HI-FEAR (2022) Review

HI-FEAR (2022) Review

An ambitious young illustrator is forced to create four of the most terrifying stories imaginable for a new comic book based on basic human fears. But with each story she creates, the stakes become higher and more deadly as she delves deeper into the nature of evil itself.

The marketing blurb announces HI-FEAR as ‘the highly-anticipated final film in the cult hit ‘Hi-‘ trilogy’ – perhaps I’ve been a bit tardy of late, but I have no memory of the previous two movies so I’m approached this viewing with no previous knowledge of the standard and quality to expect.

I understand that HI-FEAR was preceded by 2013’s HI-8 and 2018’s HI-DEATH and after watching HI-FEAR I will not be rushing to see either of them. HI-FEAR starts off OK with its framing story “WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF?” revolving around an artist being constantly nagged over the phone to come up with scary stories for a comic called HI-FEAR. She does, and the four stories she etches become the basis for this anthology.

The first story “LOSING IT AT THE DEVIL’S WHOREHOUSE” makes for a pleasingly grubby tale albeit one that is is a little one note. Two guys take a mate to a brothel so that he can lose his virginity only to find that there’s more to lose that just that. It’s not bad, it’s not great but unlike everything else that follows, it is watchable. The second segment “WHEN THE SHADOWS COME ALIVE” unfortunately drops the ball and feels like it goes on forever.

Things get even worse with the zonky third segment “THE STREETS ARE WATCHING” revolving around street folk speculating about a fellow homeless man nicknamed ‘Krazy Killer Karl’ and about how he ended up on the streets and why he is known by that name. The jazzy score jars and it doesn’t help that the segment fails to flow or gain any traction. By the time fourth segment “DAY OUT OF DAYS” kicked in I’d lost interest in watching anything more – sorry guys – it wasn’t for me. I loved the Carpenter-style synth score but the rest is sillier than the jilted minister’s ill-fitting wig in the second segment and overall it makes for a tough watch.

DVD BONUS FEATURES

Commentary track by all four directors

Producer commentary track

‘They Came From LA’ – The Making of ‘Day Out of Days’

Stills Gallery

Reversible DVD sleeve

Trailers

TRAILER [YOUTUBE]