Just perfect...

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

FEAR is a short, middling thriller from Monogram. The main character is a student deeply in debt to an unscrupulous loan shark, who keeps demanding his next payment. In a fit of anger he murders the moneylender, but thereafter finds himself pursued by a dogged detective who believes he's responsible for the murder but has no proof. So far so straightforward; there's a fair amount of suspense inherent in the premise and it all flows along quite quickly. Darren McGavin has a tiny role early on in his career. However, the whole experienced is soured by one of those ridiculous 'twist' endings which ruins the whole thing.

If it were not for the ending, I'd rate this moody, well photographed noir much higher than "2". But the way the movie concludes is a real cop-out that not only disappoints but that doesn't make a gram of sense. A pity!This Monogram version of "Crime and Punishment" is well-acted too, particularly by Peter Cookson (hero), Anne Gwynne (an unusual heroine), Warren William (in a rather small part - alas! - as the determined investigator), Almira Sessions (the shrewish landlady), and Francis Pierlot (as the grasping moneylender).It's a shame that all this clever writing, good acting, moody photography (Jackson Rose) and suspenseful direction (Alfred Ziesler) comes to nothing when the cop-out conclusion suddenly bursts on the screen. And the movie is now available on a very good Grapevine DVD too!

Extremely Low-Budget Film-Noir that manages to entertain due to a strong Storyline (cribbed from Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment) and some nifty Camera Work and a creative overall Style. What it lacks in slickness it makes up for in Mood and some expressionistic flourishes.There is a rather tacked-on, weak ending that is a misstep of the first order, but that disappointment aside, this is one of the better attempts at Bargin Bin Noir. There is a sombre and fatalistic tone throughout and there is much more Psychology found here than in most Bottom Rung Programmers. There is a good deal of Cat and Mouse and a lot of Soul Searching. Despite its restrictions, this can entertain at a deeper level than a lot of Major Studio B-Movies. In fact it is downright amazing how well it works its Magic through tone, style, and execution. This is not to be missed by Fans of Low-Budget Noir's.

Maltin's summary, and his star-and-a-half rating, for this quickie film noir fails to put it in the context of other, far more dismal Monogram productions. "Fear" has lots of interesting camera-pushes, nice use of close-ups, relatively interesting lighting, and a great nightmare montage. Plus, an expressive touch at the moment the key murder takes place (which I won't reveal) is just brilliant. Three things link this film to Fritz Lang's work--the marked coat (from "M") the dream-frame ("The Woman in the Window"), and perhaps most explicitly the palmreading of Larry's hand, revealing an "M", which stands for. . . . [supply your own dramatic music here]. Noir fans should seek this one one out for sure. Others may not be so impressed.