Fear Of Rain (2021), Madison Iseman, Katherine Heigl – (Horror Movie Review)

Last Updated on July 6, 2022

PLOT: A young teen with a violent case of schizophrenia gets one last chance for reform before the state takes her away. Trying to cope and re-adjust as her mental state seems to worsen, She suspects her next-door neighbor may or may not be holding a child captive in her attic.

LOWDOWN: Taking place in the warm and beautiful (if not a bit crazy) state of Flordia, Rain Burroughs (Madison Iseman) is our unreliable narrator who sets up situations in her mind, ala being chased by a killer in the woods when its something else entirely. One night Rain hears the screams of a child, and when she looks out her bedroom window, she sees a little girl dragged away from her neighbor’s window. How can this be, as her neighbor is the local Highschool teacher? This is the basic idea of Fear Of Rain(WATCH IT HERE), and in concept, It’s a fun idea that you can mess around with, play with perspective and give the audience a trippy experience. Too bad Fear Of Rain amounts to the horror equivalent of an overpriced watered-down whiskey you’d get at a ball game. It’ll do in a pinch, but you still lose in the end.

Let’s start with the good. Madison Iseman carries this whole damn movie on her shoulders. Rain is a girl who can’t trust her own sense of reality, and with a lesser actress, this could have been downright hilarious, but Iseman gives Rain the perfect amount of heart and vulnerability to make the audience care. I found myself genuinely rooting for her, even if the story and its execution of it was a cluttered mess. There are a few moments, like, when Rain is painting or cooking lunch for her family, that we get a good sense of the character, and her chemistry with Harry Connick Jr gets to shine. Hell, Fear Of Rain probably is at its most coherent and likable when it’s just a family drama about mental illness. It still ain’t great, but it’s better than the “horror” movie it wants to be.

Israel Broussard plays the new kid Caleb, the beacon of light for Rain, as if her deteriorating mental state was a ship out in the night. Caleb is the only one who treats Rain like a human being and, though odd himself, takes to her eccentricities like honey to the bee. It’s sweet, and, as I said earlier, this works best when it’s just them discussing life. Even the handsome son of a bitch, Harry Connick Jr, shows up as John Burroughs, the comforting father figure that wants to help and protect his sick daughter. I miss him and wish this new generation could appreciate an old school Hollywood type like himself. John Burroughs is a stock character, and Connick Jr does his best with some clunky and heavy exposition dialogue.He deserves better for sure, but it is what it is.

Fear Of Rain revolves around her trusted and beloved teacher Dani, who may or may not have a kidnapped kid prisoner in her home. Fear Of Rain turns into a cluster*ck when it decides to go full horror. Tossing in everything, including the kitchen sink, this can’t decide what it wants to be. There is so much going on. Is the teacher evil? Who is the figure Rain keeps seeing everywhere? Is there a supernatural element with the time jumps and odd visions? Things get outright goofy when this tries to be a scary flick, with some really rough dialogue and a “twist,” if you can call it that, tossed in for a bit of variety. Fear Of Rain is both very predictable and utterly confusing, and I’d say that a paradox like that is an impressive feat to attain.

GORE: A PG-13 rating means no red stuff to enjoy here.

BOTTOM LINE: A talented cast with some good chemistry is utterly wasted in a movie that isn’t sure what it wants to be, so it tries to be everything at once. Fear Of Rain is infuriating because it has some glimmers of hope but ends up a confusing mess. Clichéd and bland, It gives itself multiple directions to go, and it stumbles into the worse one. The good news is that the two talented leads (Iseman and Broussard) have a bright future ahead, and Harry Connick Jr is a pimp who will be just fine with his golden voice no matter how this flick does critically or financially. Too bad everything around them falls apart.

Fear Of Rain will be available on Digital, On Demand & Limited Theatrical Release on February 12th, 2021, and on Blu-ray February 6th.

Arrow in the head

BELOW AVERAGE

5