Eternal Evil (1985)

A Canadian production brought to us by the man who previously gave us the '80s slasher favorite "My Bloody Valentine". As a director, George Mihalka is an interesting fellow, especially when you take a look at his choice of projects during the '80s. He really caught my interest some years ago after having seen his offbeat & eerie hostage thriller/drama "Hostile Takeover" aka "Office Party" (1988). "Eternal Evil" - which may not be the best of aka-titles possible to slap on this production, although "The Blue Man" just sounds too silly - is yet again an interested effort not at all lacking a sense of originality. It deals with a burned-out TV-director who, after having met the mysterious dancer Janus (Karen Black), learns to control the powers of astral projection. 'To control' might be a bit overstating things, as events turn for the worse and people from his circle of acquaintances start dying unnatural deaths. A detective starts puzzling the pieces together. Granted, the film has a hard time to keep the viewer excited, as the pace is a little slow and it's not exactly a spectacular thrill ride. But the story does try to provide a bit of mystery, and that's basically what keeps the viewer going. The film's decently made and Mihalka has some impressive camera-tricks up his sleeve (especially during the astral projection sequences). And the story does have some original elements and a satisfying conclusion (don't expect a terrifying climax, though). So it receives a whole extra point for that. If you want to see another horror film revolving around the concept of astral projection, you might want to check out Brian Trenchard-Smith's "Out Of The Body" (1989). It's also half-way decent.