FeardotCom

3/4

Starring: Stephen Dorff, Natasha McElhone, Stephen Rea, Jeffrey Combs

Rated R for Violence including Grisly Images of Torture, Nudity and Language

While it would be unfair to lay the blame for the film's problems solely on the feet of editor Alan Strachan (the script by Josephine Coyle has some serious problems as well), it's safe to say that had this film been something other than a superb looking piece of Swiss cheese, people probably would have responded to it better.  For the longest time, it was sitting on iMDb's Bottom 100 list (near the bottom of it, but still), and as the case is with "Phat Girlz," I'm kind of puzzled as to why.

Detective Mike Reilly (Dorff) is called to a bizarre crime scene.  A man (Udo Kier in a cameo) has been found dead in a subway tunnel next to the tracks.  The look on his face is of sheer terror, and his eyes are bleeding.  It's a bizarre crime to be sure, and the detective calls in Terry Huston (McElhone) from the Department of Health since it may be a deadly disease of some kind.  The case grows stranger as more bodies turn up with the same symptoms.  The one thing they have in common is that all the victims have visited the website feardotcom.com.  Mike thinks that these deaths are connected to The Doctor (Rea), a psychopathic medical school reject who streams live torture sessions through the internet.  But the only way to find out is to enter the site itself.  Then they have 48 hours to solve the mystery or end up in a black bag.

Putting it simply, the story is a mess.  It is relatively easy to piece together the longer the film goes on, but you have to work to fill in the blanks yourself (not something a horror movie fan wants).  Even after that, there are a lot of plotholes, some of which aren't resolved by the end credits.

The acting isn't spectacular either.  Stephen Dorff blends into the background, overshadowed by the atmosphere and the visual effects.  To be fair to the actor, he's going up against some really special sights, but in a better version of this movie, he'd still be able to focus our attention on him instead of how great the film looks.  Compare his work to that of Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman in "Seven," who were up against the same obstacle and overcame it.  Natasha McElhone is no better.  In fact, there are times when she appears to be reading her lines off of unseen cue cards.  Stephen Rea is clearly slumming for a paycheck, and while his presence and great talent are always welcome, this is not one of his finer moments.

I was not a fan of William Malone's first feature, the "House on Haunted Hill" remake.  Despite having a stellar cast (including Geoffrey Rush), I found it to be a complete bore.  Here, however, his skill has improved.  He has a firm grasp of atmosphere; this is a dark and bleak place, so much so that it's something worth taking joy in when sunglasses are needed.

But the true star of the film is Christian Sebaldt.  No, he's not an actor that I didn't mention until now for dramatic purposes.  He's the cinematographer.  The film just looks awesome.  The special effects are inventive, and in a way, beautiful.  The final act is particularly so.

Although this film is heavily flawed, I think there is enough good stuff in the background to warrant a viewing.  But it's certainly not one of the worst films ever made.

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