Seems more like Ed Wood than Stanley Kubrick! The opening voiceover is definitely a cross between the type of insane nonsense in a Wood film with a few Twilight Zone overtones--although this was a few years BEFORE the Twilight Zone debuted. The acting is pretty bad as well, topped by Mazursky quoting from the Tempest as he goes crazy. Are Harp and Coit playing dual roles meant to be symbolic--or is it just a sign of how cheap this film was? Kubrick can't be blamed for Howard Sackler's screenplay in any case, and the two of them went on to a much more enjoyable collaboration on Killer's Kiss. Watch that instead. ( )

Virtually unseen since its theatrical premiere in 1953, FEAR AND DESIRE was the ambitious first feature film by legendary Stanley Kubrick. ( )