Fear Itself

This fascinating forage around film horror by director Charlie Lyne is a montage-of-clips affair, much like Beyond Clueless, his 2014 debut feature on teen flicks. Only don't expect a roll call of the usual scary-movie suspects. It's an eclectic collection with a lilting voiceover from actress Amy F Watson, which alludes to her own experiences of death and dread while teasing out how the notorious (The Exorcist, Peeping Tom), the weird (Lost Highway, Carnival of Souls) and the downright shocking (Martyrs) exacerbate our deepest fears. Ranging from the silent version of Nosferatu to unnerving teen chiller It Follows, Lyne's compelling tapestry of terror does include classics like Frankenstein, Jaws and Psycho (if not the obvious scenes). However, less familiar fare such as Elephant (both Alan Clarke and Gus Van Sant versions), Raat (Indian haunted-house yarn) and Tenderness of Wolves (serial-killing cannibal in wartime Germany) adds fresh bite to the director's meditations. It won't be to all tastes but there is much to ponder and intrigue in this dare-to-be-different documentary.