I think we’ve hit peak twist when it comes to entertainment. “The Twilight Zone” set the bar, and M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense took it to a completely new level. Now, after nearly two decades of red herring cinema, it has worn out its welcome. While Vincent Masciale’s Fear, Inc., which just had its World Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, offers nothing new in this regard, it’s at least entertaining.
Fear, Inc. is carried on the back of Lucas Neff, who plays Joe, a boisterous horror junkie who is desperately wanting to be scared, no, terrified. When a man (played by The Sandlot’s Patrick Renna) overhears his complaints, he offers the aid of a company called Fear, Inc. Joe, who can’t stand monotony anymore, calls the number of the business card, setting off a chain of events that echo classic horror cinema (from Friday the 13th to SAW).
Penned by Luke Barnett, the film is heavy inside baseball, but is glued together by fun characters and a series of horror-related gags. Neff is hysterical, and almost single-handedly makes the film watchable, while the rest of the cast elevate themselves to his energy.
The problem, however, is that Fear, Inc. is trying way too hard to outsmart the viewer, and ultimately ends up muddying up the impact with no actual tonal shift. The film could be likened to Behind the Mask in that, when it’s time to get serious, it never elevates itself. It’s focusing so hard on tricking the viewer that it forgets that its sole job is to be a horror film.
And as twisty as the plot may be, the pic is about as generic as it gets. Still, you could do much worse than Fear, Inc., which at least carries a fun spirit and heart of gold.
Ultimately, the irony here is that Fear, Inc. is about a horror fan wanting to feel something, anything, yet doesn’t offer this courtesy to its viewers.