Fear Itself: The Complete First Season
Directed by Ronnie Yu, John Landis, Darren Lynn Bousman
Starring: Brandon Routh, Elizabeth Moss, Eric Roberts, Cynthia Watros, Wendell Pierce, Shiri Appleby, John Billingsley, Rachel Miner
Lionsgates Films
Released Date: September 15, 2009

Apparently, FDR was wrong. There are plenty of other things to fear than fear itself. This is what I gathered after sitting down and watching the first season of Fear Itself.

The concept itself is not new. Much like many of the anthologies before it, from The Twilight Zone to Tales From the Crypt, Fear Itself offers up hour long mini horror “movies” directed by some of today’s masters of suspense. As an added bonus, each episode features familiar stars, from both the big and small screen.

I wanted to like this series a lot. If you used your Wayback Machine, you would clearly see a little Jack Bauerstein sitting in his living room and watching reruns of The Outer Limits with Neil Patrick Harris in it. I wanted the series to work but for several reasons, the series misses its mark.

For one thing, the writing is not all that fantastic. Yes, there are indeed a handful of episodes that work very well in the hour long format but in general, most of the stories are tired and unoriginal. When the concept is original, the overall horror tone is not there. In fact, whether or not the story or concept is good, the episode is never scary. Since this series was presented on NBC originally, the creators had to make sure each episode was FCC friendly. This means, no overtly scary scenarios or effects.

Now, horror stories are not all about blood coming out of the walls or killer stab wounds but any type of restriction would make a scriptwriter hold back. And what does a writer do when he is held back creatively? He would probably be less creative and go back to tried and true formulas that have worked in past. Formulas that audiences have seen over and over and just aren’t scary anymore.

Also, while one of the selling points was having famous horror directors, having those directors doesn’t do the series much good. While most directors have specific shots or styles they always utilize, the whole process of directing is subtle. Being a good director is making sure that the audience doesn’t realize there is a director. So, while it is a good idea to have famous horror directors like John Landis directing an episode, the name attached to the episode can only go so far.

Now, there are some bright spots to this series. I enjoyed seeing the Various B and C list actors like Brandon Routh (Superman Returns), Elizabeth Moss (Mad Men), Eric Roberts (Heroes), and Wendell Pierce (The Wire) all lend their acting talents to the show. For the most part, all their performances are decent. Also, I really dug the opening theme song by Serj Tankian of System of The Down fame. It is spooky and has a really hypnotic beat that fits perfectly with the tone of the series.

In the end, Fear Itself was a good idea but poorly executed. The actors and directors on board were decent but the writing and tone just did not hold up the expectations. If you are in the line for some good horror anthologies, stick with the oldies but goodies like Tales From the Crypt or Twilight Zone. If you are indeed interested in the series, stick with renting the first two discs. They have the best crop of episodes from the series.