Rating: 18 Stars: All pretty much unknowns Theme: Reality TV horror Language/Nudity/Violence: Bad language, nudity and strong violence
This movie has received generally good reviews all round. And it has been praised for dealing with a predictable subject in an intelligent way. Its greatest flaw is that it was aware of how intelligent it was trying to be. It's essentially a British film, so this doesn't come as too much of a surprise. While it is obviously trying to be intelligent, however, it does succeed in the most part. It wonderfully assumes a certain type of audience who can read the visual language of Big Brother television and who can deal with the type of camera work and editing that this genre has created. We very quickly learn that we are dealing with something above and beyond a normal horror flick.
The premise is easy, its essentially Big Brother for six months with a final shared prize of one million dollars. There are no evictions, but the rule is that if one person leaves, no one wins any money. So the pressure is on everyone staying, no matter what "The Company" throws at them. And they throw every little piece of history their research has dug up at them, in some sick and twisted ways. My Little Eye is a fish market of red herrings, and at some point you are lead to suspect everyone of being the cause of the unpleasantness. For a very long time I thought that I had completely worked out the ending, and was surprised when I was wrong. Unfortunately the final twist isn't everything you want it to be, and you are left a little unsatisfied by the final explanation. I imagine that the intention was for an ambiguous finale, but unfortunately it falls slightly short of the mark. Not short enough to ruin the movie, but just enough to make you feel a little cheated.
The narrative itself is well constructed and reasonably void of clichés. The characters on the other hand are nothing but clichés, although this is to the benefit of the movie rather than its detriment. Again the viewers knowledge of stereotypes allows the narrative to be rapid in its exposition at the start of the movie and means that when we join the group about a week before the end of their six months, we can assume a lot about what has happened in the time that has past. The actors themselves, each to varying degrees someone you think you have seen before but can't place, are very good in their roles. None of them are standout, but then this is a horror movie and ham acting is part of the territory. For all the OTT acting there is always the balance of the bleached visuals and out of focus shots to temper the campness. There is also some very inventive photography generated by the reality genre. During the movie you feel like a helpless on-looker and rarely feel like shouting at the characters. It is all far more voyeuristic than the average horror flick.
This is not part of the Scream/IKWYDLS collection. This is closer to The Blair Witch Project but doesn't quite reach its genius standards. The constant tension makes My Little Eye slightly uncomfortable to watch, and occasionally jump out of your seat scary. It could easily reach the cult video status of Blair Witch after its inevitable cinema success, and it will undoubtedly breed many copy cats. I can only hope that should a sequel be in the offing, that it will not follow the Blair Witch 2 approach. A very good movie, prevented from greatness by its self conscious intelligence. My Little Eye is one of the two enjoyable horror films out in the run up to Christmas. Perhaps less accessible than its closest comparison, 28 Days Later, but none the less worth going to watch with your brain working.
Mark: 8/10 Who to go with: Someone to be near, but who won't grab you at the scary moments.
This movie has received generally good reviews all round. And it has been praised for dealing with a predictable subject in an intelligent way. Its greatest flaw is that it was aware of how intelligent it was trying to be. It's essentially a British film, so this doesn't come as too much of a surprise. While it is obviously trying to be intelligent, however, it does succeed in the most part. It wonderfully assumes a certain type of audience who can read the visual language of Big Brother television and who can deal with the type of camera work and editing that this genre has created. We very quickly learn that we are dealing with something above and beyond a normal horror flick.
The premise is easy, its essentially Big Brother for six months with a final shared prize of one million dollars. There are no evictions, but the rule is that if one person leaves, no one wins any money. So the pressure is on everyone staying, no matter what "The Company" throws at them. And they throw every little piece of history their research has dug up at them, in some sick and twisted ways. My Little Eye is a fish market of red herrings, and at some point you are lead to suspect everyone of being the cause of the unpleasantness. For a very long time I thought that I had completely worked out the ending, and was surprised when I was wrong. Unfortunately the final twist isn't everything you want it to be, and you are left a little unsatisfied by the final explanation. I imagine that the intention was for an ambiguous finale, but unfortunately it falls slightly short of the mark. Not short enough to ruin the movie, but just enough to make you feel a little cheated.
The narrative itself is well constructed and reasonably void of clichés. The characters on the other hand are nothing but clichés, although this is to the benefit of the movie rather than its detriment. Again the viewers knowledge of stereotypes allows the narrative to be rapid in its exposition at the start of the movie and means that when we join the group about a week before the end of their six months, we can assume a lot about what has happened in the time that has past. The actors themselves, each to varying degrees someone you think you have seen before but can't place, are very good in their roles. None of them are standout, but then this is a horror movie and ham acting is part of the territory. For all the OTT acting there is always the balance of the bleached visuals and out of focus shots to temper the campness. There is also some very inventive photography generated by the reality genre. During the movie you feel like a helpless on-looker and rarely feel like shouting at the characters. It is all far more voyeuristic than the average horror flick.
This is not part of the Scream/IKWYDLS collection. This is closer to The Blair Witch Project but doesn't quite reach its genius standards. The constant tension makes My Little Eye slightly uncomfortable to watch, and occasionally jump out of your seat scary. It could easily reach the cult video status of Blair Witch after its inevitable cinema success, and it will undoubtedly breed many copy cats. I can only hope that should a sequel be in the offing, that it will not follow the Blair Witch 2 approach. A very good movie, prevented from greatness by its self conscious intelligence. My Little Eye is one of the two enjoyable horror films out in the run up to Christmas. Perhaps less accessible than its closest comparison, 28 Days Later, but none the less worth going to watch with your brain working.
Mark: 8/10 Who to go with: Someone to be near, but who won't grab you at the scary moments.