The Lurking Fear (2023) Review – A Jumbled and Incoherent Mess

Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today we are going to be reviewing The Lurking Fear from 2023.

If you came here looking for an ending explained article, because, let’s be real, this movie needs one, you have come to the right place. Click right here to check out our The Lurking Fear Ending Explained article.

Lovecraftian but not really

Just look at the breakdown of this movie. Michael Madsen stars.. Awesome! Big fan of his for years. Robert Davi; still doing his thing in 2023. Can you believe The Goonies released nearly 40 years ago? Experienced cast; one of the directors starred in Francis Ford Coppola’s amazing gang drama The Outsiders from 1983. This is all, legitimately, promising…. Wait! It’s a Tubi Original? Son of a bitch!

“Experienced cast; Michael Madsen and Robert Davi; this is all, legitimately, promising. Wait! It’s a Tubi Original? Son of a bitch!”

You may recognise the title The Lurking Fear from H.P Lovecraft’s 1922 short story of the same name. A tale of a hunter investigating the legend of the Martense family, only to find horrific secrets that lead to him destroying the Martense mansion and the surrounding hillsides. The film in question here is, rather loosely, based on the story.

A group of television paranormal experts investigate an abandoned asylum to uncover its sordid past. Little do they realise that there may be more to the legends than meets the eye. The somewhat interesting, though wildly overdone, premise of a crazed scientist exploiting vulnerable people for his own gain offers up a glimmer of hope but the problems start right away.

A bloated cast is introduced to the viewer at breakneck speed, leaving no small degree of confusion regarding who is who. All while we are exposed to an elaborate explanation of the asylum’s history complete with vague flashbacks. It’s all very difficult to keep track of.

It keeps on getting worse

Things only get worse as scenes continue to skip around with no rhyme or reason. One minute we are in the asylum, the next minute we are in some woman’s house. The next we are by a trailer, only to be back in the asylum again a few minutes later. It is painfully clumsy and the continuity feels a complete mess. Scenes roll by in an almost nonsensical manner, feeling haphazardly placed and almost random in their ordering.

We literally go from the crew talking in the asylum, to a scene of a crew member dropping to the floor. Only to learn that the crew is now missing because the host didn’t call his wife for a couple of hours. Prompting her to make the 14 hour trip from New York to Jacksonville to go looking for him. It feels really mess and extremely silly and this is a theme of the entire movie.

Poorly edited and directed

There is absolutely no flow at all to The Lurking Fear. Rarely will you see such a messy narrative in horror; nearly every scene switch is jarring. Continually forcing you to try and work out where you are in the story. The aforementioned 14 hour drive is a ten second sequence showing Crystal checking a map, driving for a second or two, and then the New York skyline. The next scene is Crystal walking in the park because she, somehow, knows the exact place the local Sheriff is hanging out. Only for her to be at the asylum two seconds later. It jumps around continually.

Things only get worse from here as the scenes inside the asylum become really jumbled. It’s a mix of flashbacks, recordings on cameras, scenes of Crystal walking around, scenes of another group of people trying to find Crystal and things apparently moving in the dark.

“Rarely will you see such a messy narrative in horror; nearly every scene switch is jarring, forcing you to try and work out where you are in the story.”

The only explanation for this is a terrible edit, poor writing and some seriously lacklustre direction. I can only imagine that Dalton and Gillings didn’t have a concrete timeline for how to put the events together. So filmed a whole bunch of scenes, a ton of excess stuff to fill in the gaps, and then slapped it on the desk of an inexperienced editor. Whatever the reason, it makes The Lurking Fear a very tough watch. Both hard to follow and, at times, rather confusing.

No scares at all

Although the large, dark, dreary asylum makes for a pretty intimidating location, it never feels particularly dangerous. It never feels like characters are at a serious risk of getting lost and the external shots show plenty of green space. Graffiti adorns the walls lending a feeling of “well if kids can graffiti in here I am sure our massive film crew is just fine“. The predictable nature of the story doesn’t help. You will see every single plot twist coming and you will probably work out exactly what is going on almost instantly.

Terrible makeup work lends the movie a hint of the hokey. Attempts to revolt the viewer actually end up provoking laughs in what becomes an almost child like interpretation of torture-porn. It’s seriously comical stuff in parts. Despite the writer’s attempts to channel some visceral reaction of shock from the person watching, it just feels cheesy and rather silly. Especially in later scenes where the reality of the asylum is more clear.

Our characters are picked off one by one in classic generic horror fashion. While one character is dragged in and out of the asylum on numerous occasions in what can only be described as a sort of merry-go-round of false endings. It’s like the writer wanted a few shots at actually putting together a cohesive ending. Instead vomiting up a final 30 minutes that make about as much sense as your average fever dream. 

“The result is a movie that’s only redeeming factor is seeing Michael Madsen making it up as he goes along because he couldn’t give a toss. Just skip it.”

Throw in a ton of terrible acting, including from Michael Madsen who hasn’t even bothered to learn his lines, constantly ad-libbing and throwing in the phrase “you know” to buffer his stilted speech (but who can blame him, really?). And you have an, ultimately, awful horror movie that has nothing to recommend, in the slightest.

Our Scoring Philosophy: A Fair Fight

Horror is a genre that thrives thanks to indie film makers and low budget creators. At Knockout Horror, we firmly believe that every movie that we review deserves a fair fight. That's why we grade on a curve. Our star ratings are all about context, judging a film on what it achieves with the resources it has.

A 4-star rating for a scrappy indie horror made for $10,000 is a testament to its ingenuity and raw power. A 4-star rating for a $100 million blockbuster means it delivered on its epic promises. We don't compare them side-by-side; we celebrate success in every weight class, from the back-alley brawler to the heavyweight champion. Please keep this in mind when considering star ratings.

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