{"id":27963,"date":"2024-02-12T01:19:41","date_gmt":"2024-02-12T09:19:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=27963"},"modified":"2024-02-12T01:19:41","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T09:19:41","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-fear-is-the-key-1972","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=27963","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: FEAR IS THE KEY (1972)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray from Arrow Video will be\navailable to purchase on February 13th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In 1971, the Barry Newman picture Vanishing Point<\/em> made\nan immediate impression. The story of a man driving across the country on\namphetamines in something of a surreal, spiritual journey was not well received\nby US audiences, but was successful in the UK and Europe. International grosses\nprompted a North American rerelease where the movie began to find its audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fear is the Key<\/em> seemingly has no connection, except\nfor the lead actor Newman. The UK film is based on a 1961 novel by Alistair\nMacLean about a man seeking revenge who tracks his target to an oil rig. But\nafter watching the finished product, one can see a major similarity between the\ntitles and understand why fans of the cult film that preceded it would be\nentertained by this picture. Arrow Video is delivering a Blu-ray of the movie\nwith plenty of informative extras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story begins with John Talbot (Newman) talking on the\nradio to someone who is clearly a family member and others on a private flight.\nSuddenly, gunfire erupts and Talbot loses contact with them. Some years later,\nthe protagonist shows up in Louisiana and starts a fight at a gas\nstation\/diner. Police arrive and Talbot goes to trial, where it is revealed\nthat he has recently killed a police officer and is on the run from the law.\nSitting in the courtroom is Sarah Ruthven (Suzy Kendall), who is immediately\ntaken hostage by the criminal as he tries to make a break for freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After a lengthy pursuit, the pair are detained by Jablonsky\n(Dolph Sweet) and taken to the home of Sarah\u2019s father, Ruthven (Ray McAnally)\nand his business associate, Vyland (John Vernon). Vyland and his Royale (Ben\nKingsley, in his first role) are clearly sinister figures and give Talbot an\nassignment. If the lead can help them operate an oil rig submersible and\nretrieve something for them, they will let him go. As the story progresses,\nmore is revealed about Talbot and these figures. By now, you may have already\nguessed that Talbot does have an ulterior motive that is eventually revealed\ntowards the end of the picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Admittedly, it\u2019s all a bit of a stretch dramatically, seeing as his elaborate plan requires him to perfectly predict the actions of those it is aimed at as well as random strangers whose paths they cross, but the film is helped by its great performances. Vernon always makes for an entertainingly slimy villain and Kingsley makes an impression as his intense right-hand man. Of course, Barry Newman is a blast to watch, also brimming with a quiet fury and blunt manner in a way that somehow still doesn\u2019t come off as cruel or antagonistic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And, seeing as Newman just came off Vanishing Point<\/em>, the other major highlight is a jaw-dropping 20-minute plus car chase during the first act. The earlier film must have been the inspiration for this, as one can\u2019t imagine the book having a 50-page chase right off the bat. Police cars chase the protagonist and veer through a small town (filled with confused onlookers) and highways. There is a wild jump onto a ferry, before the pursuit restarts and follows the characters through the bayou over wooden slats and other unique challenges. Sharp-eyes viewers will see a camera lens get cracked by stones during the exciting sequence, adding to the danger. It\u2019s all stunning to watch and looks incredible on the Blu-ray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The film then veers into drama with Talbot at the home of\nRuthven, before heading to the oil rig for a few more confrontations and an\nunusual climax set under the water. This bit is another aspect of the story\nthat received a bit of criticism over the years because it is relatively\nlow-key and involves the main characters yapping at each other rather than\ndelivering action. This reviewer does agree that one aspect of the finale\ndoesn\u2019t quite work. The film actually would have been more effective on an emotional\nlevel with a darker close in which Talbot stays true to his word. However, this\napproach certainly wouldn\u2019t have helped it reach an audience. The end result is\nstill intriguing throughout with a car chase that ranks among the best of the\nera and, even if it never tops that chase scene, is still a lot of fun to\nwatch. It\u2019s a strange but effective picture with plenty of memorable moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The image quality generally looks good. The daylight set car\nmayhem is crisp and looks spectacular, but later sections set at night around\nthe mansion are grainy. Clearly, the original footage may have been\nunderexposed and later bumped up a stop or two which is the reason, so nothing\ncan really be done about it. At least things appear great again whenever the\ncharacters return indoors. Overall, it\u2019s the best presentation of the film to\ndate and probably as good as it can possibly look.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The extras are very entertaining as well. There is a fun\nvideo essay on the movie that details its history and adaptations of author\nMacLean\u2019s written works. You won\u2019t necessarily agree with all of the claims\nmade about the titles and how this movie\u2019s connection to spy cinema and James\nBond pictures of the era, but the perspective is interesting and there are some\ngreat details.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a featurette about composer Roy Budd and his\nmemorable score for the film. The historian involved goes over the jazz-infused\nbeats and describes how they elevate the movie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Additionally, there is an archival interview with associate\nproducer Gavrik Losey who describes how the project came together, as well as a\nseries of talks with various crew members. Viewers hear about where the funding\ncame from and how easy it was to work with the film\u2019s executive producer. This\nmoney-man enjoyed MacLean\u2019s work, and so it was simply a matter of putting the\nstar and other pieces together, then being left alone to complete the project.\nMany note how much easier things are when multiple figures aren\u2019t putting their\nideas in and complicating matters. They also go into experiences arriving in\nLouisiana and some of the strange attitudes the authorities had in the town\nwhere they shot. The interviewees also describe the shooting process for the\nfamous chase. It\u2019s all fascinating stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And of course, there is also a film historian commentary.\nThis critic is a fan of the movie and explains why he enjoys it, bringing some\nattention to Kendal\u2019s effective work adding looks and responses to things going\non around her, elevating the story\u2019s underwritten and sole female character in\nthe story. He gives background information on all the cast and crew and\naddresses some of the story inconsistencies while still expressing a strong\nadmiration for the picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fear is the Key<\/em> isn\u2019t perfect (well, that car chase is) but it is a fairly gripping thriller that boasts better performances than expected and some exhilarating moments. The story does have some issues, but the locations are fresh and the action and confrontations are spectacular when they do occur. Anyone who appreciates Newman\u2019s work or is a fan of Vanishing Point<\/em> from the previous year owes it to themselves to also pick up this Blu-ray. Besides Bullitt, The French Connection<\/em> and the previously mentioned feature may feature the best car chase of its era, but the work in this lesser-seen effort ranks alongside those titles. This disc is certainly recommended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray from Arrow Video will be available to purchase on February 13th. In 1971, the Barry Newman picture Vanishing Point made an immediate impression. The story of a man driving across the country on amphetamines in something of a surreal, spiritual journey was not well received by US audiences, but was successful […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":27975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[103,697,1836,2320,2529,2928,2933,3886,7375,7376,7377,10913,15705,19434,23685],"class_list":["post-27963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-103","tag-action","tag-arrow-video","tag-barry-newman","tag-ben-kingsley","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review","tag-blasts-from-the-past-2","tag-car-chase","tag-fear-is-the-key","tag-fear-is-the-key-blu-ray-review","tag-fear-is-the-key-review","tag-john-vernon","tag-paramount","tag-suzy-kendall","tag-vanishing-point"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27963\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}