Fear City — Fear City( Blu Ray)
Fear City is a mid-80s thriller set in Times Square strip joints, where a martial arts practising madman is taking out the talent. The film mixes cops ‘n’ club owner battlings, light slasher tropes, and mafia drama- with a fair bit of sleaze, tough guy/unintentionally amusing line…and a hell of a lot of flashing ‘n’ darting neon. Here from 101 Films is a recent Blu-Ray release of the film- taking in a new bright & buoyant scan, two versions of the film, and a commentary track.
Fear City (aka Ripper) is from the year 1984. It was the 4th film from provocative NYC director Abel Ferrara- who (officially) started off his career with the prime video nasty/ arty slasher film The Driller Killer (1979). In all, he has thirty-three features to his name- most notable of these being rape/ revenge thriller Ms.45( 1981), crime boss thriller King Of New York ( 1990), and dirty cop on the rails crime thriller Bad Lieutenant (1992),. I’ve always been entertained by Mr Ferrara output, and Fear City is no exception- though there are a few issues…but more on those later.
The film opens up with a blend of red text credits set over a pacy montage of neon-pulsing Times Square streets, stripers, and leering customers. We then drop down to focus on our two leads- mean & moody ex-boxer Matt Rossi(Tom Berenger) and his sleek ‘n’ suited business partner Nicky Parzeno(Jack Scalia)- who run a dancer/ striper agency. We first meet them going to a crowded & leering strip club run by the moustached, balding and suited Mike( Michael V. Gazzo) who has Loretta( Melaine Griffth)-one of the pair's best dancers working for him. We find out he’s overdue on his payments to the pair, and Matt used to have a thing with Loretta.
Fairly soon the first attack happens as we see one of the girls being forced down & stabbed in the neck as she leaves one of the city's clubs- she survives, but fairly soon more women are attacked with each passing. This brings out no-nonsense/ outspoken cop Al Wheeler- played Billy Dee Williams, who is most known for playing Lando Calrissian in the early Star Wars films.
As the film unfolds the dancers/ stripper are scared- not wanting to work, and Loretta gets back her drug habit- with it all seemingly resting on the shoulders of Matt- who is battling with anger issues, and a troubled past. With elements of mafia drama appearing in the mix in the film's last half.
On the whole Fear City is an engaging & entertaining 80’s thriller. With an even pace, some tense interactions, a fair bit of sleaze, one or two punches up, tough guy to amusing dialogue, and a neat nighttime alley set resolve. With the acting been as good as you’d expect with this type of thing
On the less positive side- at points, the mixing of slasher, tough cop action, and mafia drama tropes become somewhat muddled/ not as impactful as they could be. And the more gore-bound side of the attacks are underplayed/ cut- so if you’re coming from a slashing angle, you may feel let down/underwhelmed. Oh, and lastly the dialogue is often very un-Pc- been both racist/ sexist- but this is a film from the 80’s.
This new Blu-Ray features a new bold and bright print of the film- enhancing both the neo-lights and flesh tones of the film. We get two cuts of the film- the uncut version runs a few minutes longer at the ninety-seven-minute mark- the cut scenes are largely on the sexual side of things, and really don’t add much to the film- the cut scenes are also of a grainy dark quality- so I’d say just play the standard version.
On the extras side of the disc, we get a commentary track from film critic Kevin Lyons, and as always it's excellent- been wonderfully researched & wholly interesting. He starts off by pointing out notable clubs in the film's opening credits like the Grand Pussy Cat cinema, which at this point was a porn cinema. He quotes from Sleazoid Express Bill Landis excellent book about the sleazy & grindhouses of Times Square. We find out the opening credits song was written by one of the former members of NYC's proto-punk band New York Dolls. We find out that in the year 1984 2,300 crimes were committed in & around the small area of Times Square. He talks about how the clubs inside were mostly not in New York- but in a studio in LA. He quotes from an interview with director Ferrara regarding visiting clubs in Times Square back in the day. He talks about notable cast members as they appear- giving interesting biographies. He talks about boxing scene flashbacks, and the other fighter in these. Later on, he comments on the more misogynistic elements in the film. Discusses the killer's ranting journal which gives the film its title, and how little or nothing is known about the actor who played the killer. And we find out the score was written by an ex-member of Blood, Sweat, And Tears- plus of course much more. Most certainly a track I will play again. Lastly, we get an extended trailer.
The finished takes in an inlay booklet- taking in ‘Seeing Red: A Neo-Noir Guide’ by Rich Johnson and ‘Returning To Fear City’ by Brad Stevens. With the disc & booklet are presented in a card slip.
It’s always nice to see Ferrara’s back catalogue getting reissued, and Fear City is an entertaining example of sleazed neo-noir, with light elements of slasher mixed in. The scan looks great, and the commentary track is a must-play. So another worthwhile release from the folks at 101 Films.