Manic Movie Magic: A Fantastic Fear of Everything

British humor and horror are two very, very different beasts from their American counterparts. Stemming from different culture norms, decades of history, and politics, the separation is clear cut and sometimes things get lost in translation. That doesn’t, however, mean that some of them can’t be damn funny and scary. Typically, anything Simon Pegg is in.

Let’s take a look at A Fantastic Fear of Everything.

This is may not be one of Simon Pegg’s better known films, and it never got an American release, but A Fantastic Fear of Everything is quite good. It follows paranoid author Jack as he tries to get to an important editor’s meeting to get his work on TV, and insanity follows, and not all of it from Jack’s own insane delusions and assumptions…some of which actually end up coming true.

This type of weird and over-the-top humor works well for Pegg, who plays Jack’s intense and overwhelming paranoia to an excellent degree and his struggles to cope and deal with everyday life and interactions are both tragic and hysterical. Since this film is more of a character study than it is a complex narrative, there are only a few more actors to note, but do they match Pegg’s commitment. Alan Drake as Tony Perkins is probably the second best casting choice of the film (no spoilers here) followed by Amara Karan as Sangeet, Pegg’s fellow kidnapping victim (I lied, some spoilers). Claire Higgins and Paul Freeman are excellent as Jack’s agent and valued resource/therapist are both a ton of fun to watch as they try to calm the paranoid author down.

Sometimes acting means consoling a PJ clad Simon Pegg while in a pirate hat, and you take to your craft like a professional, dammit.

The pacing is a bit off, as the beginning is actually rather slow. Once the crazy train is on its way, there’s no problem with pacing but until then it feels like a bit of a struggle to get to the good parts. This is obviously done to emulate the slow ascent into mania, just like how Jack slowly started building himself up in the intense delusions and paranoid state we find him in when the film begins. Still, I think it would have been better with a bit more of a push in the beginning and some parts in the middle.

The cinematography is actually really well done. Mixing reality with fiction seamlessly with excellent camera work, great work with light and color palette and of course, the stop-motion animated story towards the end involving hedgehogs and their adorable but violent conflicts. I won’t lie and say that it doesn’t come out of nowhere, like most of the film’s plot, but it is so charming you soon stop asking why it exists and just go with it. They certainly decided to take a lot of chances with the film, which for me all totally pay off.

It comes right the hell out of nowhere, but let’s be honest, all movies need a sequence like this.

What I think I truly like about the film is that it takes itself seriously enough to pride itself in its craft but still light enough that it never tries to tone down the insanity. It’s not a story you can fight against, you have to let it take you to all the strange nooks and crannies to really appreciate it. In the end, this movie knows exactly how humans, when alone, start to think that there’s a murderer around every corner. Jack is a ridiculous character, but not an unfamiliar one.

Admit it, this is what you look like on Friday nights.

A Fantastic Fear of Everything is one of the best horror-comedies I have seen in a long time. It manages to capture a level of heart-warming absurdity that eludes some of the best written and well-meaning of stories and films. If you need a weird little movie that is just as likely to make you laugh as it is to stare at the screen in dumbfounded astonishment, this is your best bet. One of those rare treasures on Netflix that people consistently overlook because it’s not Shaun of the Dead.

Rating: 4.5/5

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Starshine5050

As just a regular, hard-working work, often-stressing, procrastination-mastering history and journalism student, I often turn to the silver and small screens for relief, even though I'm only an average cinema-and-television loving viewer, commenting on what, and does not, makes good entertainment. I love horror everything - book, TV shows, games, movies - even though they frighten me terribly. I'm a long time believer of the old saying "When life gives you lemons, don't take life's lemons! Give the lemons back!" So, onward I go, returning lemons and logging an unhealthy amount of screen time for your enjoyment. So please be sure to read my stuff and let me know what you think, I'm alway looking to improve and be the best, most cynical critic I can be!

Latest posts by Starshine5050 (see all)

• Review: Doctor Strange - November 11, 2016
• Is American Horror Story: Hotel Really That Bad? - October 28, 2016
• Is Practical Magic Really That Bad? - October 21, 2016
• Is Hocus Pocus Really That Good? - October 14, 2016
• Review: Sully - September 23, 2016