Fear Clinic

It's the Niche's first post, and while I considered beginning with a review of the film adaptation of Stephen King's 'IT', which has a special significance with myself, I've respectfully decided to engage it another day and start with something more recent.

'Fear Clinic' is a short, but very sweet, five episode web series by FEARnet and directed by Robert Hall ('Laid To Rest') with a cast of big names in the horror film industry, including: Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger, 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'), Kane Hodder (Jason Voorhees, 'Friday the 13th' VII-X), Danielle Harris (Jamie Lloyd, 'Halloween' 4-5), and Lisa Wilcox (Alice Johnson, 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' 4-5). The premise entails Dr. Andover (Englund), who has an experimental method of curing patients of their personal phobias using the "fear chamber", a device designed by the good doctor that causes the patient to confront their worst fear. Unfortunately, there seems to be a side effect: the fear starts manifesting into reality. And if one fear wasn't bad enough, they'll have to contend with five: hydrophobia (fear of water), scotophobia (fear of the dark), entomophobia (fear of insects), claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces), and misophobia (fear of germs and contamination). But Dr. Andover does have the assistance of Nurse Owen (Wilcox) and paroled criminal turned orderly Villatoro (Hodder), though they quickly begin to lose faith when the fears start killing patients.

Kane Hodder (left) as Villatoro and Robert Englund (right) as Dr. Andover

I absolutely loved the premise, the cast, and the effects used to bring the fears to life. My only complaint was how short 'Fear Clinic' itself was. I give it four-and-a-half out of five inkblots.