I am a big fan of horror movies. It all started when I saw the film Prophecy (Talia Shire, Armand Assante) when I was 11 years old. I saw it in the movie theater. I was so scared that I was afraid to use the restroom at the theater without my mom coming in with me. 🙂 To this day the idea of the bear from the film (I refer to him as the “inside out bear”) freaks me out. Between him and Jason (Friday the 13th movies) I don’t think I could ever go camping in the woods. LOL!
I heard about a film called Nothing Left to Fear. It’s from Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Slash’s production company, Slasher Films. Slash used to play with Guns & Roses. I was surprised that he had a film production company (It doesn’t surprise me that he would dabble in horror films).
I researched the film and found out that it was inspired by the legend of Stull, Kansas. One of the cemeteries found in Stull, Kansas, is believed to be a gateway to hell. There are supposedly there are several of them around the world.
Even though it’s an urban legend people still flock to the cemetery, especially on Halloween. The place is heavily guarded by the Police and they make frequent arrests for trespassers.
The trailer for the film looks good too.
I am thrilled that I had a chance to screen the film.
Nothing Left to Fear is the story of a family – Dan, a pastor, his wife Wendy and their three children. They were invited by a small community in Stall, Kansas to take over after their current pastor retires.
Everything seems ideal. The community welcomes the family with open arms, even helping them to move their belongings into the home and baking them cakes and breads.
No sooner did they move in does their oldest daughter, Rebecca, stars to have grisly visions. They are so vivid that they appear to be real.
Rebecca also meets a boy from town, Noah. This handsome charmer is hiding something from her, but she can’t figure it out.
Rebecca’s younger sister, Mary, becomes ill after almost swallowing a nail (as in a claw nail – not the kind you hammer) that was embedded in a cake that was given to the family when they moved in. Noah plays it off as an accident – telling the girls that the lady who baked the cake is very old and it probably fell in there by mistake. Or did it?
As the days go on Rebecca is becoming more suspicious of the towns people, especially the creepy former pastor. She also becomes closer to Noah and starts to have feelings for him.
Mary appears to have recovered from the nail incident, that is until she becomes gravely ill at a community carnival. The pastor finds her and whisks her off to a sacrificial site in town to sacrifice her to the devil. The sacrifice doesn’t kill her, but it does change her. Mary is then taken back to her family. Or is it REALLY Mary that returns home to the family? And what is going on with the people in town? Could Rebecca’s bizarre visions have anything to do with what is going on? To find out you need to pick up a copy of Nothing Left to Fear which is available on Blu-ray and DVD.
The movie was very slow in the beginning. Things really didn’t pick up until Mary (or whatever she was at this point) returned home to her family after she was sacrificed. There is a chase scene around town that was the high point of the film. Sadly that doesn’t come until towards the end.
I honestly don’t “get” the film. There were “holes” in the film that were left unanswered. Perhaps if the film gave a little more insight into things it might have made more sense. For example, they sacrificed Mary to what I would suspect was the devil (or a demon). I thought a sacrifice was suppose to appease an evil entity, not turn the sacrificial person into whatever “it” is. Why would the towns people want to call upon the devil (or a demon) to come into this world and go around and kill innocent people?
The film also failed to explain what happened to Noah’s family and why he was living with the pastor.
There were also a lot of references to sheep which I didn’t understand. Unless it had to do with the bible. I’m not sure.
The movie it’s self was confusing, and as I mentioned, slow in the beginning. The last 15 minute was the best part of the film as far as creepiness goes. The special effects were pretty good too.
I wouldn’t think movie would scare too many people, unless you are overly squeamish. This is probably best suited for a teen sleepover party not for a die hard horror movie fan.
The Blu-ray comes with special features too;
- Audio Commentary with Producer/Composer Slash, Composer Nicholas O’Toole and Director Anthony Leonardi III
- Nothing Left to Fear: Behind the Scenes
I’m not a fan of commentary so I skipped that feature. I did check out the behind the scenes feature. I always love to hear how a movie came to be and what it was like shooting the film from the cast and crew.
Look for Nothing Left to Fear where ever movies are sold.
Kimberly
*I received a free screener in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.