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Feardotcom (2002)

Rate: 4
Viewed: 7/18

7/18: I have a knack for seeing worst critically acclaimed films of the year to find out why.

After going through Feardotcom, it doesn't fit the bill, and I've seen way worse. It's just not a good movie, that's all. The concept is interesting and will have worked out well, but the problem with the plot is that it's only good for three minutes. There isn't much to go on afterwards, hence the smoke and mirrors to fill in the rest of the time with many cheap scare-'em moments.

Another problem is the constant use of darkness. Apparently, sun doesn't exist in this film. Every time there's a lead to aid the investigation, it has to be followed up alone in a very scary place during the middle of the night. Why not do it during the day and also with other colleagues for safety reasons?

I don't understand why Terry, the city health inspector, was allowed to tag along with Mike, who basically disappears much of the time given the potential to make most of his character, when he should be working with other police detectives. All Terry is good for is yelling, "Oh, my God!", which is, in fact, almost the final line of Feardotcom.

The barely scary movie looks like it takes place in New York City, but the setting is so foreign that it was actually shot on location in Luxembourg and Montreal. It's patently stupid to call the website "feardotcom.com" because doing so is like calling a restaurant "The La Tarantella." A bad movie technique is showing the same sequence repeatedly, and it's been the case whenever the website is initially visited.

All in all, Feardotcom has a lot of unrealized potential, but the plot seems to have been hardly worked on.

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