6 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 1.5 | |
Overall | 2.6 |
Survival is a killer. Recovering from the psychological effects of witnessing a brutal crime, FBI agent Jake Malloy checks into a rehabilitation clinic for police officers. There, stripped of their defences, including badges and weapons, they can dry out and begin to face their futures. However, the therapeutic sanctuary soon becomes a nightmarish prison when a major snowstorm cuts off the clinic from any communication to the outside world. Patients begin to turn up dead amidst suspicious circumstances and it becomes clear that there is indeed a killer among them...
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Charles S. Dutton, Polly Walker, Kris Kristofferson, MifThriller | 100% |
Crime | 51% |
Horror | 7% |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (224 kbps)
English, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
In a way, it’s maybe ironically appropriate that Eye See You has a homonym and/or a homonymic acronym in ICU, since this film was evidently in the cinematic equivalent of an Intensive Care Unit virtually from the get go. Despite a relatively starry cast which included Sylvester Stallone, Polly Walker, Tom Berenger, Charles S. Dutton, Sean Patrick Flanery, Robert Patrick, Jeffrey Wright, Courtney B. Vance, Stephen Lang and Kris Kristofferson, and one of those setups which includes an isolated setting with an apparently crazed murderer on the loose, Eye See You reportedly encountered trouble early on with some disruptions in the producing team, and then test screenings that didn't exactly go well. The film then evidently sat on the shelf for several years before it was even granted a short and limited theatrical release. Eye See You also evidently at one point sported the title Detox (a number of online sources cite the title as D-Tox, but at least as evidenced by the so-called "Director's Cut" which is included in SD as a supplement on this disc, it wasn't always spelled that way). That title at least hints (as does the current title, albeit more subliminally) at the fact that the aforementioned isolated location in this instance is a rehab clinic that caters specifically to law enforcement types.
Eye See You is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Marquee Collection, an imprint of MVD Visual, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. When this film features brighter moments, either outdoor or nicely lit interiors, it pops with some warmth and with generally excellent detail levels. Unfortunately as can probably be made out in many of the screenshots accompanying this review, the bulk of the film takes place after a blizzard shuts down the rehab facility, and a lot of the subsequent story is drenched in deep cobalt blues and less than optimal lighting a lot of the time. This appears to be an older master, with some occasionally rough looking moments (see screenshots 18 and 19), and detail levels that can kind of ebb and flow depending on how well lit any given scene is. No substantial restoration seems to have taken place, and numerous flecks and specks (some of them kind ironically white specks that show up in scenes already laden with white snows) occur throughout the presentation.
Eye See You offers a nicely immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 which features a lot of whipping winter winds as one of its regular surround activities. A lot of the film takes place outside (it's yet another example of "stupid horror movie behavior" with one person after another trekking off into the wilderness by themselves, or at least ostensibly by themselves), and the track regularly provides good, realistic placement of ambient environmental effects. Composer John Powell reportedly wrote two scores for the film (and SD presentation of the so-called "Director's Cut", below, does contain different music), and the one in this film often surges into the side and rear channels. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free track.
- 1. Cold Shoulder (480i; 1:38)
- 2. The Tour (480i; 00:42)
- 3. Eye Opener (480i; 2:10)
- 4. Fireside Chat (480i; 3:33)
- 5. Moby Dick (480i; 00:31)
- 6. Faith (480i; 2:19)
- 7. Left Behind (480i; 00:55)
- 8. Slater Concern (480i; 00:48)
- Charles Dutton (480i; 2:43)
- Kris Kristofferson (480i; 1:00) n
- Polly Walker (480i; 2:51)
- Christopher Pulford (480i; 2:02)
- Robert Patrick (480i; 2:12)
- Robert Prosky (480i; 1:54)
- Courtney B. Vance (480i; 2:25)
- Jeffrey Wright (480i; 1:56)
- Angela Alvarado Rosa (480i; 1:52)
I'm still not quite sure about several rather significant plot points in Eye See You, not the least of which is why the killer targeted Malloy and why therefore other cops were targeted, many of whom Malloy had no real connection to other than that he was investigating their deaths. I'm also curious about the first supposed dead bad guy Malloy finds after a chase. This is a film that had a decent enough premise that probably just couldn't survive its studio's meddling hand, though some of this chaos seems directly attributable to both screenwriting and direction. Technical merits are generally okay (video) to excellent (audio), and some of the supplemental interviews kind of cheekily amusing, for those who are considering a purchase.
2001
1999
Limited Edition
1980
2012
2003
Scre4m
2011
2014
2008
2004
Unrated Director’s Cut
2008
Extended Cut
2004
2008
Unrated Director's Cut
2007
Unrated Director's Cut
2008
Unrated Edition
2006
Unrated Director’s Cut
2009
2013
Unrated Edition
2005
Saw 3D
2010
Sherlock Holmes
1944