My Little Eye

This film tells the story of five people who agree to spend six months in a house in the middle of nowhere, in return they will get one million dollars. The catch is that no one will get paid if anyone leaves the house.

I confess that I only watched "My Little Eye" only for Bradley Cooper. I expected it to be a terrible film, but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The plot is captivating and thrilling, because the characters and the viewers don't know what is truly happening. Hence, I have no idea how the film will end. Every twist is a surprise, and keeps me guessing what is really happening! When the truth is revealed an hour into the film, I am completely captivated by the plot, and I can hardly catch my breath. I enjoyed watching it a lot!

Why all the bad comments? I don't understand it. True, most low budget thrillers are terrible. Serial killer knock offs without big name movie stars usually depend on gore effects, not characters, to keep us interested in what's going to happen next. This movie, though, is a tightly wound little scare piece that takes its time developing the characters and building suspense. The actors are terrific, the camera work unique and unsettling, and the direction always seems on target. The movie's main gimmick reads like it's going to be glib and possibly stupid, but the actors, and the director's ability to maintain a mood of foreboding, quickly dismisses any possible derision. I bought it and recommend it to anyone looking for a good, creepy thriller.

This film was billed as a completely new for the genre. Its not.

Initially it starts out as a fairly edgy psycological suspense movie - focusing on the characters current paranoia and past skeletons. Had it continued in this vein things may have shaped up into something genuinely scary.

However, about a third of the way through, the plot is pretty much revealed (or can be guessed at) and the movie descends into a poorly paced slasher formula - except this time in a Reality TV House (which is incidently the plot of the new Halloween movie - previewed before this one starts!!).

The web-cam perspective adds something - but at the same time borrows heavily from Blair Witch and the end scenes from Silence of the Lambs - both of which were done better.

4/10 missed opportunity.

My Little Eye takes the premise of 'Big Brother' and warps it. Five 'contestants' are invited to stay in a house for six months but if any of them leave, they all lose the $1million on offer.

Where this film really works is in its use of sound and sudden shocks - early on a raven in the dark provides some truly 'jump out of your skin' moments, the rear channels working over time to engulf the viewer in a feeling of dread.

The film gets darker and darker in its tone as we begin to realise that what the contestants signed up for what very different to what they thought they had. Feelings of dread and hopelessness pervade the screen as we, along with the contestants begin to learn the truth behind the game and its very dark secrets.

Many words have been used to describe this classic fright-fest and in the case it seems wholly appropriate to use both 'Harrowing' and 'Disturbing' in this context. I went in expecting a frightening and upsetting horror yarn and that's precisely what I got.

Full marks to all involved - this is no easy ride and for all you horror fans out there bored of the glossy popcorn fodder of Scream and its ilk, this will be a welcome breath of fresh air.

Watch it - just not alone!

My Little Eye is directed by Marc Evans, it's about five adults who agree to spend six months together in an isolated mansion in the hope of winning the $1million prize. The twist being that it's all being filmed for the internet and if just one of the house mates leaves? Then the task has failed. Pretty soon the house mates' resolve is tested as the mysterious "company" starts doing all they can to make the group implode…….

Riding in on the wave of Big Brother style reality shows and low budget documentary type films such as Blair Witch, My Little Eye is an unsettling and claustrophobic horror piece. The set up is perfect, an old dark house setting filled with darkened rooms and the whirring of cameras. Five unlikable characters (a reality TV staple it seems). And then there's us, the viewers. Observing as these five beings (three boys-two girls) are steadily tortured psychologically. We be voyeurs to edgy emotion as the group start to crack under duress, things from their pasts are used against them. And of course nothing is quite what it seems. Given the truly creepy first hour, the piece is not as scary as a whole as it could have been. But Evans utilises the cleverly conceived premise for a series of shocks and unease inducing sequences. The sound effects are jolting and the night time green tint moments are hugely effective. The cast are standard fare, but that's most likely the point of it all, in that we need wannabe stars instead of stars, and the finale has a nice bent to it that lifts it away from the film's it has took influence from. Good and creepy horror piece that has a terrific DVD release that further implicates us in the story. 7/10