EYES OF A STRANGER – Kevin Wiederhorn's slasher film is a queasy affair which matches a murky atmosphere of vague sleaze against TV movie style stiffness. It's not all that splattery, but Tom Savini is lurking in there somewhere with a fish tank decapitation and a couple of throat slashings. Most of the brutality is textural, a bit like 'Don't Answer The Phone', or even 'Maniac', both of which are harder and nastier than 'Eyes...', but which have that same creepy, voyeuristic ambience. It's about a news reporter who's on the case when it transpires that a rapist-murderer might be living in the apartment opposite. Her lawyer boyfriend doesn't believe her, and her life is kept on hold by the responsibility she feels towards her deaf / blind sister, a nice debut (I think) by Jennifer Jason Leigh. She does the only sensible thing in a film like this and goes detective, turns the tables etc etc 'Eyes of a Stranger' is quite tense in places, and manages to conjure an ominous vibe thanks in part to that early eighties staple, the post-Carpenter bass synth drone, and to its numerous shadowy, neon lit passages of strip clubs and night scenes. That said, Wiederhorn doesn't really imbue his film with much forward momentum, and it suffers from a slightly static feel. Worth watching for fans of that gloomy early eighties vibe and a film which might leave some feeling a bit sullied although it's actually quite light in terms of what it depicts. By the way, no-one could accuse Kevin Wiederhorn of hubris – a fair amount of screen time is given over to characters watching his earlier flick 'Shockwaves'! Nice contrast with the broadcast news footage, Kevin – headlines are one thing, but we know what's really happening in the world.
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