Warped Horror Comedy On Tubi Revisits Classics With A New Spin

By Robert Scucci
| Published 23 seconds ago

Self-aware horror parodies only succeed if they carefully tread the line between seriousness and silliness without going too over-the-top. Fear Inc, which you may have never given a chance because of its 46 percent critical score against its even more abysmal 39 percent Popcornmeter score on Rotten Tomatoes, is undeserving of this assessment if I had anything to say about it because it pays proper homage to classic slashers while bravely maintaining its own identity despite its obvious and many inspirations. Misdirecting the audience on several occasions, Fear Inc not only fully embraces the classic slasher tropes that are at its foundation, but also presents the viewer with a mystery that keeps getting weirder as it pushes through its uniquely hilarious premise. 

Joe Is Kind Of A Jerk 

Fear Inc introduces us to its protagonist, Joe Foster (Lucas Neff), a stoned slacker and horror movie buff who lives comfortably off of his exceedingly wealthy girlfriend, Lindsey (Caitlin Stasey). While Lindsey is off earning a living, Joe is slamming brews, swimming in the pool, and getting into general mischief instead of organizing the home that the couple just moved into. Caring only about horror movies, Joe’s idea of a solid date night is to go to a haunted house attraction, which doesn’t impress him in the slightest because he’s seen it all before. 

When a mysterious man named Tom overhears Joe’s complaint, he hands him a card for his company, Fear Inc, urging him to call for a consultation if he wants to feel legitimately scared despite his desensitization to any and all horror-related violence. 

When Joe and Lindsey’s old friends, Ben (Chris Marquette) and Ashleigh (Stephanie Drake) visit their home for a weekend stay, Joe entertains the idea of calling Fear Inc, but experiences immediate pushback. As far as Joe knows, he’ll be signing up for a custom-tailored, once-in-a-lifetime haunted house experience that’s equal parts terrifying and exhilarating. But Ben weighs in, letting him know that Fear Inc is the same dangerous company that his boss, Jennifer (Abigail Breslin), contacted, which traumatized her to the point of taking a leave of absence from work that she hasn’t yet returned from. 

So what does Joe do? He calls Fear Inc. 

Time To Get Nuts

Fear Inc begins to show its namesake when Joe calls the titular company, and their receptionist says that the service is sold out. Thinking nothing of it, Joe goes about his life for a couple of days until he realizes that he’s about to live out his slasher movie fantasy where a masked antagonist takes pages out of multiple franchise playbooks, including, but not limited to Friday the 13th, Scream, and Saw. Scared silly after seeing a news report stating that their neighbor Bill (Richard Riehle) was murdered along with Lindsey, Ben, and Ashleigh, and that Joe is the primary suspect in their slayings, the group decides to lock down the house after Joe admits to calling Fear Inc when he was in an altered state. 

Joe, blissfully unaware of the fact that he is, in fact, dealing with some very dangerous people, decides to play along. When everybody else is making sure the windows and doors are secured, he thinks it’s smart to leave the back door ajar so he can experience the sinister and sadistic service. 

Constantly misdirecting its audience, Fear Inc will make you wonder whether the service Joe ordered is actually legitimate, or if he voluntarily let a serial killer into his home. While his friends are systematically disemboweled as if Jason Voorhees, Ghostface, and Jigsaw have breached the house, Joe soon realizes the error of his ways. That is, until he apprehends the killer, who’s revealed to be Tom from Fear Inc orchestrating the whole thing. 

Misdirect After Misdirect

Fear Inc continually subverts audience expectations up until its final scene, making you wonder if anybody’s actually in legitimate danger in the first place. But given how purposefully thought out every aspect of the supposed simulated haunting is, you’ll be left guessing every step of the way as bodies start to disappear, the authorities get involved, and Joe and Lindsey find themselves on the run because no matter what the outcome may be, they’re finally living in a horror movie like Joe had always wished to experience, with possibly fatal consequences. 

While I admit that Joe’s personality was obnoxious at the front of the film, I urge you to be patient with Fear Inc because his unlikeable, aloof personality is absolutely necessary to make way for the third-act payoff that you’ll never see coming. At first, you hope Joe gets what’s coming to him for making such a misguided decision against his friend’s wishes, but watching him lose control of the situation – that he thought was awesome at first – while Lindsey begins to step up and call the shots is so satisfying to watch that the first-act setup couldn’t have been done any other way. 

Streaming Fear Inc

If you’re looking for a solid, self-aware horror comedy that pulls no stops in misleading you every step of the way while making references to some of the most iconic horror franchises you grew up watching, you can stream Fear Inc for free on Tubi as of this writing.