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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Superb American dark fantasy, November 12, 2002
This review is from: Eyes of Fire [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This unjustly overlooked movie, the first directed by Avery Crounse, ranks along with Pumpkinhead as one of the best examples of dark fantasy rooted in pure American culture. A period piece, it's set in the mid-18th century in the American colonies, before there was a United States, and is the tale of settlers encountering the supernatural in the form of a previously unexplored forest's resident evil spirit. Narrated by one of the two young survivors of the weird encounter, it starts with the two being interrogated by the equivalent of district militia regarding the disappearance of their fellow settlers. The story begins with adultery committed by a minister, somewhat hammily played by Dennis Lipscomb, and a settler's wife, resulting in the cuckolded husband taking his children off into the forest where they meet up with a strange girl who shows them much they never knew before about the ways of the land. Crounse gets his setting just right and also does a great job fusing the real with the fantastic--not always an easy thing to do. One of the absolutely critical ingredients in any fantasy film--whether high fantasy, sword and sorcery, dark fantasy or horror--is atmosphere, and in that this movie excels. The brooding forest scenes are superb, making the viewer feel that at any moment the trees could come alive and snatch you up right from where you're standing. Aside from Lipscomb, the other actors are excellent. The momentum of the story is escape from a known evil to an unknown evil and that drives the movie to its strong finish. Highly recommended.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
strange, absorbing story, May 9, 2002
This review is from: Eyes of Fire [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Eyes of Fire is about a small group of colonists in 1750 who set off on their own into Shawnee territory after an adulterous scandal. There they settle in a deserted, shunned valley-and soon learn why it is shunned:a demonic spirit or forest witch resides there. This force begins to attack and torment them. The only ones who suspect what is going on are the father of the narrator, an eccentric loner well versed in Indian lore, and a supposedly crazy girl, Mea, who has unusual powers and isn't what she seems. Things only get worse after the settlers find and take in a small native girl. They construe her to be a peace offering, but Mea realizes that she is really a forest demon....I won't give the rest away. It is a very interesting, absorbing, different film, with a number of unsettling effects, such as the appearance of the forest witch, covered with leaves and dirt and with glowing eyes, able to sink into the earth from which he came. It easily blows the much-ballyhooed Blair Witch Project out of the water. It is certainly not a slasher film. I was never the least bit bored with it, but those looking for tons of dramatic and bloody deaths and such might want to look elsewhere. It is a very rich, detailed story with the air of an actual legend or folk tale. It will be a shame if they don't put it out on DVD or re-release it on VHS. I was lucky enough to find a copy at a video store going out of business which sold off their inventory. I would definitely recommend it.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rich and Haunting, with an Irish witch & nature spirit, too, June 19, 2005
This review is from: Eyes of Fire [VHS] (VHS Tape)
I am in agreement with much of what other reviewers have said -- I have watched this film many times and it remains one of my favorites, right for the particular mood.... it stays in the mind, works in the subconscious, makes one wonder and ponder. It is certainly suspenseful and spooky in parts, and yet beautiful. Someone else mentioned its pagan side and the nature spirits' aspect of the story, which is certainly an important part of it. Leah embodies that -- her mother was killed as a witch when Leah was a child, and she has inherited her mother's apparently genuine powers and inclinations, a fact either unnoticed or kept in denial by those around her. To add something to the "pot" that no other reviewer has yet mentioned: Leah also speaks Irish. That is the language of the spell she casts to save the preacher from being hanged, for example. "Bris, a théaid!" (break, Rope!) is what she commands the noose, and it does as she asks...... As the escaped preacher's party flows down the river, and as they move deeper into the enchanted forest, Leah merges ever more with Nature, and grows in the strength and attunement she will need if she is to save the children, the innocents, from the addled adults' fate... I love this movie. Strange as it is, odd as it is, it does have a fascinating kind of resonance and depth and beauty. It's a keeper, as far as I am concerned.
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