If I could name my choice for the most misunderstood movie of 2002, then, without even thinking, that award would go to "Fear Dot Com." When it was released, generally the reviews you would read for it would be rather scathing and warning people to stay away from this so called incoherent film with no scared. The most positive thing I heard from a critic wen referring to this film was from Roger Ebert, who stated that it was a bad film with four star elements.

Normally, I side with a lot of critics when it comes to mainstream work, but here I just feel that that analysis is wrong. There is a lot more to this film that obviously escaped the critics. There is a level of genius and it is a work of a true visionary artist. I believe "Fear Dot Com" is a work of art, and I haven't said that about a horror film in a long time, because horror films like this rarely get made anymore. The movie exists on a level of surrealism that appears normal upon a glance, but when you take a deeper look, there are many layers that make this film what it has become. This movie has created a whole new world, and I like what I see.

Director William Malone had previously director “House on Haunted Hill,” which was well made, but there wasn't a whole lot of a point going on with it. It almost seemed like an excuse to get flashy or even graphic, but “Fear Dot Com” on the other hand, is the perfect movie for him to work with. He can take his unique directing style and incorporate it into a movie that needs a director like that to help the story and set the mood. The final minutes of “Fear Dot Com” are absolutely beautiful. Scenes look like something out of the silent film era and also the works of Italian horror. It blends them together with a quick pace and style that I have rarely seen before. Even those who pan this film say those moments are beautiful.

On the surface, “Fear Dot Com” may seem like a typical ghost story, but there is much to it than the tagline reads. A serial killer known as “The Doctor” kidnaps young women, sets them up in front of a webcam, then proceeds to torture them for two days all in front of a live audience. The killer is nearly impossible to trackdown given that he changes the url after every killing. The only person who has even come close to catching him is Det. Mike Reilly played by Stephen Dorff.

Something has gone wrong, though. One of the site previously run by “The Doctor” is up and running again. This time by a supernatural being intent on killing anyone who lays eyes on the site. When someone logs on to feardotcom.com, they end up dying 48 hours later by their biggest fear. Dorff then teams up with a woman from the health department (Natascha McElhone) to find out what is causing this mass hysteria among that site’s viewers.

The characters all live in a city that looks like something from the 1930’s. The set designs are beautiful and it really is a metaphor for how much we are different and how much we are alike when it comes to the two societies. The apartments have this huge, dark and damp, but weird Roman lush about them, yet when there is a high tech computer on the desk, you don’t think twice without an analysis.

This is a city, much like “Seven” or even “Dark City,” that exists in a world far different from ours, yet not far enough to where it isn’t believable. The scenes have a dark and morbid texture to them. It is either raining outside or it is night time.

There’s also a futuristic sense in “Fear Dot Com,” but it is a future with the right look and the right technology that makes us believe that we are almost there. I believe this was the well intention of the director.

Characters almost rely on the internet as a drug. It is a way to escape and a way to feed their sadistic desires. Reilly even points out that it is not uncommon to look at a site like feardotcom.com and compares it to reality death tapes. The victims of the site are not necessarily bad people, but it looks at it through the point of view of those who are actually on the website, with the fear site being brought back by one of those tortured by “The Doctor.” Because of that, this is ultimately a revenge story, and it is also one of the most sadistic mainstream movies I’ve seen since ׆mm.” It’s a revenge story with a huge touch of originality.

If I was to have any complaint about the film, it would probably be that, no matter how likable Dorff and McElhone are in their parts, their characters are a bit underwritten when it comes to the heavy weight that accompanies everything around them. There personalities are fine, but there isn’t anything surprising about anything that they do in this investigation as far as their actions are concerned. You know that they’re going to log onto that site, and you know that they are going to prevent the future fatalities and save the current victim. It’s the only complaint I have, but it’s a complaint that I can live with.

The DVD was released just recently by Warner Bros. and I bought it the day it came out. The extras aren’t too bad, ranging from an odd deleted scene in a mushroom factory, director commentary, the trailer, and also a featurette. The DVD rom contains even more extras and they give us an insight at the intention from the writer and the director on where they wanted to go with “Fear Dot Com.” They tell everything that the critics missed.

“Fear Dot Com” was originally given an NC-17 by the MPAA and I’m a bit disappointed that the movie wasn’t released on DVD in an uncut version. Even with its R rating, it still serves as an extremely graphic piece of work. There are scenes of mutilation and torture in this movie that are shown in quick flashes, but they stay in your head just as long as a movie with long and drawn out scenes of torture. Not only is this a creepy and disturbing horror film, but it is also a movie that reflects on our current state of technology and mixes it in with fantasy. You may love this movie, or you may hate it, but there are huge things going on in this movie that I wish the critics had seen. It almost stunned me how they treated this unique film. They are wrong. This movie is not a failure. This movie is a success.

Recommended: Yes