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46%
Overall Rating
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Ranked #14,769
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On the brink of taking it to the next level with her boyfriend, Victoria comes home to find a mysterious box on her kitchen table. In it are the remains of an ancient powerful skull known only as The Eye of Menw. Menw's power is the knowledge of the future for those who are pure-hearted. But when Victoria asks about her future, she unleashes an unholy abomination from hell.
--IMDb
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As a film critic, I try to be unbiased when I review a film. Just because a film is low budget or independent doesn't mean I give it any 'starting points' before I tackle it. I judge a film that costs $100 to make the same way I judge a film that costs $100,000,000.00 to make. Or, at least, I try to. So, I will occasionally catch a lot of bologna for not appreciating a low budget horror film because I 'just don't give enough recognition to the effort involved'. I do not have a problem with being chastised for this. It's the name of the game. The latest independent effort to be sent my way is the short horror film, "The Eye of Menw". The DVD case of the film proclaimed that the horror film was a 'throwback to 1950's and 1960's horror', something that caught my eye, even though the rest of the case really didn't seem like a throwback to anything at all. Still, I was willing to give the film a chance.
Basically, the film felt like a "Twilight Zone" episode -- maybe a segment from "Trilogy of Terror". It stars Giovanna Galdi as Victoria, a young schoolteacher who is trying to decide whether or not she wants to step-up her current relationship with Kyle. She arrives home one day to find a strange box containing a skull and three stones, along with a note instructing her what to do. If she asks a question and turns over a stone, the answer will be written in the steamed up mirror. She thinks this gift was left to her by Kyle, since he did mention that he had something waiting on for her inside. She starts playing the game, asking the first question, and then the second. Before she can receive the answer to the third question, strange things start to happen. There's a ring at the doorbell, an odd telephone call and other strange happenings. The ending of the film is pure "Trilogy of Terror", taking a twist and running with it, though really offering very little in the form of a satisfying resolution.
In terms of entertainment value, I was indeed entertaining by "The Eye of Menw". It kept my attention and I was curious as to what was going to happen next. The decision to shoot in black and white, I suppose, was made in an attempt to liken it even further to those old 1950's and 1960's horror films. However, the black and white was not appropriate to me. Maybe if they had added some old film effects or something else to make it look more like an homage, maybe that would have worked better for me. I also don't understand the decision to use the black and white as a way to make it more of an homage and then have everything else so modern. I just think you need to go all out with something like that. The pacing and the editing of the film were brisk and solid, and I couldn't find any fault with the lead performance, though I didn't really buy her as a schoolteacher. I also thought the scene with the next door neighbor and the baby was unnecessary and bogged the film down.
Here are some suggestions I have that would make "The Eye of Menw" a better film: (01) get rid of that scene with the neighbor and the baby; (02) find some way to make the ending creepier and less melodramatic -- you didn't think melodrama when you watched "House on Haunted Hill"; (03) add some old film effects to the black and white and make it a true homage and not just a half-met one; and (04) change the name of the film. You have to have an accessible name for a film, and "The Eye of Menw" is just too bizarre and inane. People sometimes stay away from titles they cannot fully pronounce. All of that aside, "The Eye of Menw" was a nice little horror short that kept me entertained. It actually turned out to be better than a lot of horror features I am sent to review for the site. Kudos to the director for making it well worth my while. 8/10.
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