Too much of everything

People are voting emotionally.

How sad is this?

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Action takes precedence over characterization in "Fear Is The Key", but that's not necessarily a bad thing. There are great car stunts in the first half, and a memorable climax set underwater. Some of the plot twists are rather obvious, and John Vernon's casting gives away the identity of the chief bad guy almost instantly. Not that he doesn't make an excellent bad guy, as does Ben Kingsley, playing a seriously creepy hit-man in his film debut. Barry Newman is a solid antihero who sheds the "anti" as the film proceeds. Suzy Kendall is beautiful but not asked to do much, except for her participation in one close-quarters fight scene where she tries to help Newman. A successful film on its own modest terms. **1/2 out of 4.

'Fear Is The Key' is an underrated action movie from 1972, based on the bestselling novel by Alistair Maclean. When I was at school, Mac's books were on the list of most popular 'behind the bike shed' reading, along with Fleming's 'James Bond' novels, 'Jaws' by Peter Benchley, and 'The Exorcist' by William Peter Blatty. Mac knew how to spin a yarn alright. Much of his stuff was filmed, including 'The Guns Of Navarone', 'The Satan Bug', 'Ice Station Zebra', and 'Puppet On A Chain'.'Fear' opens in Louisiana, as an unnamed man ( Barry Newman ) is in radio contact with a plane. Suddenly it is shot out of the sky, and crashes. He looks mortified. We then move to a bar, where the same man raises a fuss because he cannot get a drink on a Sunday. He then beats up cops when they try to arrest him. He winds up in court, and here we learn his name is John Talbot, a former underwater salvage expert wanted by Interpol. Also present is Sarah Ruthven ( Suzy Kendall ). Before he can be sentenced, Talbot escapes, taking Suzy as hostage. In a stolen car, they are chased relentlessly.That's enough plot. To tell you more would be to spoil it. Suffice to say, that Talbot is not what he seems and the stakes are bigger than they first appear. A very good supporting cast includes John Vernon and Ben Kingsley ( in his first movie role ).Roy Budd wrote the music, and as you'd expect coming from the guy who scored 'Get Carter' its first-rate.The action is fast ( that car chase goes on forever! ), and Newman looks cool as the hero. Kendall ( a former wife of Dudley Moore ) is stunning, and refreshingly we never see her getting it on with Talbot.Some have commented on the 'anti-climactic' ending, but I disagree. It is the same as the one in the book, and the film makers were right to use it. It is incredibly tense ( and as an asthmatic myself, I sympathise with the hero's plight! ) and rounds the film off perfectly. If you liked the other Maclean movies, you ought to like this too.Michael Tuchner, the director, made the Richard Burton gangster drama 'Villain' the year before.

I like Alistair MacLean's books, so I approached this film with a sense of dread. Could it be another MacLean book ruined on the big screen, like Bear Island, Caravan to Vaccares or River of Death? Fortunately, this is perhaps the best of all the MacLean's film adaptations. It begins with the most extraordinary car chase imaginable (far better than the much touted one in The French Connection) and never relaxes from that point on. To reveal much of the plot would be a spoiler, but suffice to say that the hero spends most of the film acting as the bad guy, trying to confuse some crooks that he's on their side so that he can get into their organisation and carry out his terrible revenge plan. Barry Newman is terrific as the hero, in a role similar to his Vanishing Point character. John Vernon is a mean villain, too, and Dolph Sweet has a short but pivotal role as a friendly insider. It's impossible to guess what will happen next, but the final scene brings everything together brilliantly, and leaves you quite literally gasping for air. See this soon!!

Fine actioner based on Alistair MacLane's novel holds a few surprises for those lucky enough to catch this underrated gem. An unorthodox and at times bitty script is held together by an amiable cast including a young Ben Kingsley (debuting with a full head of hair) surprisingly in his only film before his Oscar winning performance of 'Ghandi' ten years later.The screenplay is a crafty one, with Barry Newman ploughing through the first half of the film seemingly out of control and playing a role hauntingly similar to his one in 'Vanishing Point' keeping the viewer guessing what's going to happen next and why. After a slightly boggy, espionage filled middle act the film coolly builds to a dramatic nail-biting finale and it is only here in the film's dying moments do you actually discover the truth. Though the ending may not quite reach some viewers expectations, it does wrap things up succinctly, making the thrills on the way (including a fine car chase that bursts from a courthouse breakout) all the more worthwhile.