Fear CityDanger lurks within every dimly lit alley, around every dark corner...in the shadows of the city, safety is not a guarantee. Fear City is the story of an ex-boxer named Matt Rossi (Tom Berenger) turned co-manager of a talent agency for showgirls in the seedy underbelly of New York City, alongside his partner, Nicky (Jack Scalia). When one then another of their exotic dancers are brutally attacked by a sadistic maniac, in walks ex-vice cop turned homicide detective, Al Wheeler (Billy Dee Williams), to investigate the potential connection between the attacks and Matt's mob ties.
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Fear City is unquestionably a product of its times, emblematic of a style of filmmaking oozing with machismo and Eighties-era tropes. It is a hard-boiled action thriller, the kind of story which wouldn't be out of place in a dime-store paperback. From the bold title which looks as though painted in blood, to the synthesized score, it is the kind of film that gets referred to as "movies for guys who like movies", at times a roaring geyser of testosterone, where tough guys utter tough lines, and beautiful dames fill the nightclubs. The name for Fear City presumably comes from the unfortunate campaign of sedition which took place during the Seventies, where pamphlets describing the "Big Apple" carried a warning to travelers to exercise extreme caution as the city had become equivalent to a war zone. Sadly, these warnings were not far removed from the truth, but as any propaganda is wont to be, highly exaggerated. The New York City of this film is not the gentrified city that it is today, but a realm of sleaze and grime, a dark place illuminated by the glow of neon marquees advertising topless dancers and XXX-rated movies, where women like Matt's ex, Loretta (Melanie Griffith) put on enticing stripteases for howling crowds of lecherous men amid the warm oranges of the stage lights, and the cool blue shadows to contrast. The hallmarks of NYC are the subways painted in graffiti, the Pan Am building's logo visible in the skyline, with the Italian mob an indigenous element everywhere. The streets are always wet, presumably from some rain that has come before, but no doubt it is in actuality the sweat of the carnal city itself. Guys like Matt and Nicky are themselves stereotypes (or archetypes, if you will), stock characters from a familiar mold. Matt is the haunted loner, heartbroken over his break with Loretta, his dreams filled with the horrible memory of the accidental death he contributed to during a fight in the ring with an opponent, an event which pulled him from the limelight and into the shadows of the underworld. And Nicky, with his slick hair and stylish suit with vest makes him look the part of a "goodfella", far more than Matt, making it clear that they both operate in less savory circles. And of course, there's Detective Wheeler, a no-nonsense cop who is hard and tough, looking for a reason to exact justice against the criminal element swimming all around him. It is unequivocally an exploitation piece, with copious amounts of topless dancing early on, no doubt to lure in its audience looking for salacious content--titillation to start, with some martial arts and suspense for good measure. Fear City fits the bill as a "cult film" by its loving embrace of its cliches and the aesthetic; this is the kind of movie which was made for VHS, or "The Late Late Film" airing at two in the morning just before they play the national anthem and the picture goes to static...there's even a training montage.
The unknown attacker, later called the "New York Knifer" by the news, is an enigmatic antagonist, one whose motives are never explained to the characters in the film, only communicated via his narration as he chronicles his crusade against his interpretation of the corruption of the city in his journal, also called "Fear City". The actor (Neil Clifford) isn't even credited in the film, as though his complete absence from identification by name makes him a greater mystery. What is known is what we see in his ritualistic preparation for the next assault, which gradually escalates in his blood frenzy to become a series of murders. The killer is a practitioner of marital arts, wielding weapons like hooked knives and nunchaku, skilled with delivering powerful intercepting attacks with his own body as well. He hangs a diagram of pressure points in his austere residence, writes his testimony, and hones his body into shape by rigorous exercise. Essentially, he is a figure not that far removed from Travis Bickle of Taxi Driver, save that he uses his perceptions of a crusade to justify his hatred toward women, with the damage caused to the mob's vice-ridden operations a side effect. Since the women attacked all belong to Matt and Nicky's agency, rumors circulate that it is their rival provider of exotic dancers who has been commissioning the assaults as a means to drive out the competition. The lack of clear motive and identification leads the mobsters to go at each other's throats initially. It is a suspicion shared at first by Detective Wheeler, until one of the competition's dancers is also attacked. What follows is that both the mob and the police are all after this mysterious figure, equally seeking to bring the deviant murderer to their own brand of justice, not unlike the efforts of those hunting the killer in Fritz Lang's M. The killer is unassuming, dressed plainly; he is white, without any significant identifiable features and doesn't make a sound in the company of others, even when attacking someone. Essentially, he is a "faceless" threat, his brand of victimization called "terrorism" by others, which is tragically ironic for a film set in New York City, now post-9/11, where the threat of terrorism will no doubt always be a traumatic trigger. The killer may be Caucasian, but he employs a method of violence associated with East Asia, a characteristic which gives him a "foreign" element, alien in the setting of the film. The feel of terrorism is in Fear City as it was when expressed to Matt by his mob boss, Carmine (Rossano Brazzi): it cannot be prevented, but instead stamped out; in other words, there is no negotiating with terrorists.
Recommended for: Fans of an exploitative cult action flick so emblematic of its originating era, you would expect tracking lines to appear at any minute.
The unknown attacker, later called the "New York Knifer" by the news, is an enigmatic antagonist, one whose motives are never explained to the characters in the film, only communicated via his narration as he chronicles his crusade against his interpretation of the corruption of the city in his journal, also called "Fear City". The actor (Neil Clifford) isn't even credited in the film, as though his complete absence from identification by name makes him a greater mystery. What is known is what we see in his ritualistic preparation for the next assault, which gradually escalates in his blood frenzy to become a series of murders. The killer is a practitioner of marital arts, wielding weapons like hooked knives and nunchaku, skilled with delivering powerful intercepting attacks with his own body as well. He hangs a diagram of pressure points in his austere residence, writes his testimony, and hones his body into shape by rigorous exercise. Essentially, he is a figure not that far removed from Travis Bickle of Taxi Driver, save that he uses his perceptions of a crusade to justify his hatred toward women, with the damage caused to the mob's vice-ridden operations a side effect. Since the women attacked all belong to Matt and Nicky's agency, rumors circulate that it is their rival provider of exotic dancers who has been commissioning the assaults as a means to drive out the competition. The lack of clear motive and identification leads the mobsters to go at each other's throats initially. It is a suspicion shared at first by Detective Wheeler, until one of the competition's dancers is also attacked. What follows is that both the mob and the police are all after this mysterious figure, equally seeking to bring the deviant murderer to their own brand of justice, not unlike the efforts of those hunting the killer in Fritz Lang's M. The killer is unassuming, dressed plainly; he is white, without any significant identifiable features and doesn't make a sound in the company of others, even when attacking someone. Essentially, he is a "faceless" threat, his brand of victimization called "terrorism" by others, which is tragically ironic for a film set in New York City, now post-9/11, where the threat of terrorism will no doubt always be a traumatic trigger. The killer may be Caucasian, but he employs a method of violence associated with East Asia, a characteristic which gives him a "foreign" element, alien in the setting of the film. The feel of terrorism is in Fear City as it was when expressed to Matt by his mob boss, Carmine (Rossano Brazzi): it cannot be prevented, but instead stamped out; in other words, there is no negotiating with terrorists.
Recommended for: Fans of an exploitative cult action flick so emblematic of its originating era, you would expect tracking lines to appear at any minute.