Before becoming the critics’ darling with his bleak and gritty art dramas, Abel Ferrara was making his name with exploitation films. Some of those were bleak and gritty too. That included his 1984 crime thriller Fear City.
The protagonist, played by Tom Berenger, is Matt Rossi, former boxer who, together with his best friend Nicky Parzeno (played by Jack Scalia), runs New York City talents agency specialised in providing exotic dancers to New York City strip clubs. Matt, still troubled over killing an opponent in ring during the match that ended his career, is constantly reminded of Loretta (played by Melanie Griffith), successful glamorous stripper and former girlfriend, who is now in lesbian relationship with another stripper named Leila (played by Rae Dawn Chong). When strippers become target of a vicious psychopath (played by John Foster) who mutilates and kills them, Matt gets questioned by police detective Al Wheeler (played by Billy Dee Williams), convinced that the bloodshed has something to do with business rivalries and organised crime. Matt, who is connected with mob boss Carmine (played by Rossano Brazzi), must find the killer and deal with him in his own way before Loretta, who has started using drugs again, becomes the next victim.
The most interesting thing about Fear City is that works as time capsule for the pre-Giuliani New York City or, to be more precise, its grittiest and sleaziest parts that include strip clubs, drug addiction and rampant street violence. Ferrara and his screenwriter Nicholas St. John use this setting to provide as much exploitation content as possible, which include not only graphic violence but also plenty of opportunity to watch many disrobed women, including main female star Melanie Griffith which appears in top form while performing quite an impressive strip act in the beginning of the film. However, all this content is glued together with often incoherent script that meanders between different genres, so Fear City could be seen as psychological drama, gangster film, (literally) slasher film or, ultimately, martial arts film. It is the latter than brings the film to end in the scene where the protagonist must use his rusty but still effective boxing prowess against killer who has trained in kung fu and other Oriental martial arts. The last showdown makes Fear City almost parodical and the entire film can be viewed as parody of many 1980s action films cliches. Those include not only training montage, but also Billy Dee Williams’ character of tough policeman with catchy one-liners, who, however, actually doesn’t do much in the entire film. Another problem for Fear City is an awful music score by Dick Haligan and Joe Delia which could test the patience of even the most enthusiastic fans of 1980s exploitation cinema. Tom Berenger, on the other hand, is more than adequate in his complicated role of strong silent type with inner demons he has to face. The rest of cast, which includes Italian cinema veteran Rosano Brazzi and many notable names that would, like Maria Conchita Alonzo, make better films in the future, help Fear City to become watchable and mildly entertaining, but hardly anything above it.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
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