Fear, Inc. 2016

As the darkness envelops Jennifer Adams in the parking garage, an unsettling sensation wraps around her like an icy gust. She momentarily believes she has escaped an unseen threat, but relief proves fleeting. A hastily made phone call intended to terminate this terrifying encounter only leads to the monotonous beeping of hold music, stretching the silence into an oppressive blanket of tension.

Just as a flicker of hope begins to stir within her, Jennifer’s eyes are drawn to an ominous figure emerging from the shadows — a hooded stranger wielding a bat lined with jagged nails. Panic surges through her as she seeks refuge within the cold confines of the elevator, but the attacker seems to evaporate into thin air like a ghost.

With the heavy weight of fear still in her chest, she hurries toward her car, relieved that the immediate threat appears to have vanished. However, her fleeting sense of safety shatters when an unassuming security guard approaches her, imparting chilling wisdom: “If you stumble upon anything… unsettling, don’t hesitate to reach out.” A chill runs down her spine, amplifying her anxiety.

Sliding into the driver’s seat, she momentarily basked in the false sense of security that comes from familiarity. But darkness descends once more as the ignition sparks to life and the radio crackles, announcing a disembodied voice that seems to monitor her every move. The air thickens with dread as a shadowy figure looms in the periphery, coiling around her like an impending doom.

Meanwhile, on a seemingly ordinary date night, horror movie fan Joe and his girlfriend Lindsey traverse a haunted maze, where Joe bemoans the lack of true scares. Their night takes a treacherous turn when a mysterious figure approaches, handing Joe a business card from “Fear, Inc.” - a company notorious for manifesting the deepest fears of its clients. Intrigued yet cautious, Joe pockets the card, only to soon discover that his wallet and phone have inexplicably disappeared, leading him to suspect the earlier stranger’s involvement.

The day after this unsettling encounter, Joe’s best friend Ben arrives with his wife Ashleigh for a Halloween festivities. Over drinks, Joe shares the odd experience with the “Fear, Inc.” card, eliciting Ben’s warnings against the malicious services after an acquaintance suffered dire consequences from their escapades.

As the evening unwinds, Joe finds his stolen items mysteriously returned, except for the ominous card. Fuelled by curiosity, he reaches out to the company, only to learn their services are fully booked for the season. The next day brings yet another unsettling encounter when Joe’s neighbor Bill warns him of an intruder lurking nearby, but Joe brushes it off as paranoia.

The situation spirals out of control when police arrive. Lindsey and their friends assert no sign of trouble within the house, yet later that night, they’re startled by a news report eerily broadcasting from their yard, declaring the horrifying deaths of Bill, Ashleigh, Ben, and Lindsey at the hands of Joe himself.

In disbelief, Ben steps outside, finding no sign of the reporter or proof of the grisly crime. When Joe confesses to contacting “Fear, Inc.,” panic washes over the group as they grapple with the realization of the chaos unleashed upon them. Darkness envelops them again, disrupted by an unexpected blackout, leaving Joe to investigate the power outage, only to be confronted by Bill, who warns of yet another menacing visitor — a cloaked figure reminiscent of the infamous Ghostface.

Undeterred, Joe heads back inside to share the terrifying news, but tensions escalate when they discover his car has been vandalized. Lindsey insists on calling the police, but Joe remains skeptical, convinced the entire situation is a prank gone awry. In a harrowing turn of events, Ashleigh becomes separated from the group and is gruesomely pinned to a tree, evoking memories of classic slasher films. Joe, still convinced it’s a prank, emerges outside with Lindsey, where their discovery of what they believe to be Ashleigh’s lifeless body forces them to scramble for survival against the encroaching terror.

Meanwhile, Ben sits oblivious to the havoc as he remains bound and gagged in the house, awaiting his fate. As Joe fights to escape the gruesome entrapment, he begins connecting the dots of the sinister plot, likening it to the treacherous games of Saw. In a moment of desperation, he resorts to hacking off Ben’s arm, the urgency of the macabre situation swallowing him whole. The flickering TV unexpectedly returns with instructions from a disembodied voice, compelling Joe to follow along as he catches a glimpse of Lindsey imprisoned by an armed figure.

As the chilling sequence reaches a climax, Joe’s entire world collapses. He stumbles on Ben’s seemingly dead body, the scene growing bloodier by the second, before he realizes he has committed murder. Overcome by horror, he screams when Ben’s body disappears. The lights flicker back on, revealing Lindsey bound and gasping for air. Joe rushes to her, armed with his phone, but before he can call for help, a new threat arises.

Amidst the chaos, Lindsey frees herself and reveals a shocking twist: everything had been meticulously designed as an elaborate ruse to test their limits. Ben and Ashleigh re-emerge, their lifeless forms transformed by the cunning deception, casting a heavy pall over Joe as he wrestles with his actions amidst the psychological torment unleashed by “Fear, Inc.”

In the wake of the gruesome events, Ben and Ashleigh’s reality shatters as they come to understand the manipulative grip of “Fear, Inc.” toying with their lives. As they suddenly flee in fear, Joe and Lindsey are left grappling with the consequences of their own actions. Faced with the chilling realization of what lies ahead, the pair finds themselves ensnared in a deadly game of survival, with the organization looming ever closer.

With the tension peaking, their fate appears sealed as partygoers revel and Joe’s panicked desperation culminates in a shocking toast to their survival, underscoring the torment of “Fear, Inc.” As the scene cuts eerily to black, Joe’s voice reverberates with the chilling proclamation of being trapped in a complex web of terror, leaving viewers to ponder the darkness that awaits in the next cycle of fear.