In the Eyes of a Killer

This weekend at the Sacramento Film Festival I watched IN THE EYES OF A KILLER starring Louis Mandylor, Gwendolyn Edwards, Costas Mandylor, and James Marshall. It was a sold out screening, as the movie was made in Sacramento. Several local residents were cast in supporting roles and as extras, so many enthusiastic family members and friends were in the audience.

IN THE EYES OF A KILLER is a psychological thriller. In the beginning “Jack,” played by Louis Mandylor, is a great guy who is a blind college professor and wonderful cook who “Gwen,” played by Gwendolyn Edwards, enjoys dating and looks forward to marrying. “Jack” is apprehensive about going through with an experimental eye surgery, but “Gwen” encourages him to move forward with the process.

After a successful surgery, “Jack” regains his sight. Unfortunately, the eyes he receives are a donation from a man who was a rapist and murderer sentenced to death. “Jack” suddenly takes on characteristics of the man, drinking a lot of whiskey, killing people, and even terrorizing “Gwen” on the island where they spend their honeymoon.

Louis Mandylor is the film’s producer and director, and admits it was very difficult acting and directing in a movie at the same time. However, he says he would do it again. I think he did a nice job, and want to see him direct more movies.

IN THE EYES OF A KILLER has some good performances, especially by Louis Mandylor and Costas Mandylor. I also like Gwendolyn Edwards, who I hope to see in more movies. In addition, the story by Mamie Jean is good. Apparently this is a story Mamie wrote 20 years before producing, so it is truly a dream realized for her.

I like this movie, and appreciated the question and answer session after the screening. The best part about attending film festivals is being able to talk directly to filmmakers about their movies. This independent movie is worthy of a theatrical release, so keep an eye out (no pun intended) for IN THE EYES OF A KILLER.

High Tension and You Better Watch Out

I have watched some horror movies on FearNet recently. For the record, I like horror, not “gorer.” I prefer films that offer suspense, as Alfred Hitchcock accomplished so well. And as a friend of mine has said, “horror is whatever makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.”

One of the movies I watched that absolutely terrified me was HIGH TENSION. Oh my goodness! It certainly provided high tension. I was petrified as an insane man entered a farm house killing each member of an unsuspecting family. However, for some reason he did not kill the daughter, and her college friend, who is visiting, manages to hide from him. It was frightening seeing him drive away in his truck with the daughter and her friend, who willingly got in the back of his truck without him knowing it. She did not want to separate from her friend. The ending was definitely unexpected, and is a bit disturbing, but I would recommend HIGH TENSION to horror fans. There was graphic violence, but the story kept my interest so I sat through it. For more about this movie, visit the official site: http://www.hightensionmovie.com/.

Another movie I watched was YOU BETTER WATCH OUT, also known as, CHRISTMAS EVIL. This independent movie was released in 1980, and is a psychological thriller about a man who is obsessed with Christmas and being Santa Claus. Apparently this movie was popular at Drive In movie theatres. I liked it because I actually laughed at some things, that were probably supposed to be taken seriously, but it was hilarious seeing this grown man have Christmas decorations up (probably year-round), take special care in sewing his Santa suit, drive a van with a sleigh painted on the side and while driving it he shouted, “Go Rudolph, Prancer, Comet,” etc., and to top it off, work at a toy factory. He killed a few people and decided which kids had been naughty or nice. He did not kill any children. Instead he gave them presents. But when adults made him angry, he killed them. This might sound crazy to you, but it was a fun movie to watch, and apparently is a cult classic.