The Fear Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Fear Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown June 24, 2025

Horror is such a many splendored thing. Defying genre and style, it plumbs everything from the depths of the supernatural to the evil men do, the depraved indifference of an indifferent world, the vile clash of cultures, the battle of impulses and immorality, the extremes of lust and wrath... you name it, horror has been there, done that and handed out quite a few T-shirts along the way. More fascinating is how each country has guided the development of its horror cinema over the decades, offering unique perspectives into the human condition and varied approaches to tension, suspense and the conflict between good and evil. In 1966, while Americans and Europeans were wrestling with such things via Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) and The Birds (1963), Greek filmmaker Kostas Manoussakis decided to leave his own mark in horror. The result was his final film, The Fear, a taut, though outmoded bit of homicidal suspense that examines the ties that bind a small community and the secrets bound within that threaten to tear them apart.

Anna (Elena Nathanail), a young female student living in Athens, returns to her wealthy Greek family’s large farm in the remote countryside. Unfortunately for her, she almost immediately detects the tensions that lie repressed under the apparently tranquil rural setting. Her father, Dimitros Kanalis (Alexis Damianos), and mother, Mrs. Kanali (Mairi Hronopoulou), are trapped in a loveless marriage while her half-brother, an asocial peeping Tom named Anestis (Anestis Vlahos), seems even more of a brooding and dangerous figure than ever before. Anna’s only real friend is Hyrsa (Elli Fotiou), a sweet, deaf/mute servant girl that many of the local villagers deem a saint due to her sightings of the Virgin Mary in the corn fields that surround the farm.

When Hrysa suddenly disappears, Anna comes to suspect Anestis is responsible and, worse, worries he's killed the young girl. Which, of course, he has, submerging the body in a lake after failing to hide her corpse in the loft of the family barn. Unbeknownst to Anna, her father and mother become complicit in the act, stumbling upon then participating in covering up the crime, helping their son get away with murder. Anna isn't easily swayed from her suspicions, though, and starts to follow Anestis, trying to trick him into a confession. Has he killed before? Will he kill again? Realizing that she might become his next victim after he threatens her with a knife, she begins to fear for her life. Confused and frightened, she accepts a marriage proposal from a local man, an engineer named Nikos (Spyros Fokas), whom her father hates.

The Fear could almost be mistaken for a slowburn folk drama were it not for some of its more delirium-fueled sequences. The camera remains slow and languid, the cinematography haunting and beautiful, but several scenes erupt outward, nearly delighting in the horror on display. You'll certainly never eat fish again without thinking of The Fear and its particularly gruesome centerpiece meal. Likewise, the film's final moments are a whirling dervish of tensions, guilt and shame, set at an otherwise celebratory wedding where truths and murder crawl over one another and come into the light; the music swells, Anna frozen yet defiant, Anestis sweaty and on the verge of illumination, while elsewhere a body rises from the depths of a lake. There's real artistry at play here, with light and shadow teasing the unseen while strong performances bolster the telltale heart beating beneath the village.

More intriguing perhaps is the film's editing, which favors long takes, eerie close-ups, lurid voyeurism, and deliberate, punctuated dialogue that doesn't waste a single word. Again, horror may not be the first genre to leap to mind with any individual moment, but taken together, as a whole, the terror of everything Anna faces begins to crystalize. Even isolated scenes with singular characters take on a life of their own, lingering on faces as emotions and intentions become manifest. Anestis's slick skin almost bleeds sweat. Anna's fair features and slender cheekbones, framed by locks of long dark hair, allow her eyes to pierce any darkness. Dimitros' grimy face, weary from hard days of lifelong work, tightens and leers, knowing full well what Anna is on the verge of uncovering. Giannis Markopoulos's avant garde score only enhances the effect of the visuals and pacing, lifting the film with throaty, almost desperate eagerness.

In many ways, The Fear is a film ahead of its time, and with such a striking, startlingly refined video presentation (restored from the original negative), you could almost be forgiven for wondering if the movie was made more recently, complete with the stylistic trappings of a feature far older than it is. The most telling sign of its age is that its violence is bloodless, not to mention delivered with the stocky theatricality of most horror films of the era, no matter the country of origin. The Fear also owes much of its look to Psycho and Michael Powell's Peeping Tom, both of which have a clear influence on the end product. It's by no means plagiaristic, though, with Manoussakis confidently forging his own path, one that feels wholly his. It's a shame it would be his last film, as the technique and authority on display could have easily elevated the filmmaker to the heights of his more famous (or infamous) contemporaries.

The Fear Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Minted from a new 2K scan of the original camera negative, Mondo Macabro's lovely 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfer represents a near-flawless restoration of the film, with only the slight presence of white specks and element nicks standing in opposition of perfection. Contrast is dialed in beautifully. Note the screen capture above and the manner in which Anna's hair and pupils aren't crushed (as they might first appear) but rather allow The Fear's stunning cinematography to showcase or conceal whatever DP Nikos Gardelis wishes. Black levels are rich and satisfying at all times, brighter whites pop off the screen, and midrange grays are exacting and without fault. Detail is excellent too, as evidenced by crisp, halo-free edge definition, masterfully preserved fine textures, and filmic shadow delineation. Moreover, there isn't any sign of compression limitations, macroblocking, banding or other such nuisances. Topping things off is a velvety veneer of grain that doesn't appear to have been tampered with in any significant way, allowing The Fear's picture to remain its integrity from start to finish. All told, Mondo Macabro's BD-50 offers the film plenty of room to breathe and the results are nothing short of spectacular.

The Fear Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mondo Macabro has also done a fine job with The Fear's Greek-language DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo mix (backed by newly translated subtitles to boot). Dialogue is clean and clear, prioritization is wisely handled, effects actually don't sound overly canned (as tends to be the case with films of the era), and Giannis Markopoulos' avant garde score sounds great; full, confident and ably dynamic. There isn't much else to the mix, though environmental ambience is sometimes given notable attention for a stereo track, and the results are nearly as impressive as the video transfer.

The Fear Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Kostas Manoussakis: The Exiled Filmmaker (SD, 50 minutes) - A Greek documentary that examines the life and career of "the exiled filmmaker" by way of his relationships, difficulties in the industry, various controversies and his other films.

• Remembering Elena Nathanail (HD, 2 minutes) - A slideshow of photos of the late actress.

• Stills & Poster Gallery

The Fear Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Fear is a stark, unnerving, quite beautiful foray into Hitchcockian suspense from Greek filmmaker Kostas Manoussakis. It's not a horror film in the traditional sense, yet its frights -- anchored in human lust and envy -- compound from the start, leading to a climactic flourish of an ending that won't soon be forgotten. Yes, it's dated in many ways, but it's also surprisingly ahead of its time, offering a haunting rural folk thriller with strong performances, gorgeous cinematography and a killer score. Mondo Macabro rolls out the best for The Fear too, granting the film a stunning video transfer, a solid DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo track, and a nice (but limited) complement of extras.