"They don't want us to make it" (My Little Eye - (Special Edition, DVD))

Member Name: mmintfresh

Product:	My Little Eye - (Special Edition, DVD)
Date:	09/12/02 (245 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Direction, Cinematography, Gore

Disadvantages: Emma, she's so annoying

There is a new reality tv show. Five people will be selected to be put in a house for six months. If they stay the duration they will 1 million dollars but just one person leaves no one gets anything. Five people are chosen Matt (Sean Cw Johnson), Rex (Kris Lemche), Danny (Stephen O'Reilly), Emma (Laura Regan) and Charlie (Jennifer Sky). The first five and a bit months go fine, everyone becomes friends and settle into the life. There is now only a week left until they are all millionaires. They go to collect the daily food package and find that it is full of bricks. There is also a letter saying that Danny's grandfather, who raised him, has died and the funeral is in two days. Rex thinks that the company who put them in the house are just trying to mess with everyone so they don't have to pay out. Later on Emma finds sick bitch written on her window. She thinks that a boy, who she scared when he was little and later killed his parents with a hammer is to blame. The next day they get a box with a gun in it, echoing Rex's father's suicide. Emma later finds a bloody hammer in her bed. Also at night the security lights are triggered could someone be watching them and sending all these horrible things to them, or is it just the company spicing up the game?

I went into My Little Eye having read that this movie was like The Blair Witch crossed with Big Brother. I also heard that it was a great horror film and actually scary so my expectations where high. I'm glad to say that I thought this movie was brilliant and I enjoyed it. Being a hardened horror fan I didn't really find it scary but the two people I was with got freaked out and said the film was, and I quote "sick and twisted". Basically the plot of the film is simple. Five people stuck in the house in the middle of nowhere. Scary stuff starts to happen and they get freaked. Then the film takes a whole new direction and there is even a twist at the end. I won't give
away anything else that happens because I don't want to ruin the end. The plot itself is quite original and also very relevant in today’s society where reality tv is both the latest fad and a ratings grabber. It then combines it with a sinister twist that makes you think whether or not reality tv will become like this where the public are watching five people getting scared out of their wits. I also liked the plot went from one direction to another and also how it wasn't afraid to include some very nasty scenes.

Another great thing about the film is the fact that it is filmed on web cam/surveillance type cameras that make it seem real. We get out of focus shots, buzzing sounds as the cameras follow people round the room and zoom ins. Some of the shots are purposefully badly framed so the characters sometimes have obstructions in their face. This makes it seem like a real reality tv show. The night vision camera are also very reminiscent of the Big Brother bedrooms at night and give the film a spooky feel.

The characters themselves are quite typical of reality tv contestants. You have the one who wants fame (Charlie), the one who wants money(Rex), the one who wants to meet people (Danny)and the one who is doing it for the 'experience' (Emma). The film also opens with interview type tapes with characters explaining their motivation and these are funny because they are so like the real thing. The characters themselves were all likeable, (but Emma annoyed me) are well rounded and aren't idiots. They manage to get the audience rooting for them, which is usually important in horror films.

The direction, by Marc Evans is top notch. He perfectly replicates the style of reality tv but also manages to pack in those scares. He clearly knows the rules of reality tv and horror films. He has made a scary horror film which quite an achievement in the age where if horror films aren't full of teens and clichés they aren'
;t made. He manages to build tension and a claustrophobic atmosphere. He packs in a few cheap frights, the crow in the attic, a banging door but also makes some genuinely frightening scenes, the one where Travis arrives in particularly memorable or the last half an hour or so. I also like the use of the telling the house mates their package had arrived. It made you jump but was also very sinister. Evans also makes comments about how tv producers will do anything for a good show and about voyeurism and what audiences will watch. I came out of My Little Eye smiling, finally a decent and original horror film. If you liked the Blair Witch or Big Brother you'll like this but beware there is are some quite nasty scenes.

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