Les Yeux de feu

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 Americana. 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.

Don't you just love coming across films that you've never heard of before and to your surprise it turns out better than it expected. The independent low-budget horror drama "Eyes of Fire" would be one of those films you'll either become attach to or simply can't fathom the fuss. It's easy to see why it's a sleeper though --- just look when it came out (just think of the horror of this period) and there's no-one in the cast that would really stand-out on paper. However the story alone had me intrigued. From beginning to end, it projects up as nothing more than a bizarre, hallucinating mood piece. While not completely satisfying (due to its experimental tailoring consisting of some convoluted writing in the latter acts with a weak ending and cheap tacked on final frame), its unconventional style holds you there despite its purposely slow-grinding pace. The mysteriously spooky nature of it had me thinking of the similar in vein western / horror variation "The Shadow of Chikara (1977)".

A creepy folklore / witchcraft horror with absorbing atmospherics (the rich Missouri locations are alienating and suitably eerie) and a mystical layer is formed by it inspired narrative (where its told through narrated flashback) and distinctively lyrical script as we follow some western pioneers led by a reverend on the American frontier in the search of the promised land, but they stumble upon a valley that's inhabited by a devil witch and her captured souls.

What really came out of left field was the dazzling direction of writer / director Avery Crounse. While methodical and low-scale, he managed some visually breath-taking imagery of edgy horror and haunting beauty caught by the elegantly earthy and unhinged cinematography. Even during the daylight sequences, it remains just as unsettling and also the authentic, fidgety sound effects of the forest simply unnerve. Brad Fiedel's music score is slight, but skin-crawling and the variable special effects feature plenty of tripped-out colour schemes, tree decorations (you'll see) and loud explosions. It's serviceable, and the make-up FX is decently projected with a spooky looking phantom witch. It's those eyes! There are modest performances by the likes of Dennis Lipscomb, Guy Boyd, Rebecca Stanley and Kathleen Crockett in a very contemplative turn.

Fascinatingly offbeat, if meandering and jaded mystical spook flick.

This singularly distinct horror film concerns a colonial minister, his married mistress, and a group of their friends and supporters who flee the wrath of the people in their village and travel via raft up the Hudson river to what will eventually be upstate New York, staying one step ahead of savage indians to settle in a strange valley. Strange, because it has already been settled by French settlers, all of whom have vanished, and because the bloodthirsty indians in the area won't set foot in it. Because of the lack of a scalping epidemic(not to mention a ready-made village all set to go), the party settles down to life in the valley, unaware that a decidedly evil entity is moving among them, embodied in a strange, dark-haired little girl found in the village alone . ..

The choice of setting(Colonial-era America)is unique in itself, but the strange concept, of a village that is home to an entity made up of the lifeforces of many beings who have died violently and that entity's seduction of most of the group, is unusual. There's a weird dis-ease in the atmosphere of this place, one that sets it apart from most films like this. Recommended for those who savor atmosphere.

This film did not get the well deserve attention it should have recieved. Back in the early 80's when other horror films were taken over the theatres, Eyes Of Fire played for a while and then was thrown on the shelf to be forgotten. If you want to see a movie that is full of ghost, creepy woods and witches, then this is the movie for you. The characters are settlers who have witnessed evrything from adultry, stealing, hangings, witch burnings and the false teaching of a minister. The story is so entertaining that the viewer finds themselves caught up in the story. The music is very chilling and goes perfect with the scenes. I still love this film and it's one of my favorites. I wish they would re-release it on video and dvd. (Hey Anchor Bay...let this be your new project.) I feel that several other movies have gotten their storylines from Eyes Of Fire. And yet the other movies went on to become very successful. If you want to see a movie that deals with the early times in the early settlers way of ife and to witness the secrets of the unknown, get this movie if you can find a copy. You will be entertained.

To anyone interested in this movie, I say you have to see it. If you find it at your local video store and are the type to be intrigued by the title and video box, you will enjoy it.

The poor lighting and practically non-existent special effects actually make the mood more effective, although it may be slow going for some horror movie fans.

Some movies in a similar vein are The Company of Wolves, el Topo- if you can find it, and Ravenous (1999)