Fear City: A Family-Style Comedy

1994
7.5| 1h33m| en
Details

A second-class horror movie has to be shown at Cannes Film Festival, but, before each screening, the projectionist is killed by a mysterious fellow, with hammer and sickle, just as it happens in the film to be shown.

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Reviews

Steineded How sad is this?
Executscan Expected more
Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
writers_reign During the last forty years France has seen at least three comedy ensembles graduate from boulevard theatre or television to the big screen and if Splendid has the best track record in terms of both ensemble films - le pere noel est un ordure, les bronzes - etc plus individual actors - Thierry Thermitte, Josiane Balasko, Gerard Jugnot, michel blanc, ann-marie chazal, actor/writer/director - Balasko, Blanc, Jugnot, this is not to say that the likes of Les Nuls (Alain Chabat) and Les Robins des bois (Marina Fois, Jean-Paul Rouve) were chopped liver. City of Fear marked the big-screen debut of Les Nuls and it turned out to be an auspicious debut in every way. It is, of course, very French so that many of the verbal gags will be lost on non-French speakers who rely on subtitles but against that there are lots of sight gags which are, of course, International. Time will tell if it holds up as well as, say, Le Pere Noel but it certainly works the first time around.
dbdumonteil This is "Les Nuls"'s first movie and if it isn't a masterpiece, it's an enjoyable comedy. Odile Deray is the press attaché for the film "Red Is Dead" but the film is so dumb that reporters don't want to promote it. However, the projectionist is killed and due to this it creates a great publicity around the movie and meanwhile murders go on. Then Deray is asking a cop (Serge Karamasov) to protect not only the projectionists but also the main star of the film: Simon Jérémi.... Alain Berbérian and "Les Nuls" have made a funny film which is full of clever visuals and ringing brainwaves; the best example is the murder of the fourth projectionist when "Les Nuls" are adding the sound effects to the scene themselves! Moreover, the comic of the film is very fanciful and there are some useless elements but it's because they are useless that they are funny. For example, we learn Patrick Bialès's whole life (the main inspector of Cannes) but it brings nothing to the plot! The screenplay, in spite of several weaknesses, is inspired and full of numerous details and sentences that score the bull's eye.The movie is well made thanks to its actors too and I am under the impression that they, voluntarily, don't take themselves seriously , especially Gérard Darmon who is irresistible in his first appearance when he answers the reporters in several languages! Even famous French actors have got a small role (Tcheky Karyo, Daniel Gélin, Jean-Pierre Bacri and Eddy Mitchell are in the projectionists' roles)! At last the film is obviously a parody of horror and detective films. I think about "Psycho" when the projectionists are killed. To sum up: a fanciful but efficient comedy and if you watch it for the first time, you might be disappointed. You have to watch it several times to appreciate it. It happened with me.
missmarmite Having "discovered" Alain Chabat only a couple of days ago I didn't know if I would like this film, despite all the other good comments it got. This is because I don't speak French. I watched the French version with English subtitles, because it wasn't available with German ones. And I can deeply assure everyone who thinks about seeing this piece of art: Do it! It's hilarious, wild, crazy and above all French! After only five minutes into the film I had tears of laughter running down my cheek. I think nobody will fail to notice the huge amount of jokes in this film, if you know any French or not. Most of the comedy is of physical nature, there are of course some puns but never mind. Just go and see it. Or better buy it instantly as you will want to see it over and over again! I promise!
krikouil "Les Nuls" (actors and writers in this movie) started in a TV show (a kind of the "Saturday Night Live" on french TV Canal+) and have decided to end their TV adventure by making a film. "La Cité de la peur" can be seen if one doesn't know their TV shows: it's terrific, very funny. But there are too some personal references which develop the comic of the situations. In summary, everybody loves this film: a cult film that I have seen a lot of times. I think that I will watch it during all my life!!