AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Peereddi I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Martin Teller A struggling writer and his family are visited at their remote mountain farm by his brother -- a wounded bank robber on the lam. Cornel Wilde directed eight films in his lifetime (seven of them, like this one, starring himself) and this was his first. And a superior first film it is, one I liked much more than NAKED PREY. Elevated far above the usual hostage drama by the strained familial relations and internal strife within each group. The interactions between the players are leaden with sorrow, failure and the ghosts of past regrets. Every character occupies a gray area, conflicted and/or damaged. Even the young boy plays a crucial role beyond being just an adorable moppet in jeopardy. The exception is the sidekick character who is pretty much your standard bad guy, but even he is given life with an engaging performance by Steven Hill. The whole cast is great: Lee Grant as the shabby dame, Jean Wallace as the wife with some secrets of her own, Dan Duryea again impressing me with a role outside his usual mold, Dennis Weaver as the hired hand, and of course Wilde. He makes an interesting choice to play the character with a slight stammer, hinting at the doubts that gnaw at him. The script is thoughtful and gripping, with a few great hard-boiled zingers for Grant and Hill. I also have to mention the music, yet another sublime score by Elmer Bernstein. This is an outstanding picture that takes unexpected turns and is heavy with melancholy and desperation. It needs a restoration and DVD release immediately.

David Hoffman Storm Fear is a contrast of brothers, both of whom have failed in life. Cornel Wilde plays the `bad' brother, fleeing from a bank robbery. Dan Duryea is the `good' brother who can't come to grips with his own artistic and personal failures. I do not like Cornel Wilde, yet I found he created a sympathetic, very human `good-for-nothing', a surprisingly less intelligent role for a lead actor to play. Duryea, on the other hand, is much less sympathetic, perhaps because he is reaching for stars that are obviously out of his grasp. Jean Wallace is quite good as Duryea's wife and Wilde's former lover. She effectively straddles the worlds of both men. Steven Hill portrays the unstable member of Wilde's gang, but he doesn't seem quite sure how far to take his character at times.This should have been more claustrophobic with 6 people cooped up in a house in a snow storm, but the script handles this nicely. The film gives the appearance of being an inexpensive production; yet, it makes the most of what is there in set, actors, etc. Wilde does a credible job of directing. Elmer Bernstein's score is a plus. The ending, however, is totally unsatisfactory, obviously bowing to conventions of the mid 50s when uncompromising films were not the norm.

helpless_dancer A husband and wife plus their son are visited by the husband's brother and his gang after the thugs pull off a bank heist. The meeting stirs up a lot of trouble, and dredges up old memories and desires. Great dramatic finale as the thieves try to escape over the mountain.

CRH Cornel Wilde is excellent in this dark drama about a group of hoods on the run who show up at the door of a remote home snow bound in winter. We learn more about the relationship between the leader of the hoods (Cornel Wilde) and the family he's holding captive as the move unfolds. Very tense, engrossing film that you won't want to take your eyes off.