Rigor I was completely unprepared for this surprisingly well made thriller. The films stars Henry Thomas as Nick Parker a struggling painter living in a realistically terrible New York Apartment building. Nick lives at the poverty line, his only income being continuing education classes he teaches at a community college. Early in the film a terrible murder occurs in his building and Nick and the audience spend the rest of the film coming to terms with what may have really happened.The film was written and directed by Alex Winter, most famous as the star of The Bill and Ted films, from this effort he has great promise to become a major director. He works extremely well here with the actors getting good performances from Thomas, Teri Hatcher, Bill Duke and David O'Hara. It is the cinematography by Joe DeSalvo that lifts this film to the level of something truly special. DeSalvo manages to capture shots of the New York skyline that seem unprecedented in American film and his interior work is remarkable evocative and reminiscent of the very best work of Gordon Willis and John Alonzo. Surprisingly this is the last film DeSalvo has made (it is now 2003) I am not sure why this is, but, one hopes he will have a long and prosperous c

janedwards505 This is an amazing little film. Deserving of more attention (if at least not a better rating guys!). Rented it with friends in the States and we were all caught in its dark, tragic web. Now we are trying to find other films from this director. Stands up to the best Indies from outside the US and head and shoulders above the general product from that country. If you like Lynch, you'll love this one.

GirlwonderReturns I'm quite familiar with the name "Alex Winter," and it actually has very little to do with "Bill and Ted." I remember "The Idiot Box," and I loved "Freaked," although few people I know have ever even heard of it, and I hope that now, with the release of "Fever," more people will remember Mr. Winter for something other than the "Bill and Ted" movies. "Fever" is a haunting film, sparked by excellent performances from Henry Thomas and David O'Hara, as well as by Winter's brilliant direction. The old-fashioned stationary camera shots, together with the powerful (if bleak) cinematography, combine to create an affecting, often unsettling whole. Alex Winter seems to know New York pretty well - and as a native, I should know. For example, the shots of the N.Y.C. skyline looking dusky, seared and ominous rather than, as in so (too) many films, impossibly grand and inspiring, help us to see Nick's surroundings in the same skewed and frightening way he does, which in turn gives us a better understanding of his paranoia.I waited months to see this film, as it was never released in Boulder theaters. I looked up the video release date, made a note of it, and rented it as soon as it was available. I was not disappointed. The only letdown is knowing that I will have to wait awhile for Alex Winter to write and direct another film. For my sake at least, I hope he hurries.

HERBMETZ Fever is an unusual movie for today's moviegoers, slow, disguieting and legitimately frightening. Henry Thomas plays a neurotic urban artist, barely eking out a living and refusing the help of friends and family. A murder in his squalid apartment building knocks the artist off kilter and begins an increasingly paranoid and hallucinatory chain of events. Thomas's performance is an amazing balance of subtlety and intensity. He has the difficult task of appearing in almost every frame and we never grow tired of his presence. Instead the audience is pulled into the mind of this suffering character and forced to confront his demons and dilemmas. The film does not set out to ask "whodunnit", rather to make us experience the singular nightmare of a struggling and sensitive young man alone in the modern world.