A by-the-numbers thriller from director Fred Olen Ray, renowned for making exploitation films on an extremely low budget. This passes the time but offers up little in the way of story or intrigue, as is the case with lots of these films, not much happens for three quarters of the film until the action of the finale. To pass the time there are a number of gratuitous nude and sex scenes. Brinke Stevens is forever taking her clothes off to have a bath, while Delia Sheppard is constantly writhing about while naked. These scenes get boring quickly and are obviously tailor-made for the dirty mac brigade. The story is loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe's theme of being buried alive, but director Ray just doesn't have the budget to do justice to the story, his tale lacks the lavish costumes and sets of Roger Corman's Poe series of the 1960s.
Along with the central story (woman is cheated on, buried alive by husband, then comes back from the dead) are a number of sub=plots to lengthen the running time. The most obvious of these is the story involving the husband's embroilment with a debt collector, whose assistant sits around in a car for the whole film before finally taking action at the end. The husband's affair also gets tiring quickly, although to be fair Ray does intertwine the plot threads quite well.
The cast is probably the most interesting thing about the film; Ray has once again gathered together a group of talented exploitation has-beens, past-its, and nobodies. Jan-Michael Vincent is probably the biggest name but doesn't have much of a role, while Jay Richardson manages to put a fine balance between a cold-blooded murderer and a human being who cares about his wife. Brinke Stevens has never been much of an actress but carries the pivotal role fairly well. Robert Clarke is believable as a doctor while Robert Quarry and Karen Black fill out minor roles and are welcome faces in the cast. Added to this is Michael Berryman in a cameo appearance as a creepy morgue assistant.
The special effects are kept to a minimum until the finale, where Ray murders off just about every major character in the cast. Things are quite bloody here with a number of brutal stabbings, but we've waited a long time for the action so it is quite disappointing. The various 'supernatural' aspects are handled amateurishly and are therefore embarrassing, take the disappearance of Stevens at the end for example, a cliché or what? HAUNTING FEAR comes across as very empty and lacking, but for undemanding fans it will pass the time.
Along with the central story (woman is cheated on, buried alive by husband, then comes back from the dead) are a number of sub=plots to lengthen the running time. The most obvious of these is the story involving the husband's embroilment with a debt collector, whose assistant sits around in a car for the whole film before finally taking action at the end. The husband's affair also gets tiring quickly, although to be fair Ray does intertwine the plot threads quite well.
The cast is probably the most interesting thing about the film; Ray has once again gathered together a group of talented exploitation has-beens, past-its, and nobodies. Jan-Michael Vincent is probably the biggest name but doesn't have much of a role, while Jay Richardson manages to put a fine balance between a cold-blooded murderer and a human being who cares about his wife. Brinke Stevens has never been much of an actress but carries the pivotal role fairly well. Robert Clarke is believable as a doctor while Robert Quarry and Karen Black fill out minor roles and are welcome faces in the cast. Added to this is Michael Berryman in a cameo appearance as a creepy morgue assistant.
The special effects are kept to a minimum until the finale, where Ray murders off just about every major character in the cast. Things are quite bloody here with a number of brutal stabbings, but we've waited a long time for the action so it is quite disappointing. The various 'supernatural' aspects are handled amateurishly and are therefore embarrassing, take the disappearance of Stevens at the end for example, a cliché or what? HAUNTING FEAR comes across as very empty and lacking, but for undemanding fans it will pass the time.