My Little Eye - Review

Five wannabes (Sean Cw Johnson, Kris Lemche, Stephen O'Reilly, Laura Regan, Jennifer Sky) answer an ad to be part of a new reality game show that is to be broadcast live across the internet. The hook here is that they have to spend 6 months in an isolated house with just each other for company but if they all manage it they get a cool one million dollars. However, with a few days left to go someone starts playing some insensitive pranks…

We’ve got an interesting set-up here, in the world of today reality TV shows have dominated the ratings for as long as we can remember which, to be honest, probably isn’t that long thanks to the goggle box. But here the format’s anonymous voyeurism is magnified by the fact it is aimed at the worldwide internet community, the action captured by hundreds of web-cams located all through the house the contestants are staying in. This is all represented in the film’s strong opening act, there are no other characters or exposition, they’re just in the house and immediately we are watching them through the technology. Cameras whir as they zoom in, stiffly pan across as they follow subjects and the cutting is brutal as characters move between rooms. All that’s missing is some Geordie to tell you what’s going on. Things start to get interesting when the psychosis sets in, is it all a revenge ploy? Is anybody really watching? Some important questions are raised about how far this genre of entertainment can go and the movie even implicates the viewer on several occasions to say “why are you watching this?” This aspect of the movie is greatly suited to DVD as it is more about people huddled round the tube watching the characters, picking out the ones they think will crack which is what makes shows like Big Brother such a success. In this case there is almost a conscious decision to make all the players come across as stupid or down right unlikable, they are the greedy youth of today after fame or money or both and the viewer is there to feel all high and mighty. Now if the film stayed on this level of intelligence we could call it a success but unfortunately somewhere down the line someone decided to make this a very generic horror movie. We’re talking about people creeping around wondering what that noise is only to find it’s a wild animal, what a surprise. It’s not even that scary, with no real jumps and true, the night vision scenes where we see the contestants stumble around in the dark is pretty cool, it is over-used and makes the climax seem like a long parody of Silence of the Lambs. The fact that the characters are so one-dimensional gives us little sympathy for them when the blood letting starts. They each have their own little story to tell which is supposed to define them as a person but it leaves you with the bitter memory of how terrible Blair Witch 2 was. As the plot moves forward, what was great camera and sound editing soon unravels. Cameras seem to appear in the most unlikely places and it becomes more like a film than something that could actually happen. At the films ugliest point, the ‘rebel’ character suddenly realises what a whiz he is at technology and builds an internet dialler from a mobile phone that he also uses to hack into the games supposed web site! The movies total disregard for the medium it is supposedly representing is laughable.

This all may be sounding very negative but coming away from the film the whole thing is a real let down after such a promising start. Credit must be given to the director Marc Evans who employs some beautiful work when it comes to using the web-cams, just check out the shot from the end of a pen! If the characters were not straight out of The Haunting remake it may have meant more than the teen slasher we are left with and if other directors are thinking about taking on the world of reality TV please remember that people have done it so much better, see Battle Royale or Series 7: The Contenders instead. At least they don’t betray the rules they lay down for themselves.

My Little Eye - Extras

Interactive Mode – Now this is the main attraction of this 2-Disc DVD edition and it is a feature that rocks and proves that every now and again we do get some original content. Using a code found somewhere in the packaging you can access another layer of the movie where you can watch it within a new interface that contains stats on the contestants. As the film progresses their stats change as well as their alive status but crucially you can access hidden auditions for each character. Some scenes also allow you to switch cameras but the most impressive part is changing audio tracks so you can listen to the voices of ‘the company’ taking pleasure from the proceedings. Too bad these features begin to disappear towards the end but they are extremely innovative. In fact, the subjects the film deals with are better suited to this level of interactivity and you get the feeling that if it was done as this type of user experiment the experience might have been more rewarding.

Director’s Commentary – Also features producer John Finn and contains plenty of anecdotes about the making of the movie.

Deleted Scenes – First off, watch these with the commentary because they are very meandering long shots of the cast walking round. They are very interesting however as they let you see how liberating shooting on DV can be as the makers had the freedom to let the actors improvise while they kept shooting everything in real-time. It also shows the amount of post-production work that goes into creating a truly atmospheric shot, something that is one of the final films strongest assets.

Making Of – Above average doc that that shows you how the movie was shot on location in Nova Scotia with plenty of interviews with cast and crew. It then moves onto how it was marketed and released with the added edge that, for the producers, it was something that just had to sell.

Also included is a few trailers and TV spots plus a moving gallery.

Overall

While the film itself shies away from the more interesting aspects of the points it raises, the DVD itself at least acknowledges them and lets the user be part of the game. The filmmakers also prove themselves to be innovative and ones to watch in the UK film industry.

Rich Badley