The one good thing bout this is the score, and it is Very Good, but not enough to sit through an Hour and 49 Minutes (!) of the rest of the mediocrity.
4 Reviews
UNDIMENSIONAL
mmthos26 October 2021
A disappointment
Leofwine_draca31 March 2021
Warning: Spoilers
DIMENSION IN FEAR is an extremely low budget shot-on-video horror/thriller from indie director Ted V. Mikels - whose half-century old flicks like THE ASTRO-ZOMBIES, THE CORPSE GRINDERS and BLOOD ORGY OF THE SHE-DEVILS you might once have witnessed. This one's about a crazed serial killer who busts out of prison and goes on a rampage of crime, his path inexorably fated to cross with a blonde TV reporter who has a premonition of impending disaster.
Given its low budget origins it was going to be hard for Mikels to make a good film out of this...and he doesn't. Instead it's a surprisingly tame affair, woodenly acted and stilted throughout, and for some reason it cuts away from the gore during the kill scenes, so even the gorehounds will be disappointed here. The killer is just some scruffy-looking and skinny bearded guy who has no menace at all, and Mikels fails to bring in any suspense during the violence and build up to the violence.
Given its low budget origins it was going to be hard for Mikels to make a good film out of this...and he doesn't. Instead it's a surprisingly tame affair, woodenly acted and stilted throughout, and for some reason it cuts away from the gore during the kill scenes, so even the gorehounds will be disappointed here. The killer is just some scruffy-looking and skinny bearded guy who has no menace at all, and Mikels fails to bring in any suspense during the violence and build up to the violence.
Bad, but what else would you expect?!
planktonrules9 March 2010
Wow...this movie looks cheap--even for a Ted Mikels film. Although Mikels was known for his ultra-low budget films of the 60s and 70s, this one looks a heck of a lot cheaper. It's shot on video and the actors seem as unprofessional as they come--like a project that was shot by some teenagers or very young film students. I have only seen a couple other films with such production values--"Die Hard Dracula" as well as "Ben and Arthur"--both of which are so bad that they are on IMDb's Bottom 100 list. I suspect if more people were familiar with Mikels' films, they, too, might make his infamous list--though despite this film's cheapness, it's NOT among his worst films. Yes, they do get much worse--such as the film "Blood Orgy of the She Devils" (that's a great title--who'd have thought it would be bad?!?!).
The film begins with Cal Lewis being arrested. He's a scruffy looking serial killer and his look is somewhat reminiscent of Charles Manson. Soon after going to jail, he pulls out a hidden pair of scissors and kills a guard. He then escapes and goes on a killing rampage--and this is the theme of the film. Oddly, each time before he kills, he cuts himself--a weird way to get you in the mood, but this is one weird guy! At the same time we see this killer doing a bunch of random killings, there is another parallel story about a young TV news lady who is leaving her job. She visits a psychic who sees bad stuff in her future. Considering that Cal is running amok, the "bad stuff" hardly comes as a surprise.
So, apart from horribly cheap camera-work, what did I think of the film? Well, it wasn't good. The characters were all rather one-dimensional and there was absolutely no depth to the film. But, in a mindless way, it wasn't that bad either. Watchable but stupid.
Also, if you have ever seen the Ed Wood film "Glen or Glenda", take a look at the station manager in "Dimensions in Fear". This is Delores Fuller who co-starred in the Wood movie--and bad movie fiends (like myself) should find that pretty exciting--seeing her after all these years.
Sadly, Mikels' first film, "Strike Me Deadly" was a somewhat similar film, but managed to be quite good despite the limitations of the plot--and you might have predicted a promising future for the films. Yet that was done 35 years ago and since then, his movies have only gotten cheaper looking and dumber. However, I doubt if Mr. Mikels particularly minds, as his films have had such low budgets that they've made him a fortune! So he's probably laughing all the way to the bank!! I actually saw a little DVD extra with him recently and he seemed like a nice and very interesting guy--and he talked about how his films have brought in HUGE profits despite being not much better than home movies! What a world!
The film begins with Cal Lewis being arrested. He's a scruffy looking serial killer and his look is somewhat reminiscent of Charles Manson. Soon after going to jail, he pulls out a hidden pair of scissors and kills a guard. He then escapes and goes on a killing rampage--and this is the theme of the film. Oddly, each time before he kills, he cuts himself--a weird way to get you in the mood, but this is one weird guy! At the same time we see this killer doing a bunch of random killings, there is another parallel story about a young TV news lady who is leaving her job. She visits a psychic who sees bad stuff in her future. Considering that Cal is running amok, the "bad stuff" hardly comes as a surprise.
So, apart from horribly cheap camera-work, what did I think of the film? Well, it wasn't good. The characters were all rather one-dimensional and there was absolutely no depth to the film. But, in a mindless way, it wasn't that bad either. Watchable but stupid.
Also, if you have ever seen the Ed Wood film "Glen or Glenda", take a look at the station manager in "Dimensions in Fear". This is Delores Fuller who co-starred in the Wood movie--and bad movie fiends (like myself) should find that pretty exciting--seeing her after all these years.
Sadly, Mikels' first film, "Strike Me Deadly" was a somewhat similar film, but managed to be quite good despite the limitations of the plot--and you might have predicted a promising future for the films. Yet that was done 35 years ago and since then, his movies have only gotten cheaper looking and dumber. However, I doubt if Mr. Mikels particularly minds, as his films have had such low budgets that they've made him a fortune! So he's probably laughing all the way to the bank!! I actually saw a little DVD extra with him recently and he seemed like a nice and very interesting guy--and he talked about how his films have brought in HUGE profits despite being not much better than home movies! What a world!
You know the frase So Bad that It's Good? Not this one
jensankjaer26 April 2024
This is so bad, it stinks! I don't even know where to begin. Sound: miserable. Music: amateurish. Acting: Un-BEAR-able! Even 1st year art students could never have concocted something as bad even if they tried. There's a quite good reason why you haven't heard about most of the "actors" in this mistake - they probably never got another offer. I once decided that I will avoid the perfect 10 or the absolutely imperfect 1 because it would set a standard by which it is impossible to get by. But this is just awful and 1 star is more than it deserves. I'm just happy that I won't have to see it again.
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