Fever (1999)

Excellent noir-horror crossbreed

Alex Winter, one of the two (either Bill or Ted; I forgot which) guys from the Bill and Ted movies, is a director as well and this, his second film, is a strong entry in the film noir canon. Here he has Henry Thomas as a semi-starving artist who has problems coping with reality, big-time. His life is compounded by his landlord, a big Polish guy, who is not the friendliest person in the world, and, later, by a detective played by Bill Duke (another actor-director), as well as by his father who, years before, did something terrible to his mother.

Normalcy in the film is represented by Terri Hatcher, playing the sister of the artist, but just as creepy and weird is the artist's upstairs neighbor, played by Irish actor David O'Hara, who gives his character some truly memorable lines, making him someone you probably would not want to meet in a dark alley.

When two people--related to each other--are murdered in the course of the film, the viewer is left guessing as to the identity of the killer. This may sound like a relatively typical murder mystery film; it's anything but that. The artist has nightmares/hallucinations that spill over into reality and director Winter does a great job establishing the dark-as-night connections between what's real and what is maybe not real...or maybe it is.

A unique film that should be seen by film noir buffs, Fever is the work of a mature artist. I'm glad I have it in my DVD library. August 29, 2006

VERY EERIE, FANTASTIC SETS

To put it plainly, the movie revolves around this artist, who is so deeply disturbed by the gruesome murders of his landlord and his (landlord's) mother, that he becomes pallid and starts hallucinating. Now, why do the murders have such febrile effects on him and does he actually hallucinate, is where lies the suspense of the movie.

Though a fairly simple movie with just a handful of characters, `FEVER' can be put under the rubric of scary movies. There is always an air of eeriness throughout the movie, with an abrupt `shocking' scene popping up every now and then, with a high potential to chill the bones most of the viewers. Much of the credit for what the movie is, should be given to the acting, mainly of the prime two characters, `Nick' and `Will', played by Henry Thomas and David O'Hara respectively. While Henry Thomas does a pretty good job of a person `spooked' by the murders in the movie, it is David O'Hara, who puts up a splendid performance, by acting as a mentally deranged, `psycho' Irishman, who is a sailor, and is a staunch believer of Nazism. The presence of such a character in the movie actually makes it spookier, than it already is.

Along with good acting, the direction is pretty decent, too, maintaining just the right amount of the funereal atmosphere throughout, without going overboard with gory details. However, worth mentioning is this particular scene, which can be said as the pivotal scene of the movie, in which `Nick' encounters `Will', in a train: Though there is very little flaw in the direction in the rest of the movie, this particular scene, especially being a crucial one, is so grossly misdirected, that it ruins the build-up to it. Either this scene should have had more attention paid to the minor details, which are seriously flawed, (and do much damage to it) or else, it could've done without the backdrop of an underground train-ride, and could have done with a much less complicated backdrop.

The movie has all the elements of a spook-thriller, and is scary from the beginning to the end, building up to a good suspense. The overall feel of the movie is also well maintained, without trying to give too much detail to gore, and primarily paying attention to maintain the stolid and chilling atmosphere, in a very subtle manner. July 28, 2003

Unreal. Winter is surely talented, and "Fever" is amazing!

Taking cues from masters of tension, David Lynch and Stanley Kubrick, and concentrating on cultivating a mysterious and slowly unnerving mood, Alex Winter has proven himself in a big, big way.

I was actually waiting for this to be released in theaters, especially after reading articles.... I was really hoping that this would bring Winter's brilliance to the masses. Unfortuantely, Hollywood is pathetic, and they didn't market this movie and/or try to sell it enough.

This film ranks up there with "The Haunting" (the original, of course!), "Lost Highway" (in its tense mood and supernatural cinematics), "M" (for its beautifully expressionistic imagery), and both "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Shining" (for true psychological fright)...

I loved "The Idiot Box" and "Freaked", but they were silly, outright comedies of the most absurd degree, "Fever" is intense, intelligent, and incredibly cinematic. I loved it!

Best Wishes,

Ramzi Abed.... July 2, 2001

Excellent tension and mood!

First off, Henry Thomas is an underrated actor. He is the soul of this film. He sets the mood as tension builds within the film. He plays an artist who is lost, missing something in his life. When a stranger appears and an unsolved murder occurs, things begin to twist. His nights are filled with surreal dreams and his days with self doubt and seclusion. It is at once a horrific psychological drama as it is a mysterious thriller. Alex Winter did an excellent job with location and direction. It seems to be a modern Hitchcock film. The film almost appears to intentionally be a black and white. This film is a must see. May 11, 2001

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