Review by Peter Syslo
FIVE ACROSS THE EYES (2006) is an upcoming DVD release from Anchor Bay (www.anchorbayentertainment.com). It is a tale of instant and delayed karma - everyone gets a little of what they deserve, in a way. Although the film involves very rough subject matter and is exploitative, I thought that it was very well done and it held my interest all the way through, to the end. Seriously, the action begins in the first few minutes and it doesn’t let up until the climax of the film. What you have with this film is a taught thriller, an exploitation picture, and a slasher film; it is definitely worth your time to check it out.
FIVE ACROSS THE EYES (2006) is directed by Greg Swinson and Ryan Thiessen; it is written by Marshall Hicks and Swinson. The film stars Jennifer Barnett, Angela Brunda, Danielle Lilley, Sandra Paduch, Mia Yi, and Veronica Garcia as the killer.
The picture is about a group of five teenage girls, who are on their way home from a game. After deciding to take an "off the beaten path" shortcut and after joking around in a parking lot, they accidentally hit a person’s SUV. They decide to just leave and a few minutes later, they are being pursued by that same SUV. After being cornered, they meet their pursuer - it is a woman with a shotgun, who is carrying on like she is crazy. Apparently she wants to harm the girls and the movie becomes a "cat-and-mouse" game that has an exploitative edge to it.
I was very impressed by this film; I was a little leery at first, due to the title and the description (plus, some of these "hyped-up" films don’t always deliver). But I thoroughly enjoyed the film - the suspense was fulfilling, the tension was great, and I enjoyed the simplicity of it all. What I mean by simplicity is that it was a straightforward plot that didn’t need a lot of over-explanation or stale dialogue to support it. All that you need to know is that a crazy woman is following a group of five teenage girls and she wants to kill them; sit back and enjoy!
I thought that the filmmakers used some very effective techniques, which made this film successful. For example, they used the audio to create suspense/tension; in one scene, the camera focuses on a girl in the van and off in the distance, you hear shotgun blasts. The suspense builds as the blasts sound closer and you are wondering, "Did that woman kill anyone, what is happening?" - very effective. Also, another interesting technique is that the filmmakers used the combination of sound and dialogue description during a lot of the torture scenes. You see very little of the visual component, but the off-screen techniques leave you wondering a bit and at times, you learn what really happened after-the-fact. I liked that and I thought that it was much more powerful than showing the gore, in this case; the "less is more" technique worked well. However, let me just say that whe n you do see some of the on-screen violence, it does look pretty realistic. For instance, when the killer is smashing one girl’s foot with a hammer, in one scene - man, you could almost feel the pain. But again, not showing everything seemed to enhance the power of the violent scenes that were shown.
While we’re on the topic, I did like the approach that the filmmakers took with this kind of racy material - you know, the blunt-object-violation and torture of teenage girls. It may sound funny, but the filmmakers did it very respectfully and tastefully (even though the subject matter was not that tasteful). This is also where the "less is more" and off-screen techniques really helped; no unnecessary nudity was shown and the violence wasn’t overly graphic (there is a scene when the killer has them disrobe, but you only see the girls from the shoulders up, from the back - so, thankfully there is none of that in the film. I don’t care if the actresses are of age - real or implied, that’s just not my thing). So, I do applaud the filmmakers for creating this type of film with a bit of a conscience.
Regarding the acting, it was basically an all-female cast, which I thought was very unique. All of the girls did a pretty good job; each had their own character archetype and I thought that the performances were pretty convincing. Also, this was the least annoying female cast that I have seen in a long time; I don’t know if the creators scripted all of the dialogue but it sounded pretty realistic and sincere. Also, Veronica Garcia was excellent as the killer; you actually believe that she is crazy (there is a reason, you find out why) and she has that unpredictably dangerous quality to her, like Dennis Hopper in BLUE VELVET - you don’t know what she is capable of doing and I felt that made her a scary villain.
Cutting to the chase: FIVE ACROSS THE EYES is a very good horror film. However, it may not be for everyone and specifically, women may cringe a little bit during some scenes (let me just say these two phrases: screwdriver-handle violation and shotgun-barrel violation). But, it is actually a film that involves female strength and solidarity, so it is definitely worth sitting through. Concerning other details, the music (mostly hard-rock) is a cool accompaniment to the film. The camera work is all handheld, shot in BLAIR WITCH style throughout, but the night shots were crystal clear and the audio really had a lot of clarity to it. The only downside to the film is that there are some continuity details (the gas thing was a little shaky) and it could be a little far-fetched at times (I don’t think some of those girls would be able to walk after some of that torture). But, this film did grab my attention, I wanted to see how it all ended, and it provided me with some fulfilling thrills. It was a pleasant surprise and I give it an 8/10.