tiffanie_says_stay_in_your_lane Review of Stark Fear

Stark Fear (1962)

Frightening, bizarre, unsettling... It was like watching a Halloween movie

[1/10 · 14 January 2023]

I thought I'd give this movie a try. I was curious to see how filmmakers approached spousal abuse - in this case, a man abusing his wife - during the early 1960s. Ellen Winslow's (Beverly Garland) husband Gerald (Skip Homeier) abuses her verbally and physically, and is plotting to kill her. He leaves town, and what does she do? She goes looking for him. Okay, I understand Stockholm syndrome is a real thing, but at the same time, I couldn't help but think she was insane for going on a search to find him. She was putting herself at risk of getting killed. Even if he wasn't plotting to kill her, a man who belittles and puts his hands on his wife has no impulse control, and is therefore unpredictable, so she could end up getting killed either way. I'm usually not bothered by movies that address sensitive topics, but this was probably the most disturbing film I have ever seen. It was so tiresome to watch Ellen's body get violated over and over again. When she's on her quest to find her husband, every man she encounters handles her as if she's a rag doll. The creepiest scene was when she was sitting in a truck with a man who was her husband's friend. He's drinking, she takes the bottle from him and pours it out of the passenger side window where she's sitting, then he yanks the bottle from her, she gets out, stumbles into the middle of a group of Native Americans having a pow wow, and they push her around until she's ejected from their circle. I won't even tell what happens next because it's so horrible. Let's just say, sexual violence occurred, and it happened in a cemetery all places. What drugs were the writers using to think of something that sick??? I thought portraying the Native Americans as being aggressive was racist. Also, the male actors who were chosen to play in the film looked scary. To each their own, but I thought Stark Fear was awful. It was a depressing story with terrible acting and poor editing. For example, when Ellen is at a party, you keep hearing the same woman's laugh. Nope, I'm never watching this again. Dramas that are being made today look like unicorns and rainbows compared to this. It's obvious the film was made with a low budget and that's a shame.