Fear City

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Fear City

R,

1984,

1h 37m,

Crime/

Drama

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Watchlist

Watchlist

69%

13 Reviews

Tomatometer

33%

1,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

69%

Tomatometer

13 Reviews

33%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

A killer is targeting New York City strippers, and world-weary policeman Al Wheeler (Billy Dee Williams) confronts sleazes Matt Rossi (Tom Berenger) and Nicky Parenzo (Jack Scalia), who have a hand in the local adult entertainment scene. Wheeler wants the duo to dig up some clues and threatens to find a reason to put them behind bars. But, as Matt watches his stripper ex-lover, Loretta (Melanie Griffith), cope with the murders through drug abuse, he decides to hunt down the killer himself.

Anton Bitel

Little White Lies

Mar 13, 2024

Falling somewhere between Taxi Driver, Maniac and neon-lit neo-noir, Ferrari’s tawdry feature anatomises Manhattan vice in much the way that the killer carves up his victims.

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Paul Attanasio

Washington Post

Jan 3, 2018

... there's something genuinely nauseating about the way "Fear City" traffics in women's bodies, alive and dead.

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Nick Schager

Lessons of Darkness

Apr 13, 2006

B

Has a bitterness and cynicism that's grimily, perversely romantic.

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Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

Mar 20, 2024

4/5

…trigger warnings apply to sensitive viewers drawn in by the pre-stardom big-name cast here, has a feel that’s as exploitative as the popular slasher movies at the time…in keeping with St John and Ferrara’s observation of a bleak, cruel universe.

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Luis Fernando Galván

En Filme

Nov 2, 2020

3/5

Provides a fascinating journey to a city that has gradually ceased to exist: that dirty, dangerous and rather hostile New York. [Full review in Spanish]

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Sep 6, 2020

2/10

Despite the visual genuineness of its unglamorous New York setting (a forte for director Abel Ferrara), the film isn't sure of what it wants to be.

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Abel Ferrara

Director

Tom Berenger

Matt Rossi

Billy Dee Williams

Al Wheeler

Melanie Griffith

Loretta

Jack Scalia

Nicky Parzeno

Rae Dawn Chong

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Synopsis

A killer is targeting New York City strippers, and world-weary policeman Al Wheeler (Billy Dee Williams) confronts sleazes Matt Rossi (Tom Berenger) and Nicky Parenzo (Jack Scalia), who have a hand in the local adult entertainment scene. Wheeler wants the duo to dig up some clues and threatens to find a reason to put them behind bars. But, as Matt watches his stripper ex-lover, Loretta (Melanie Griffith), cope with the murders through drug abuse, he decides to hunt down the killer himself.

Director: Abel Ferrara
Producer: Bruce Cohn Curtis, Jerry Tokofsky
Screenwriter: Nicholas St. John
Production Co: Twentieth Century Fox
Rating: R
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 23, 2018
Runtime: 1h 37m

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