Gage, the lead of the group is making it his priority to make a documentary based off the local legend, Red Eye... and so he does. Three "friends" tag along, hoping to help Gage on his passion project. As they travel deeper into the woods, things start to kick off. The obligatory run in with a hick local, talk of horror films, tensions between the four and the eventual site of Red Eye.
The film has a really short run time of 1h:13m, short enough. The movie is shot very well for the budget and the scenery, location suits the film perfectly. So far, those are the pros. The acting is very in and out, with a stand out performance from Heather Dorff and a more than flat performance from the lead, Scott King, making every line feel like it was being read straight from one of the most boring stories you've ever heard. Destinie Orndoff, a co-writer of the film, and Hayden Wilberger both deliver lines with either quickness or staleness... while it is clear Orndoff is more passionate about the project than any of the actors.
SPOILERS
The story is pretty much the same as any other backwoods film and with the short duration, there is no time to flesh out the origin or mythology of the titles slasher, Red Eye. By the time we met "Red Eye" all of the build up is immediately blown up by the films reveal twist: Gage has plotted this all. The killing of his pregnant friends, who receives a hook to the stomach, after an argument of abortion, classy. To the beheading of the babies cheating father. One of the final scenes of the film, which was specifically written to make Orndoff's character stand out, falls flat on its face. We're never given enough time to feel compassion any of the characters, let alone the woman who was cheated on, the character we had expect to have a final girl show down.
There is commentary in the film that tries to speak volumes, but ends up sounding more like whispers in an empty theater. Useless and nothing more than filler. By the end of the movie, especially the final scene involving more than one offensive and grotesque acts, you'll be left with one question: who the f--k is Red Eye?
There are some scenes, one of which involves slow motion, that are a worthy edition to horror cinema that you'll be happy you witnessed, but at the end of the day... Red Eye is nothing more than another empty entry in backwoods horror.
With a higher budget and a more fleshed out antagonist, this would be a film you don't want to miss. I want to stress that this movie is well shot for one of it's budget and the team behind it is very passionate, but we can only hope their next venture, Inverted, is a step up. I
It's a good way to kill a late evening and you won't regret seeing it, you'll just wish it didn't feel like an empty attempt at creating the next great horror icon.
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