Once upon a time, in a far away land (well, far enough from Australia, that is), lived a beautiful princess named Reese Witherspoon.  She decided, with so little experience with acting, that she would dabble in the horror/thriller genre with a certain white rapper who manned the Funky Bunch at the time.  And so, together, with the help of Alyssa Milano, they made a wonderfully-trashy, junk-food-esque teen movie known as ‘Fear’.

Well, ok, sure, that is probably not exactly how the movie was created.  But how often can you go back in time and watch two Hollywood heavyweights (both with Oscars, or at least nominations, under their belts) in a classic teen thriller movie set in the bleak, alternative-grunge 1990s?  ‘Fear’ is an interesting, insightful movie that explores young love and the dangers that can be associated with this; inclusive of psychotic boyfriends and a possessive father with his heart in the right place.

Witherspoon plays Nicole, a naïve, do-gooder teen who is entranced by the brooding, muscular David (Mark Wahlberg).  An older guy and obviously not what every father dreams of for his baby daughter, David is hiding some dark demons never even imagined by Nicole.  She continues to date David until he Hulks up and, green with jealous rage, lashes out on Nicole’s best friend (a male, of course).  Nicole decides not to see David but is soon sucked back in by his devilishly handsome looks.  Of course, further incidents occur and soon Nicole is watching her back, with David following her every move. 

The film honours the typical teen movie behaviours: high schoolers, love, sex, drugs, violence, alternative music.  Not to mention a new take on riding rollercoasters.  However, ‘Fear’ focuses a lot of its’ attention on Nicole’s father Steve, played by CSI’s William Petersen (Grissom).  You learn to understand his pain and anguish, then feel his blood boiling as the film reaches its’ climax.  Cue the Last House on the Left invasion, complete with psycho drug addicts, no phones and an unfortunate incident involving a dog shishkabob.  Need I say more?

‘Fear’ is a great Friday night flick to go with your takeaway and post-work brain drain.  Enjoy a hearty trash movie with a couple of giggles and a few stereotypical jump-scares.  Definitely worth the watch – this is a long-time favourite of mine.