One of Ferrara's early efforts

Bogey Man

Fear City is Abel Ferrara's and Nicholas St. John's work which deals again with the theme of morality and the lack of it and searching for it. Usually people tend not to like this film and maybe it is because the message is pretty hard to get through the ugly street life settings and disturbing violence. The film has to be seen in its uncut form, and many versions available are censored more or less. The film deals again with the subject matter of what's right and what's wrong and there is again a strong religious content in the film but not as strong as in Bad Lieutenant. The end scene in the alley is masterful, unforgettable and violent and it crystallizes the main character's motivations and his "peace of mind" when he found God and spoke to him. This is definitely not some slasher or horror pick even though there is a murderer in the film. Fans of the great Abel and Nicholas will like this film and it is as challenging, important and beautiful as the other work by those film makers.

I give this definitely 9 out of ten and highly recommended for the fans of art cinema!

score 9/10

Bogey Man 10 May 2002

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0210478/