This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

one of my absolute favorites!

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Did you people see the same film I saw?

I read the Edgar Allan Poe story, The Premature Burial, and this doesn't even have any similarities whatsoever, except the buried alive theme. Michael Berryman is a fine horror film actor, but how the Hell, did he end up in this? Karen Black, is an amazing actress, but also why the Hell, did she end up in this dim witted trash compactor worthy, Fred Olen Ray video. Another bad thing. This is not a Motion Picture not a Film, but this is a Video! B-Movie mania. Trash actresses and actors = Brinke Stephens, and many others, that are so bad I can't even remember their names, (and that's a good thing)! If you want some good suspense, watch "Motion Pictures," by, Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock. If you want good Giallo Era horror films, watch Dario Argento films, from 1970-1990. Avoid all Fred Olen Ray, trash compactor worthy films. This "Video," is crap!

Victoria Munroe (Brinke Stevens) is having nightmares that seem to be driving her husband Terry (Jay Richardson) nuts. Not because he fears for her well being, but because he wants her to die from her weak heart so that he can inherit her wealth and live high on the hog with his secretary Lisa (Delia Sheppard). Oh, and maybe pay off his gambling debt he owes to Italian mobster Visconti (the decidedly un-Italian Robert Quarry). Looking to speed up the process, Terry and Lisa decide to bury Victoria alive in order to scare her to death. Loosely based on Poe's "The Premature Burial" (hey, it has a premature burial), this Fred Olen Ray shocker is from his serviceable period with some decent FX, that same house he used in every other film (the brown one, not the white one) and nice photography by Gary Graver. This is probably the biggest role Stevens has ever had and she is fine as the stressed out wife. Her acting takes a slight turn for the worse when she is supposed to play psycho at the end. Jan-Michael Vincent, Karen Black, Hoke Howell, and Michael Berryman all got in one day of work in small roles. Vincent's role in the first half relies on him sitting in a parked car and staring at things. Ray obviously knew him well.

Fred Olen Ray is a lousy director, even as far as B movie directors go, but 'Haunting Fear' is probably one of his better films. Yes, it does butcher the great Poe story 'Premature Burial' and yes, it is badly paced and uneven throughout, but it is also pretty entertaining. Scream Queen Brinke Stevens is better than usual as a pretty, fragile housewife whose worthless husband (Jay Richardson) is plotting to do away with her because he needs money to pay off a gangster (played by Robert Quarry). Delia Sheppard, a veteran of many early 90s soft-core movies, actually gives the best performance in the film as a slutty mistress. You will also enjoy small roles played by Karen Black as a psychic, Robert Clarke as a doctor and Michael Berryman in a nice cameo in one of the better scenes. The ending didn't make much sense!

*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT*Does the word "monotonous" mean anything to you? Most of this movie is spent having Brinke Stevens talk about her nightmare of being buried alive. This goes on and on and on. There are a few sex scenes with Delia Sheppard to keep things interesting. Finally the husband and Delia come up with an idea. If they scare Brinke enough, maybe her heart will go out and they can get her money. So they stick her in a coffin and leave her in the basement. Brinke has some sort of transformation and becomes a ghost faced killer. It's a good payoff scene but it's in the last 20 minutes.Brinke Stevens makes a great maniac. Too bad it's only for a couple of minutes. The sexiest thing about her is her voice. It has kind of a scratchy, girlish inflection to it. It suits her well. Brinke is also kind enough to go topless once or twice. Her rampage at the end saves this movie from the trash compacter. So basically I would skip most of the movie and fast forward to the last 20 minutes. The plot itself is only strong enough for a half hour episode of "Tales from the Darkside". Lots of padding made this flick to feature length.