WARNING! Unlike the last episode review, this one contains graphic images which include a person vomiting. Viewer discretion is advised.

The Rules Change in a Sequel...
 

    Another rule we know about horror movies (and special thanks go to Scream 2 for revealing it to the public) is that they always try to be bigger, badder, and more gory than the first. Often, this leads to the film becoming a caricature of itself rather than "better" than its predecessor. Sadly, the second episode of FEAR follows this rule, and loses the artistic and academic values the earlier show had. This is evident in the very beginning, because the first episode's claim that "All the events are true" has been changed to "The fear is real." Because of this, we can assume that a few "special effects" were added to increase the tension. So much for actually documenting the supernatural.

5 New Victims...

Members of the second "cast" are hooded and led into the St. Agnes Hospital for the Chronically Ill. Stephanie gets so scared that she vomits.

Jim sits in his straight jacket, covered by a hood.

    Once the hoods are removed, it appears that SOMEONE IS MISSING. Jim, the 5th member of the group, has been placed in a straight jacket, covered with a hood, and then LEFT in the hospital. Darrelle and Ch'ien go out to find him.. and eventually stumble onto him after getting lost. Jim seems slightly shaken but OK considering what he's just been through, but later dares will tell a different story.

Raquel removes her equipment after coming back from a dare.

    The next group of dares is pretty boring. Raquel waits for Darrelle while he enters the lobotomy room and attempts to contact spirits using a technique called "auto-drawing." Darrelle is extremely scared afterwards.

Jim bends down to take a sample of the floor.

Ch'ien finds the equipment covered in spider webs.

    Now is where it gets REALLY interesting. Ch'ien must go down into the old tunnels and gather some ghost hunting equipment. What he finds is a bag covered in spider webs. Seem too easy? This "trap" was stolen from Raiders of the Lost Ark, because as soon as Ch'ien touches the bag, the entire room starts to shake and growls come from everywhere. HOLY $&*@!!! Ch'ien runs for his life and utters various prayers and profanities, and eventually makes it back to the others.. only now, he's white. Pale white. His skin will return to its normal color in a few minutes, but still...

What is Ch'ien screaming about? CLICK on the image to find out!

    Night One is OVER! Everyone goes to sleep secure in the knowledge that none of their teammates have been eliminated.. yet. Tomorrow, however..

Raquel waves as she leaves the group.

    So with one member down, Darrelle, Jim, and Stephanie go into the hospital to complete the next dare: use the ouija board and the blood sample to contact spirits. Jim finally shows the mental strain from his earlier dare when he becomes "possessed" while using the ouija board. This scares Stephanie half to death. It is no wonder, then..

Stephanie explains to the group WHY she is quitting.

    ..that she quits as soon as they return from the dare. The others don't want their pretty blonde companion to go, but let's be honest - she didn't really do much besides vomit on herself and complain. Still, her leaving is a moral victory for the "entities" that want everyone gone from the place, and has a demoralizing effect on the group. Never the less, they press on!

    Or, at least, Ch'ien presses on. Ch'ien once more gets a solo dare, which just happens to be the last dare of the mission. Specifically, he must stay in a morgue drawer for 3 minutes. He does it easily, and the group returns from the depths of the hospital to claim their final reward!

Darrelle before.. and after. CLICK on the image to see a larger "after" shot.

    And when we say ugly, we mean UGLY. Darrelle goes up to the attic and hears the tale of a young man that used to ring a small bell up there to amuse himself.. and was later found dead. So when Darrelle goes up and actually SEES what appears to be a man hanging from the rafters, you know things are going badly for him.

    But he won't quit! He gets the final readings and then flees down the stairs.. only to apparently be pursued by.. SOMETHING. In a scene straight out of a horror movie, Darrelle tries to flee his pursuers, but gets lost! Those on the other end of the radio try and help, but.. NOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo!!! All they get back are Darrelle's screams as he encounters the thing that has been hunting him. Scared out of his mind, Darrelle eventually makes it up the stairs, his equipment in tatters and (probably) a wet streak behind him.

Want to know why Darrelle looks so winded? CLICK on the image to hear what happened!

Good, But...

    So, what have we learned from this episode of FEAR? Well, to begin with.. that special effects can REALLY scare people. I mean, what ever it was in the attic certainly freaked Darrelle out to the point that I thought he was going to have a heart attack. Anything else? Well, we also learned that sequels usually don't live up to the original. Where as the first episode was "inspired television" that worked on all levels,  the second is just an interesting romp through a haunted house. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed many parts of it - but it is obvious that the MTV execs meddled with the original vision of the producers. Sad, but then, what did we expect from a Music Television network that rarely plays music?

Related Links:

 Visit MTV's FEAR page at  http://www.mtv.com/sendme.tin?page=/mtv/tubescan/fear/&sub=shows.