Outrageous Violence, Empty Plot Keep 'feardotcom' Off Favorites List

"feardotcom"

For those whose tastes run from the sadistic torture and dismemberment of half-clad women to improbable stories and settings and flat, laughable acting, watching "feardotcom" will perfectly suit a Friday evening.

But a word of warning to those who search for clarity, closure and polish in their moviegoing experience -- you won't find any such qualities beneath the facade of "feardotcom."

The premise had potential. New York City police detective Mike Reilly (Stephen Dorff) and Department of Health researcher Terry Huston (Natascha McElhone) race the clock to find a serial killer and solve the linked puzzle of a deadly Web site, feardotcom.com.

Unfortunately, on their way to meet murderer and wannabe-doctor Alistair Pratt (Stephen Rea) at the film's denouement, Reilly and Huston's performances feature enough foibles to permanently submerge the filmgoer in the depths of despair -- or hysteria, depending how you look at such things.

Dorff wrangles valiantly with Reilly's pathetic dialogue and a writing flaw that causes his character to pop in and out of the film at random times.

But he ultimately, and not unexpectedly, fails, given too little with which to work.

A veteran of superior films, Rea copes with his ludicrous role as sick, sad and mad scientist by taking the camp over the top.

But the most painful acting job in "feardotcom" is McElhone's portrayal of Huston.

With an unvarying vapid grin, a habit of speaking stilted, air-filled lines and a wavering British accent, McElhone is simply dumb and unappealing. As a result, her words and actions are unintentionally sidesplitting.

When Huston dives into clouded water to search out and recover the corpse of one of Pratt's early vixen victims, one has to marvel at her iron lungs and to revel in the ridiculous.

And when she, after accessing feardotcom.com, begins to see horrific visions and to experience terrifying phenomena, it's priceless to see her enter a dark and ominous room only to blatantly bypass the conspicuous light switch right beside her.

But, by far, the two most disappointing things about this film are the plot, which is muddled beyond redemption, and the rampant misogyny that envelops Josephine Coyle's screenplay.

Improbable technology, inexplicable links and extraneous characters and scenes bury the film's plot under a great big pile of garbage, painted with the stolen murky colors of David Fincher's "Se7en."

Filmed in Luxembourg City, the film takes place in a fake Big Apple oddly neighbored by abandoned steel mills and power plants.

Beneath the grimy veneer, the film is just another Hollywood excuse to tear women apart, literally. Beautiful girls are dissected while a virtually lobotomized heroine runs in circles and concentrates her attentions on Dorff's hot-shot cop.

With all these factors combined, the film is a definite flop. It might garner points for unpredictability and creativity, but "feardotcom" can nonetheless be deemed the inadvertent "howler of the year."

The Arts & Entertainment Editor can be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.