Fear City

Fear City is set in Manhattan's nightlife underworld, where a killer is targeting strippers. Matt Rossi, a former boxer who left the ring after killing an opponent, now runs an agency supplying dancers to clubs together with his partner Nicky Parzeno. When two of their dancers are murdered, the two men suspect Carmine, a rival club owner with Mafia ties, though he denies involvement. Police detective Al Wheeler, who fears a gang war, tries to keep the situation under control as the attacks continue and the danger draws closer to Loretta, the star dancer at Matt's club.

Abel Ferrara directed the film, the third of the seventeen features listed for him, following Ms. 45 and preceding King of the New York. Nicholas St. John wrote the screenplay, and Bruce Cohn Curtis produced. Tom Berenger plays Matt, with Billy Dee Williams as Wheeler, Jack Scalia as Nicky, Melanie Griffith as Loretta, Rossano Brazzi as Carmine and Rae Dawn Chong as Leila. The production had a budget of four million dollars.

The film drew limited enthusiasm: on IMDb it holds a rating of 5.8 from around 5,100 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 5.4 from roughly 109 votes. A critics' rating of 5.4 from thirteen reviews places professional responses close to the audience scores, with neither group regarding the film as one of Ferrara's stronger works.