.

Soon Joe makes the call only to find out that the company says they are sold out. Bummed, he doesn’t bother telling his girlfriend or their friends that he made the call. That is until things start to kick up around their house. After a random break in that left Joe assaulted, he starts to notice that many of the things happening are similar to things that happened in horror movies. But when they come home after a drunken Halloween night out, things begin to go too far.

They see a news report talking about their deaths, they see someone get murdered, they’re hunted in their own home. For a long time, Joe believes it’s all just a game, but when he is forced to do unimaginable things to his friend things get very real. All they have to do is survive the night, but how much of it is Fear Inc and how much of it is real?

Thoughts:

I loved this movie! I was on the fence when I first started watching because it begins with Abigail Breslin and I’m just not a big fan of hers. But it didn’t kill the movie for me, which was great! I think it can be difficult turning a short into a full length feature, but they did a great job with this one.

I think we were meant to hate Joe Foster because he was incredibly annoying, and I did, so much! In my notes I wrote, “This guy was mean to a nice old man, anything bad that happens to him is okay in my book.” It’s like they went out of their way to make him really irritating.

I did spend a lot of time wondering if this movie was based on the haunted house that takes things too far. Not saying any names but the one that requires you to have medical insurance, sign a wavier, and have a physical before walking through. It’s a horrible idea, and I don’t know why anyone would do it, but people are weird. Anywhoo, it seems very close to this movie.

I did feel like Fear Inc was a little predictable in some areas, but it didn’t ruin the movie for me.

True Fear?

Yes. Fear Inc did a great job blurring the lines between real and fake, which helped bring the fear. I always talk about it, but I think the fear of the unknown is one that works really well in a lot of horror movies. Sometimes knowing the truth ruins the scare, and when watching a horror movie, we want to be scared.