part the final
1. Leah�s mother may have been a witch.
2. Leah watches her mother (possibly a witch) hung by angry villagers.
3. Villager says: �Oi, witch girl!�
4. Leah: �I�m still sad about� about�� hunky guy: �Your� mother?� Leah: �Oh, hunky guy, they hung her, as a witch!!!!!!�
5. Leah starts manifesting some powers.
6. Repeat 1-5 until Leah needs to open up a can of Carrie on the bad guys.
But as it is, the fact that Leah actually possesses some strange sixth sense or extra-sensory abilities is sort of subdued, and even open for interpretation. What all happens in that a-cursed valley? I�m not sure, and though slightly buzzed, I was not drunk during the viewing of this flick.
Atmosphere! This movie had it. Some truly beautiful yet simple camera set-ups (the ferry floats into frame, and then out of it) some strange and haunting visuals (the glade filled with feathers, the erection of a crucifix above the compound) and some wonderful use of home-grown FX (the Mud-Witch�s earth teleportation act), and we have a potent little story. Some of the acting is rather excellent. Dennis Lipscomb as Smythe was quite good, and even sympathetic at times, but Guy Boyd as Marion really had me hooked. The story was his, as far as I�m concerned), and most of the accents stay tight throughout.
On a note of some interest: Rob Paulsen (Jewel Buchannen) doesn�t do much live-action acting, he is better known for being the voice of Pinky (as in �and the Brain�) and Yakko Warner as well as lending his vocal talents to Transformers, GI Joe, Smurfs, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Tale Spin and even Buzz Lightyear�s spin-off cartoon.
And to be honest, there were some scares too. Some of the visuals were quite unsettling, as well some of the sound effects. But most of all the performers kept the story well grounded in realism, even when people were disappearing and appearing out of thin air� there was a sense of doom and dread throughout the entire pic.
But enough of this high praise!
Some of the writing is just bad. The McGuffin behind the strange haunting of the valley is that �some people believe that when enough blood is spilt, it collects in one place, like here�. Some of the effects are simple, using negative-film as a way to show that something strange is happening. And the finale� what the hell was that supposed to mean, anyway? The French soldier stepping forward with the titled eyes of fire� is he possessed by the evil Mud Witch? Was that what the burning eyes of the little Indian girl meant? Why did the trees have faces carved into them?
But overall, Eyes of Fire was really savory; a satisfying flavor, just without any real meat. Yet almost a week later, I�m still mulling over some of the imagery and themes, which is a good sign. Much like a particularly spicy Ethiopian dish I had that Saturday, I haven�t forgotten this movie.
return to grumpy critic