Posted: 05/05/2007

Rapid Fear

(2007)

by Sawyer J. Lahr

Six teenage strays, some parentless, all lawbreakers, are given the choice to remain locked up for 48 hours and, with another offense, be put in prison or to take a camping/rafting trip down a mountain. The bunch begrudgingly chooses to set forth on the expedition and learn that they must swallow their pride and work together in order to survive.

“Teamwork” becomes a key word in this film because the characters, as far as their records, have established that they are inept as responsible individuals in society.

James Storer (Peter Kent) is a hardened, well-dressed burglar leading this delinquent and dysfunctional group of mostly adolescent teens, whose pasts trail behind them and boil to the surface through their aggression toward others. The backgrounds of each character are presumably what have influenced a cartel of crimes, including stealing and abusing prescription drugs, car theft, and robbery.

Two fellow partners-in-crime are assigned to assist James with helping to reform these youths as an alternative to being paroled. The operation is overseen by Warden Tremaine (Steven Grives), an investigator (FBI or otherwise) whose accent is like no other character’s.

Quickly, the juveniles must take on adult roles as the adults mysteriously disappear, are tied-up, and tortured. Any suspicions of “who?” and “what?” are fulfilled once the group reaches an asylum, a place that was before just an unsettling campfire story.

When their livelihood is threatened by sabotage and communication with the civilized world is none, the teens have no choice but to take responsibility for themselves and each other in order to transport a wounded man to safety, aid teen boy’s ailing and exhausted stomach, and press on.

A number of moments reveal tenderness and fragility that peak through the hyper-masculine, tough-skinned attitudes of James, most of the male adolescents, and one of the young women.

Before they band together, these hooligans are streetwise punks who clamor about, rebel against, and try to fault the system. However, their actions are not entirely without insight. The youngest offender mentions how much it costs to keep juveniles like them in prison for a year, about $75,000 according to the film.

The exposition is successfully enticing, with a chase sequence that is as thrilling as any big-budget action/adventure thriller should be. It isn’t clear at every moment that the characters will manage their way to safety because of their recklessness, and never does the film fail to keep us interested aesthetically and editorially.

Sawyer J. Lahr is a film critic living in Chicago.

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