Review of Eyes of Fire

"Eyes of Fire" is a curious oddity in the already curious universe of 80s horror movies. On one hand, it's truly incomprehensible that this film isn't more well-known or doesn't have a much larger cult-following, because it is an atmospheric and genuinely unsettling tale with an original plot, a unique setting and a handful of downright disturbing moments. On the other hand, however, it's rather easy to see why "Eyes of Fire" is obscure and almost forgotten, as it's a slow-brooding and intelligently scripted ghost tale that got released in the middle of an era when horror audiences were mainly just demanding for brainless teen-slashers with lots of gratuitous T&A and extreme violence. Well, the least you can say is that "Eyes of Fire" is overripe for rediscovery and Avery Crounse should be acknowledged as a competent writer/director, even though he only made three films (and this is by far the only one worth seeking out). The story is inventively set in the year 1750 and narrated via a group of children that are found hidden away in a ramshackle cabin near the American/Canadian border (back then still referred to as "French territory"). They start explaining how their parents fled from the peaceful community they lived in because they were close followers of Reverend Will Smyth and he narrowly got executed at the charge of adultery and polygamy. They followed the river on a raft and then ventured into the deep woods where they eventually settled in a couple of abandoned cabins at an open spot. The cowardly and hypocrite reverend keeps proclaiming they are blessed by God and one a mission to revert the Indian tribes in these woods to Christianity, while Marion Dalton (the betrayed husband who went after the group) quickly realizes they entered sacred burial grounds where the restless spirits of slaughtered Native Americans wreak havoc on trespassers. There are numerous of very powerful and petrifying sequences in "Eyes of Fire", notably the grisly images of human faces captured in ancient holy trees or zombie-like creatures emerging from the muddy swamp grounds. The script and dialogues are unnerving as well. I have a personal weakness for good old-fashioned clichés, and "Eyes of Fire" features a delightful monologue around a campfire where Guy Boyd's character explains how the spilled blood of innocent natives eventually clits together in the underground and forms a powerful and vengeful demon. I loved that part! Admittedly the film also contains a few too many dull and overly confusing moments, and the special effects - albeit of respectable quality level - are often used too randomly. The performances are overall very decent, with one actor truly standing out. Dennis Lipscomb is genius as the vile and totally unreliable reverend Smyth. With his almost naturally evil charisma, Lipscomb depicts one of the most loathsome and malignant characters of 80s horror cinema. He's not a perverted murderer, but an arrogant and cowardly hypocrite. Those are generally worse that masked serial killers.