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Fear Is the Key (1972)

5.9 | Dec 26, 1972 (US) | Action, Thriller | 01:43

In the right hands, fear is the deadliest weapon of all.

A deep-sea salvage expert enacts an elaborate plan to infiltrate and take revenge on a criminal organization that dealt him a foul misdeed.

Featured Crew

Director
Stunt Driver, Stunt Coordinator
Casting
Director of Photography
Special Effects
Stunts
Producer
Editor
Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Cast

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Barry Newman
John Talbot
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Suzy Kendall
Sarah Ruthven
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John Vernon
Vyland
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Dolph Sweet
Jablonsky
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Ray McAnally
Ruthven
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Tony Anholt
FBI Agent
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Elliott Sullivan
Judge Mollison

Reviews

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Peter McGinn
5 | Feb 26, 2023
I can only assume they changed the story somewhat from the book because I can’t imagine Alastair MacLaine writing a story with so may plot holes and instances where people who interacted with the hero (?) did so many dumb things. It starts with a scene that seems to have nothing to do with the main body of the plot once that gets going, so that is a rather heavy handed giveaway that the scene is in fact a segue containing the explanation for what is to follow, thus giving away to me at least a major plot twist. Ands when the action does begin, it does so with a seemingly endless chase scene involving half of the police cars in Louisiana, the drivers of which apparently didn’t have radio contact as they never coordinated their efforts but just lined up in polite single file to be disabled or driven into deep water. But I will stop describing the plot here, so as not to give too much more away, as well as not to establish the admission that I watched most of this stinker.