''Shear Fear'' ( fi, Kauhun millimetrit; literally translated "The Millimetres of Horror") is a 1992

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by Ilari Nummi. The film set in the city center of

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

in the late 1980s summer, where everything starts from the small fears of everyday life, moving straight towards an area distorted by the terror. The film's actors include Tiina Tenhunen and Katja Krohn. The film was screened at the

Espoo Ciné International Film Festival Espoo Ciné International Film Festival is an annual event held in Espoo, Finland, in August. The festival was established in 1990 and it has since grown to be one of Finland's leading film festivals, screening about 100 feature films each year in ...

in 1992 and at the

Tampere Film Festival The Tampere Film Festival ( fi, Tampereen elokuvajuhlat) is a short film festival held every March, mostly at the Finnkino Plevna movie theatre, in Tampere, Finland. It is accredited by the film producers' society FIAPF, and together with the shor ...

in 1993.

Premise

Marja Sauri, who lives in Helsinki at the end of the 1980s, is going to the store to replace defective garden shears with new ones. Along the way, she collides with a woman on the street who Marja insults in anger. Within a day, Marja begins to see strange delusions about the same woman she encountered earlier.

Cast

* Tiina Tenhunen as Marja Sauri * Katja Krohn as a woman *

Tarja-Tuulikki Tarsala Tarja-Tuulikki Tarsala (4 September 1937–9 May 2007) was a Finnish film actress. She was the wife of the director Ere Kokkonen. Tarsala was awarded the in 1998. In 2001, Tarsala won the Jussi Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performan ...

as Marja's mother *

Markku Huhtamo Markku Huhtamo (born 10 August 1946, in Rovaniemi, Finland) is a Finnish actor. Huhtamo entered film in 1977 and has appeared in over 30 Finnish films and TV series between then and the present although mostly in film. Huhtamo starred in the 1 ...

as hardware store seller *

Matti Onnismaa Matti may refer to: * Matti (given name), people with the given name * Matti (surname), people with the surname * Matti, Karnataka, a village in India * '' Matti: Hell Is for Heroes'', a 2006 film about Matti Nykänen See also * Masa (disambigu ...

as staff manager *

Hannu Kivioja Hannu Kivioja (born 30 June 1963) is a Finnish actor. Kivioja was born in Ylivieska. Originally he tried for the Helsinki Theatre Academy for the first time in 1985, but did not get in at that time. He was discovered by Rauni Mollberg, who gave ...

as Mikko *

Leea Klemola Leea Elisabet Klemola (born 16 August 1965 in Veteli) is a Finnish actress, director and playwright. She studied at the Theatre Academy Helsinki 1987–1991 and has also been teaching acting. Career Klemola has worked on stage and in films. She s ...

as Leena Lindholm

Reception

The film received favorable reviews when it was released. In March 1992, Tarmo Poussu evaluated the film in ''

Ilta-Sanomat ''Ilta-Sanomat'' () is one of Finland's two prominent tabloid size evening newspaper and the second largest paper in the country. Its counterpart and biggest rival is ''Iltalehti''. According to the National Media Research done in 2019 ''Ilta- ...

'', praising the film: "The film deftly picks up the anxieties of everyday life in its story and Katja Krohn very effectively outlines her wordless role as a hostile woman." However, Poussu also found flaws in the film: “Still, ''Shear Fear'' remain just an exercise. Its realistic and fantastic ingredients don’t always articulate.”Torstaina tv:ssä: Helsingin keskustaan sijoittuva kauhuelokuva vuodelta 1992 on erikoinen tapaus
- ''Episodi'' (in Finnish) In the opinion of Pertti Avola of ''

Helsingin Sanomat ''Helsingin Sanomat'', abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of ...

'', the film was “a controlled and safe job in all respects. It lives and breathes perfectly and retains its atmosphere well. ''Shear Fear'' aren't dug very deep into the subject or the people, but it might have shattered the film too much.”

References

External links

* Finnish horror films 1992 horror films Fiction set in the 1980s {{Finland-film-stub