Fear City

Fear City
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAbel Ferrara
Written byNicholas St. John
Produced byBruce Cohn Curtis
StarringTom Berenger
Billy Dee Williams
Jack Scalia
Melanie Griffith
Rossano Brazzi
Rae Dawn Chong
Joe Santos
Michael V. Gazzo
Jan Murray
Maria Conchita Alonso
Ola Ray
CinematographyJames Lemmo
Edited byJack W. Holmes
Anthony Redman
Music byDick Halligan
Joe Delia
Production
companies
Zupnik-Curtis Enterprises
Rebecca Productions
Castle Hill Productions
20th Century Fox
Distributed byAquarius Releasing
Release dates
  • July 18, 1984 (1984-07-18) (France)
  • February 16, 1985 (1985-02-16) (New York)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$4 million

Fear City is a 1984 American neo-noir erotic thriller film directed by Abel Ferrara, and written by his longtime collaborator Nicholas St. John. It stars Tom Berenger, Billy Dee Williams, Jack Scalia, and Melanie Griffith in the leading roles, with supporting parts played by Rossano Brazzi, Rae Dawn Chong, Joe Santos, Michael V. Gazzo and Jan Murray.

The film follows a former boxer turned mob-connected nightclub promoter (Berenger) and a fiercely driven police Detective (Williams), investigating a brutal serial killer targeting strippers in Manhattan. The title alludes to the Fear City pamphlets distributed by the New York Police Department.

Fear City was Ferrara's first to be produced by a major studio, 20th Century Fox. However, it was distributed by independent company Aquarius Releasing. It received mixed reviews.