Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

The Fearmakers Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 21, 2022

Jacques Tourneur's "The Fearmakers" (1958) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The only bonus feature on this release is an exclusive new audio commentary recorded by professor and film scholar Jason A. Ney. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Showdown

Approximately twenty-five minutes after the opening credits of Jacques Tourneur’s The Fearmakes disappear from the screen a sharp-dressed man quickly but very accurately describes a very important game that is being played in Washington D.C. It is a game that is played by multiple teams of people with different skills. It is not a sports game. It is a highly paid political game that determines how laws are being created in America. The mechanics of the game are so simple that it takes the sharp-dressed man less than a minute to make another man understand how easy it is to manipulate it. Barely able to contain his excitement, the sharp-dressed man then reveals that he is a very experienced player and urges the other man to join him because he has big plans for the future. If the other man agrees to become his partner, the sky is the limit. He would make big money, more than he would be able to spend even if God gave him a couple of lives to live.

The other man is a Korean War veteran, his name is Alan Eaton (Dana Andrews), and he suspects that the player before him is a killer. The player’s name is Jim McGinnis (Dick Foran) and he is the new owner of the small public relations firm Eaton started with a friend before he went to Korea. Eaton suspects that McGinnis acquired the firm after he forged the signature of his business partner on the sale papers and then had him killed, but can’t prove it, which is why he is now pretending to be interested in working with him. If Eaton joins McGinnis and he starts trusting him, a day should come when his boss would make a mistake and reveal information proving that he is a killer. McGinnis needs Eaton in the firm because he is a highly decorated war hero with invaluable contacts that could very quickly and quite dramatically expand the game he likes to play.

Eaton’s decision to accept McGinnis’ offer instantly earns him the ire of his late partner’s beautiful and loyal secretary, Lorraine Dennis (Marilee Earle), who suspects that McGinnis isn’t telling the truth about the firm’s transformation as well. However, at the right time, Eaton earns her trust and she agrees to assist him while he searches for information that can incriminate McGinnis. Together they manage to steal the only key that unlocks McGinnis’ personal archive where he keeps sensitive documents about the firm’s clients and donors, but shortly after Eaton opens it all hell breaks loose.

A supposedly small entry in Tourneur’s oeuvre, The Fearmakers may very well be one of the great director’s best films. It is not because it is an impeccably scripted film noir that somehow was overlooked over the years. In fact, despite some noirish overtones in its second half, The Fearmakers does not qualify to be profiled as film noir. What makes The Fearmakers fascinating to behold is the bold clarity with which it reveals how a foreign power can infiltrate American politics and get very particular laws passed on behalf of the American people. The President’s office isn’t off limits either. As McGinnis casually explains during one of his educational speeches, it just takes a more skilled team of players and greater resources to reach it. Absolutely terrifying.

Even though Tourneur had a small budget to work with, The Fearmakers does not look like a film that had to incorporate second-rate unevenly edited footage. Naturally, old claims that it is a cheap looking B picture are seriously misleading.

Andrews and Earle are very good together. Foran exudes the right confidence with a touch of cockiness as well. A young Mel Torme slightly overplays his character after he reveals that he is madly in love with Earle, but is still quite good. Kelly Thordsen is a thug solving difficult problems for Foran. Roy Gordon is an aging senator who encourages Andrews to find out whether Foran is dirty. Veda Ann Borg is a feisty blonde who pops up in a single scene and leaves a lasting impression. Tourneur worked with cinematographer Sam Leavitt, who soon after lensed Cape Fear and Anatomy of a Murder.

*In an exclusive new audio commentary included on this release, professor and film scholar Jason A. Ney deconstructs The Fearmakers and highlights some quite interesting changes that exist in the novel by Darwin L. Teilhet that apparently inspired it.

The Fearmakers Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Fearmakers arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from a very nice exclusive new 2K master. To be honest aside from some tiny specks and blemishes that pop up here and there, I thought that the entire film looked quite wonderful on my system. Yes, you will probably notice a few very small density fluctuations as well, but all of them are organic, not digital anomalies that were introduced in a lab. They grayscale of the visuals is lovely as well. In fact, even though it is quite easy to tell that The Fearmakers was shot with fairly small budget, it is lensed extremely well and actually leaves the impression that it was a pretty big project. Image stability is very good. All in all, while there is room for some minor cosmetic improvements, the current presentation of The Fearmakers has very solid organic qualities and will likely remain the definitive one on the home video market. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Fearmakers Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless audio is very clear, sharp, and nicely balanced. Irving Gertz's score does not produce any memorable contrasts, but the music has a solid presence throughout the entire film. I viewed the entire film with the volume set at a normal level and was able to hear all exchanges very nicely, so there are no age-related anomalies to report.

The Fearmakers Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - professor and film scholar Jason A. Ney deconstructs The Fearmakers and highlights some quite interesting changes that exist in the novel by Darwin L. Teilhet that apparently inspired it.

• Trailers - trailers for other releases from Kino Lorber's catalog.

The Fearmakers Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Fearmakers isn't a pure film noir, so it is meaningless to try and compare it to an undisputed genre masterpiece like Out of the Past. However, the bold clarity of its message and the simple but very effective manner in which it is delivered are enough for me to declare that it is one of Jacques Tourneur's best films. Old claims that The Fearmakers is a 'small B film' are quite laughable considering that it essentially opens the door for the grand arrival of John Frankenheimer's The Manchurian Candidate. Kudos to Kino Lorber for giving this undeservedly ignored gem a proper individual Blu-ray release. It looks lovely after it was remastered in 2K as well. You can find The Fearmakers in Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema VII, a three-disc box set. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.