Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Fear of Fear Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 17, 2023

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Arrow's The Rainer Werner Fassbinder Collection: Volume 3.

Arrow has been curating interesting collections of Rainer Werner Fassbinder films courtesy of both The Rainer Werner Fassbinder Collection: Volume 1 and The Rainer Werner Fassbinder Collection: Volume 2, and now with this latest third volume. The first two editions offered some of Fassbinder's better known efforts like The Marriage of Maria Braun and The Merchant of Four Seasons, and while this third collection offers titles that will no doubt be known by Fassbinder aficionados, it might present more "cult"-ish productions.

Longtime readers of my reviews may know that I decades ago went down a rather long and convoluted Frances Farmer rabbit hole, and as a result mental illness and especially cinematic portrayals of mental illness have long fascinated me. Fear of Fear is Fassbinder's take on what has engendered (an intentional pun) renewed interest in the term hysteria, since that very word is indicative of the female anatomy and has so often been a supposed "prescription" of what any given woman is going through if she doesn't conform to behavioral norms. In this case, a pregnant woman named Margot (Margit Carstensen) begins to exhibit what might be called pre-partum depression, though her increasing emotional instability is met with either indifference or confusion by just about everyone around her. While she doesn't encounter the same kind of "mad psychiatrists" (as opposed to your everyday mad doctors) that similarly afflicted women in any number of films about mental illness have, she does have the misfortune of interacting with a pharmacist who has amorous designs on her and wants to trade intimacy for a regular supply of Valium.

This is another made for television effort by Fassbinder that is remarkably provocative for fare produced for the small screen. It offers Carstensen a real showcase, and if the story is kind of unrelentingly bleak, it never goes into the near Grand Guignol excesses that afflict any number of big budget Hollywood films devoted to mental illness.

Fear of Fear Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Fear of Fear is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. Arrow's insert booklet groups the films together in its informational verbiage about the restorations, as follows:

All films are presented in their original aspect ratios of 1.37:1* with mono sound. The restorations for The American Soldier, Gods of the Plague, Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven and Satan's Brew were produced and provided by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation from original 35mm camera negatives scanned on an Arriscan film scanner at Arri Media GmbH in Munich. The Niklahausen Journey, Rio das Mortes and Fear of Fear were originally made for television, with restorations produced and provided by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation from original 16mm camera negatives, and are presented in standard definition.

*See individual reviews, since not all aspect ratios are actually 1.37:1.

Despite the above verbiage, both BD Info and my other player softwares are showing this does have 1080p resolution, so I'm assuming the verbiage above is simply indicative of an upscale, which this certainly has the appearance of being, though I'd rate the overall look of this presentation to be at least marginally better than either Rio das Mortes or The Niklashausen Journey. As with those two other made for television productions, the palette here has been preserved rather well overall, and detail levels are definitely more precise looking and inviting than the other two upscaled offerings. This also doesn't really have the same overly gritty 16mm look that the two other productions do, and while things are never really truly waxy or smeary here, I wouldn't be surprised to find out some judicious filtering was utilized, as there is a certain softness in evidence, especially in some of the midrange shots. If you look at a couple of the close-ups I've included in the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review, you'll see that at least in those moments fine detail can be quite good, all things considered.

Fear of Fear Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Fear of Fear features an LPCM Mono track in the original German. This is another production which is almost completely comprised of dialogue scenes, though Peer Raben does contribute a score and some outdoor material at least can offer ambient environmental sounds in the background. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Fear of Fear Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Arrow has packaged Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven and Fear of Fear together on one disc, with the following supplements:

• Commentary by critic Olaf Möller on Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven


• Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven Alternate Ending (HD; 11:04) is from the U.S. version.


• Renate Leiffer: Working with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Part One (HD; 31:38) focuses on Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven. Subtitled in English.


• Renate Leiffer: Working with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Part Two (HD; 24:17) focuses on Fear of Fear. Subtitled in English.
• Slow Days: Asta Scheib on Fear of Fear (HD; 22:16) is subtitled in English.


• Play It Again, Rainer! Fassbinder's Musical Obsessions (HD; 20:57) is an interesting visual essay by Margaret Deriaz.


• Image Gallery

Fear of Fear Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is a rather unflinching portrait of a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown, so to speak, and it's salient to note that even the "experts" in this story aren't quite sure what's going on with the central character. While this is another apparent upscale, I'd rate this video as generally more pleasing than the other upscales in this set. Audio is fine and the supplements are very enjoyable.