When there are four seemingly related deaths in New York City, Det Mike thinks they bear a striking resemblance to an unsolved case involving The Doctor. When Dept. of Health worker Terry gets involved, she and Mike team up to track down the killer who is broadcasting murders on the Internet. Before long they realize the victims all die within 48 hours of viewing a site called feardotcom.
Stephen Dorff (Det Mike), Natascha McElhone (Terry), Stephen Rea (Alistair, The Doctor), Udo Kier (Polidori).
Wow, a lot of harsh reviews of this one. Yes, this film was obviously riding the success wave of The Ring. It also seemed to steal from Untraceable and a few others. That said, I thought it was a pretty good flick. The movie kicks off with some interesting deaths right away and slams characters together for development before the blood can even dry. At that point the plot starts running away from us with some twists and turns and confusing side trips into individual fears. Punctuate with gratuitous torture shots of half-naked women and things get even more interesting.
Acting was mediocre by most. Dorff was a bit flat while McElhone seemed to try and compensate for him using over-animation. Rea was awesome as usual and Kier also delivered well.
Effects, gore, BOO moments, sets, and backgrounds were all nicely done if a bit lean on details. Sound and dialogue was decent throughout as was camera work. I think the film likely had a decent budget, and definitely a decent cast, but was probably put together hastily as evidenced by storyline shifts without explanation. Such as people somehow getting from one place to another without explanation, and no reason given for them going to the places. A bit disjointed at times.
Overall I don’t think this one deserves the hammering in reviews I have seen. It is a decent horror flick and there is a heck of a lot worse out there.
Violence, torture, nudity, language, blood, guts, and gore Oh my! So save this for adults.
Released: 2002
Reviewed: 2.5.18
Star rating: 4 out of 5
Genre: Horror, Slashers and Serial killers, Crime, Thriller, Horror
copyright ©2018 Dave Riedel
Stephen Dorff (Det Mike), Natascha McElhone (Terry), Stephen Rea (Alistair, The Doctor), Udo Kier (Polidori).
Wow, a lot of harsh reviews of this one. Yes, this film was obviously riding the success wave of The Ring. It also seemed to steal from Untraceable and a few others. That said, I thought it was a pretty good flick. The movie kicks off with some interesting deaths right away and slams characters together for development before the blood can even dry. At that point the plot starts running away from us with some twists and turns and confusing side trips into individual fears. Punctuate with gratuitous torture shots of half-naked women and things get even more interesting.
Acting was mediocre by most. Dorff was a bit flat while McElhone seemed to try and compensate for him using over-animation. Rea was awesome as usual and Kier also delivered well.
Effects, gore, BOO moments, sets, and backgrounds were all nicely done if a bit lean on details. Sound and dialogue was decent throughout as was camera work. I think the film likely had a decent budget, and definitely a decent cast, but was probably put together hastily as evidenced by storyline shifts without explanation. Such as people somehow getting from one place to another without explanation, and no reason given for them going to the places. A bit disjointed at times.
Overall I don’t think this one deserves the hammering in reviews I have seen. It is a decent horror flick and there is a heck of a lot worse out there.
Violence, torture, nudity, language, blood, guts, and gore Oh my! So save this for adults.
Released: 2002
Reviewed: 2.5.18
Star rating: 4 out of 5
Genre: Horror, Slashers and Serial killers, Crime, Thriller, Horror
copyright ©2018 Dave Riedel
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