SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

ShangLuda Admirable film.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

christopher-underwood Donald Cammell was a rare talent but perhaps like another talented Brit, Ken Russell, could become obsessed and then unrestrained, go just that little bit too far. Here is a near perfect film of excess, a fearful portrait of a serial killer we do not know (for certain) and through whom we see most of the action. The killings have been described as 'giallo' like and I get the comparison with the glorious Italian exploitation movies. Like in gialli, this is wonderfully shot with glorious interiors, all the better to be splattered with blood. Horrible deaths, macabre body disposal and a narrative constantly moving at a very fast pace. The performances are great, the film always looks tremendous and we are kept wondering almost till the end. And it is the end I take issue with - we really didn't need a car chase and an explosion. The tale had been well told and we had had a hard enough ride. The excess at the end may have seemed like a good idea but someone should have seen it really wasn't necessary, that it was overkill. Great film though, nevertheless.

drosse67 The term sleeper is overused but I think it applies to this movie. It's got one of those titles like "The Stepfather" and "Cop," titles that are bad and misleading and really don't give you a sense of how well-made the film is. Like the other movies, White of the Eye benefits from an intense performance by its leading man. David Keith has always been underused in movies but there was a period in the early '80s when he seemed to be on the brink of major stardom. In this movie, he completely loses it and becomes a suburban monster; those looking for the appealing David Keith from An Officer & a Gentleman or The Lords of Discipline should look elsewhere. Cathy Moriarity was less effective as she will always be typecast as the tough New York broad. She seemed a little out of place in Tucson, Arizona. I recommend this movie for the same reasons I recommend The Stepfather, Cop, and The Reflecting Skin--I saw these movies years ago and they really left impressions I can't seem to shake.

General_Cromwell Donald Cammells take on the psycho-thriller,is an absorbing,offbeat,beautifully made affair.Opening with a breathtaking sequence,as a woman is murdered in her chic house by an unseen assailant.Cammell uses extreme close ups of the killers eye,slow motion,and a weird pulsating music track,to blistering effect.This is a stunningly directed film,with a script by Cammell and his wife to match.Thankfully the cast are up to the challenge.Raging Bull's Cathy Moriarty gives her best ever performance in this,as the wife who not only has to discover her husbands infidelity,but also his terrible secret.Alan Rosenberg also impresses as Moriarty's ex,giving a sympathetic performance for such a pathetic character.The revelation here though is David Keith,who is quite simply awesome and believable as a man who appears normal,but inside is a mass of raging insanity.The flashback scenes that appear sporadically as the film progresses are clever and well written,gradually revealing Paul Whites mindset.Although the film isn't overly violent,one of the murders is disturbing in the extreme.*POSSIBLE-SPOILER* Also nasty is the scene where Moriarty discovers the secret her husband has hidden under the bathtub.The climax as Paul,clad in warpaint and wearing half a ton of dynamite,hunts his wife is riveting,with an explosive ending in a disused quarry.Another good feature of the film is the stunning location work,showing Tucson Arizona as an almost alien but starkly beautiful landscape.Criminally underseen and underrated,this is stunning cinema and one of the best films of the eighties.

jplenton *spoilers*Donald Cammell's final film White of the Eye is more similar in theme to the chameleon-esque Performance than the sci-fi adaptation Demon Seed. Both films concern identity, either the loss of (Performance where the two disparate leads merge into one) or the rigid absolution thereof (White of the Eye), resulting in madness and murder. In both films the narrative is not linear. There are both flashbacks and scenes extraneous to the plot. See also the films of Performance co-director Nicholas Roeg.The opening sequence of White of the Eye depicts an eagle soaring over the man-made landscape of city and quarry/mines, completely distanced/alien from that world. An eagle is a predator reliant on vision, it could be construed as a metaphor for Paul White.The first murder is overtly stylised, as is most of the film. Imagery such as the fish in the meat dish, red wine spilling, and red roses, replace the need to show bloodshed. Unfortunately such showiness distances the viewer from the scene. It is more like art than murder (but what else is any film?).The second murder is more sinister, particularly when the killer holds a mirror to the drowning woman's face. It reminded me of the male/female interplay with a mirror in Performance (identity theme again).There is a revealing moment into the psychology of White when his wife, Joan, confronts him about the murders. He is more relieved that this acquits him of adultery, thus consolidating his loyalty to her. Consider his stoical aspect on life/identity. He does not realise/except that now his life and relationship is irrevocably changed.Joan's previous lover, Mike, does change with time unlike White. He too has mental problems, "the TV in his head" (vision again), which supposedly explains his sudden appearance at the finale. As he knew the truth about White, he is partially responsible for the murders, and with typical film morality had to die at the end. The conclusion is quite unsatisfactory, guns and explosions are easy, a dramatic conclusion may have been more fitting.