Fear City (1985)

Bearing in mind this is an early Ferrara, coming after Driller Killer and Ms.45 I should perhaps not have been so surprised at its failings. It is far better than the former but some way less good than Ms.45 and there is the problem of censorship. There are cut and uncut versions of this available but all versions lack chunks of material originally cut and now presumably lost. This accounts for some glaring jump cuts and a freeze frame on a sex scene that had me thinking my disc had stuck. Splendid camera-work as usual and worth seeing just for the glorious night shots of 42nd Street and Times Square, now nicely tidied up, I understand. Here the neon sizzles almost as much as the strippers in the clubs. Melanie Griffith seems to do all her own sex dance near nude scenes and probably gives the best acting performance. Most of the cast overact like crazy and much of the dialogue seems very stilted making it difficult to take much very seriously. Not least the karate crazed series killer who although he doesn't speak (nor even have a name) manages to look ridiculous all the same. The kills are grim, even in their trimmed form, especially intercut with the 'dancers' and the nightclub scenes are suitable sleazy. Its just all a bit predictable and with the edge maybe taken off with those cuts not quite as terrifying as I'm sure the director intended.

Ah. The 80's; It had many movies I loved, but it also produced a lot of stinkers like this one. It's set in downtown Manhattan which is a good place for a setting, but what follows couldn't be more mundane if it tried. I liked the idea of strippers being knocked off. It's rather enticing and slightly controversial, but they didn't do enough about it for my liking. You know what really astounds me, though? The fantastic cast that this has assembled; how did Abel Ferrara manage this?! It's not like Abel is a bad director. He made this solid Mrs. 45, the excellent Bad Lieutenant, among others, this is just one of those misfires that doesn't work. Tom Bergenger & Billy Dee Williams are solid actors, but they bored me here. The chemistry is OK, but they just weren't that interesting. Stars like Melanie Griffith & Rae Dawn Chong do what they have to do adequately. Final Thoughts: Leave this where it belongs; collecting dust on some shelves, because that is where this turkey belongs. I didn't see the whole thing due to boredom, so good luck!2/10

Although FEAR CITY is provocatively titillating, and sex drenched, it really never manages to seduce. However, the film does a remarkable job of capturing the essence of early 80's tawdry 42nd St. Midtown Manhattan (Pre-Disneyfication). And, the film boasts a cavalcade of 80's talent; Tom Berenger, Billy Dee Williams, Melanie Griffith, and Rae Dawn Chong. Although director Able Ferrara was throttled by too many producers, he has still managed to craft a fairly interesting picture. What makes FEAR CITY slightly unusual is the treatment of the killer. In most films of this nature, the primary aim is to identify and demonstrate the Evil Doer's, Means, Motive, and Opportunity. However, in FEAR CITY Ferrara only shows the manifestation of the killer's violence, and nearly nothing is divulged of his character or motivation. The killer is shown as a mere cipher, and such a depiction is more in keeping with the Horror Genre rather than Detective Fiction. FEAR CITY is certainly not a great film, or even one of Able Ferrar's better efforts, but it is still worthy of a look.

Though Abel Ferrara's Fear City retains a little of the indie 'juice' associated with the director's best films, it's ultimately a failure. The major problems are leads Tom Berenger and Melanie Griffith, neither of whom bring much to the table. Berenger spends half the film driving around with a deadpan expression on his face (the same expression he displays throughout the entire film, actually) and the other half flashing back to his days as a prize fighter. Griffith's squeaky little girl voice is as fingernails on the chalkboard to me, and her love scenes with Berenger are simply unwatchable. That said, there's plenty of great location photography and some good supporting turns by Billy Dee Williams as detective Wheeler, Rosanno Brazzi as good fella Carmine, and Michael V. Gazzo as strip club operator Mike.