My review of 'Fear City'

Source: http://www.freewebs.com/mhfec

I hope you enjoy it!

FEAR CITY (1984)
(Directed by Abel Ferrara)

"It has strippers being killed by a martial artist, serial killer!"- Signed by MartialHorror.

Plot: An ex-boxer, gangsters and cops try to track down and stop a sadistic martial artist who is cutting up and killing strippers......Yes, you heard that correctly.

Review:

When I read the plot description for “Fear City”, I had to see it and the negative reviews were NOT going to stop me. After all, how could a movie about an ex-boxer hunting down a serial killer who performs martial arts on strippers suck? Well, it probably would suck because it's about an ex-boxer hunting down a serial killer who performs martial arts on strippers. The concept is just too awesome sounding to be satisfying. So expectations remained low, not helped by the cast's names who appeared in the opening credits. Tom Berenger? Billy Dee Williams? Melanie Griffith? Melanie Griffith's boobs? Jack Scalia? Wait, who the hell is Jack Scalia? Anyway, while these guys are all decent actors (especially Griffith's boobs), the films they appear in are quite spotty. In a sense, the movie was just as bad as I expected. But in another sense, I loved it. It's one of those movies that seems to be on the brink of being a good movie, but then it trips over its feat and falls on its face before it can reach that level. Yet this was a case where I managed to discard the bad and embrace the good.

That's a lot of discarding I did too......and probably not as much embracing as I would've wanted.....But it's a movie about an ex-boxer hunting down a serial killer who performs martial arts on strippers.....I just can't turn away from that.

Matt Rossi (Tom Berenger) used to be a big time boxer until he accidentally killed someone in the ring. He decides to quit and become a talent agent with his best friend Nicky (Jack Scalia). Of course, by talent agent, I mean they are practically pimps. They recruit strippers and 'pimp them out' to clubs. But despite their lifestyle, they are pretty decent guys. Matt just wants to get back with his ex girlfriend, Loretta (Melanie Griffith's boobs), who are currently under the tyrannical rule of stripper Melanie Griffith. But before he can punch out Melanie Griffith and reclaim her boobs, his strippers start getting attacked by a martial artist. At first he doesn't kill them (although they sometimes die from their injuries), but as the attacks continue they become more and more violent. Matt and the local gangsters must track this killer down and dodge Al Wheeler (Billy Dee Williams), the homicide detective on the case who thinks they know more than they are letting on.

The funny thing with “Fear City” is that the film does get incredibly close to being something great. For one, at it's core, it is about human drama. Berenger's backstop fits in with his character arc, which has a pretty cool resolution (although he has another flashback that was utterly pointless). The film also exploits how seedy and sleazy the city is and the director exploits this with his 'in your face' direction. Not since Lucio Fulci's “New York Ripper” did I ever find a city like this to be so claustrophobic in its filth. The film spends enough time fleshing out its characters that I became interested in watching them do whatever the movie wanted them to do. Even though there isn't as much hunting of the serial killer as I would've liked, I was so drawn to the characters and their world that I was interested. Also, the director seems to be drawing inspiration from classics, like “M”. I love that movie so much that I even find myself loving pale imitations of it.

It also helps that the acting was pretty good too. While the dialogue is sometimes stilted, the actors play their roles very well and are fun to watch. This was back when Tom Berenger didn't do cheap, low budget *beep* Instead, back then, he did...........well, slightly less cheap, low budget *beep* He's one of those guys whose performances vary, but he worked here. He was low key and quiet but had a charm and intensity that made him both frightening and endearing. I'm pretty sure the character was modeled after Marlon Brando from movies like “On the Waterfront”. While Detective Wheeler (Billy Dee Williams) is a pointless addition, Williams is immensely intense in the role and stole every scene he was in. In fact, most of the roles in this movie are pretty pointless, but the actors all made them work. Melanie Griffith is okay as the love interest. She's likable enough, but she also got the worst dialogue. But Melanie Griffith's boobs were Oscar worthy.

The film has good characters, an interesting story and solid actors, so what happened? Well, here is when the film becomes as shady as the characters in this film. For one, the random scenes of strippers dancing got old. I'm not a prude. I enjoy a good tit-fest. But for some reason, strippers (in film) never did it for me (they look like plastic) and all of these scenes are more-or-less the same. Eventually it started to feel like padding. But the films most awkward aspect is its use of the martial artist. Whenever you see this guy doing kata, it will be hard not to laugh, especially if you're familiar with martial arts. Nothing he does LOOKS like real martial arts, but more like a non-martial artist trying to do what he presumes are martial arts. None of his movements look practical or useful. It just looks silly. Furthermore, when he attacks some people, it becomes kind of funny. This guy will actually pull women off a public street where he will torture her and he never gets caught. One death even has him waiting behind a corner with a katana held high so he can decapitate some chick. No one saw that? Although the idea of seeing something like that would be pretty funny. I also wish they made a bigger point about the killers motive. His book (which is called “Fear City”) seems like it's going to have some relevance, but never does.

On the flip side, the killer is more believable when he fights someone. They stress the difference between “guy who knows how to punch" and "trained martial artist”, so when he confronts someone it looks pretty good. Sure, his movements are kind of awkward, but like in “Billy Jack” there is a realism to how awkward it looks. I also loved the final match-up between the killer and Matt, because the martial arts and boxing look so distinctly different. It's not great choreography or anything, but it really wasn't bad either. As for the killer attacking in the open, while silly, I won't deny that the film also occasionally made me jump. Other times, I cringed because the attacks were pretty brutal.

But make no mistake, “Fear City” isn't sure if it wants to be a great movie or low brow sleaze and I think that's the problem. For many, it's attempts to be “more” slow down what could have at least been a fun movie in a craptastic kind of way. For many others, the films overuse of nudity and violence probably would cheapen what could've been a very effective gangster movie. Yet I love it because of its ambitions and because of its cheesy sleaze. I was personally entertained, but also genuinely interested. Is it good? Probably not, but I had fun........because you can't go wrong with an ex-boxer hunting down a serial killer who uses martial arts on strippers.

P.S: This is one of the few movies I'd love to see get remade.

Violence: Rated R worthy. Pretty grisly.

Nudity: Rated R worthy. More breasts than violence.

Overall: If the concept intrigues you, you might as well give “Fear City” a chance. I enjoyed it.

2.5/4 Stars


my reviews of martial arts and horror films
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