KNOW FEAR Review – A Contained Creepfest of New House Curiosity
Starring Amy Carlson, Mallory Bechtel, and David Alan Basche
Written by Adam Ambrosio and Jamison M. LoCascio
Directed by Jamison M. LoCascio
For many of us, moving into a new house can be nerve-wracking but also become a new horizon of discovery. There are many ventures and explorations I have encountered with moving into various new domiciles. Having archeological tendencies in my youth, what I found fascinating in my excursions within a new place is not only the architectural history of a house but all of the objects left behind by previous owners. While some findings were amazing, others would frighten and fill me with dread.
Know Fear, a film produced by Film Valor, gives us a prime example of how certain things left in a house shouldn’t be touched, much less explored.
After a strange incident occurs within a house and the occupants mysteriously vanish, the house is bought by Donald (David Allen Basche) and his wife Wendy (Amy Carlson). They move in and unpack with the help of their nephew Charlie (Jack DiFalco) and niece Jami (Mallory Bechel) who aspires to be a ghost hunter. When Wendy comes across a strange book left in the house by the previous occupants, she begins to act strangely. When Jami reveals that the book that Wendy discovers is a demonic ritual book and that the only way the demon can be banished is that three individuals must be able to see it, hear it, and speak to it. Trapped in the house with Wendy’s teaching assistant Nancy (Meeya Davis), the group attempts to call out and battle the demon which haunts the house.
Co-writer and director Jamison M. Locascio crafts a creepy tale of contained suspense and horror as a family has to fight a demonic presence. Know Fear adds a dark and foreboding atmosphere combined with claustrophobia that gives you the feel of darkened walls closing in on the family with peril at every turn which culminates in a grisly endgame.
The small cast is splendid with each of the ensemble players expertly executing each role. Mr. Basche as the advice-giving, anguished uncle Donald, Ms. Carlson as the inquisitive turned possessed wife Wendy, Mr. DiFalco as the thick, angst-riddled nephew Charlie, Ms. Bechtel as the adventurous but reckless niece Jami, and Ms. Davis as the ambitious but trapped teaching assistant Nancy. They display each character’s vulnerabilities accurately as every one of their flaws becomes fodder for the fiendish entity within the residence.
Summary
If you like haunted houses mixed with possession, this tension-laced horror thriller will entice and enthrall you throughout every frame and its creep-filled, gruesome aftermath will dare to delight.