The Horror Show
Fear Clinic
by Robert Hall
Based on the homonymous 2009 web series, Fear Clinic brings Robert Englund back into our lives. Even though we don’t get to see him as the legendary Freddie Krueger, Englund is always a treat for the eye and in the case of Fear Clinic, he is backed by an interesting supporting cast.
Director Robert Hall, who also stands behind the Laid to Rest franchise, clearly based his entire work on Englund and even though that sounds good enough, the final outcome might disappoint the hardcore fans.
Similar to the web series, the story follows Dr. Andover, the founder of a fear clinic, where mentally damaged patients are brought to face their fears and conquer their deepest phobias. In order to achieve that Dr. Andover fashioned a device, the Fear Chamber. This is a complex piece of equipment that only he can operate. After a long career of successful cases of people who managed to overcome their darkest fears, Andover has to deal with a group of five former patients whose lives don’t seem to have gotten any better.
On the contrary, these five people are haunted by their fears and thus they return to the fear clinic in order to secure phobia-free living. Dr. Andover is called to bring out the big guns, the Fear Chamber, one more time.
Things get from bad to worse, when the seemingly lifesaving therapy session turns into a real nightmare that nothing and no one can cure. Apparently, Andover’s fear chamber gives life to something creepier than the patients’ phobias and the entire process culminates in sheer bloodbath.
Robert Englund’s role as Dr. Andover doesn’t do justice to his natural talent, but that doesn’t mean he’s not fun to watch. The story fails to convince on several essential levels, including plotting and dialogue. There are several plot holes that make Fear Clinic quite confusing and one might begin to have serious questions about the storyline and the plot’s structure.
On the bright side, Englund is supported by a rich cast, including Slipknot’s Corey Taylor and Fiona Dourif in the lead role. Is that enough to make Fear Clinic worth a watch? Maybe it’s not just the cast per se, but this flick has some good elements, like the fx and basic concept that make it a quite decent choice.
So, even though it’s neither gripping nor amazing, Fear Clinic manages to create a rather interesting atmosphere that is certainly flawed, but not entirely bad.
Maria Kriva, HMS
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