I am writing my review for Five Across the Eyes quite drastically, after the fact. It's been nearly a month since I watched Greg Swinson & Ryan Thiessen's film, but immediately after my viewing, I attempted to pen a review, yet found I had nothing noteworthy to say about it. Based on the impact the film had on some other viewers, and the resultant anticipation I had going in, I expected something brilliant. Yet the film failed to live up to that manufactured hype.

However, I came across the film, sitting on top of one of my DVD shelves earlier this evening, and some of the visuals from the film flooded my memory. Looking back, I don't know why I was so wholly unenthused. There are some very unsettling sequences in the film; sequences which have made themselves at home in my mind's eye, since they came flooding back earlier this evening.

The synopsis, from “The Official Website”:

“On their way home from a high school football game, five teenage girls become hopelessly lost. When they stop to get directions at a desolate store, the girls are involved in a minor fender bender which leaves an unattended SUV one headlight short. Inexperienced and frightened that they'll get into trouble, the girls flee the scene of the accident and speed away down the dark and unfamiliar roads. As they blindly make their way across an area the locals call THE EYES, the girls are suddenly shocked to see one lone headlight appear behind them. As the driver of the damaged SUV begins one terrifying assault after another, the five girls will lose their innocence and possibly their lives in this brutal and shocking thrill ride.”

The reason why I've chosen to quote the film's synopsis (as I usually reveal very little about the film's plot), is that this synopsis, as simple as it sounds, gives the film far more weight than it actually has. The plot is paper thin, and realistically, the 94 minute film could have been a 25 minute short. This is one of the films most significant problems, as the characters are particularly irritating, and 90-plus minutes of five annoying teenagers screaming for their lives (continually) is more than a little hard to tolerate at times.

This isn't the films only problem, however, as it is very seldom what you would call believable. The relationships between the girls are contrived, and serve no real purpose but to fill the spaces when they are not being terrorized. That being said, the entire film takes place in and about a van, as the girls try to find their way back to the highway, this makes for a lot of uninteresting dialogue to add some sort of basis for the characters. Unfortunately none of it is interesting, and the characters just don't matter to us, the audience - a major failing point in the intention of an intense attempt at a horror film, such as this.

The film is not without its small successes, however. The film is grounded very firmly in the realm of 70's exploitation, and for the most part it succeeds in creating the atmosphere that was so crucial to the success of films like Last House on the Left and House on the Edge of the Park. This is due, in no small part, to the films miniscule budget (The film was shot in just over a week, on mini DV camcorders), which provides a thick layer of grain, very reminiscent of an aged VHS tape. Swinson & Thiessen also avoid falling into any clichéd plot devices, more associated with the slasher film formula of recent memory.

While I didn't realize it at the time, the film has some effectively intense sequences that have obviously stuck with me a month after viewing. This is a testament to the potential of the filmmakers – given a decent script, some credible actresses and a larger budget, they may be able to craft something worthwhile. Unfortunately, Five Across the Eyes, despite what it does do right, is not that film. Looking back however, it is worth a slightly higher recommendation than the 1-star rating I was going to give it, after my initial viewing.