Tucson hi-fi engineer Paul White (David Keith) finds himself suspected of several brutal murders and must convince the cops that he is innocent: hardly an original set-up for a movie, but director Donald Cammell's approach is far from standard, with an experimental visual style, random exchanges of dialogue, unconventional editing, and a narrative that develops in an unpredictable fashion, all of which makes White of the Eye an offbeat, occasionally impenetrable, but undeniably unique experience.
Cammell draws inspiration from the giallo for his first murder scene, which is shot in ultra-stylish fashion, with extreme close-ups of the killer's eye. During a bath-tub drowning, the murderer holds up a mirror to the victim's face so that she can see herself die, echoing Michael Powell's classic Peeping Tom (1960). Other scenes (including several flashbacks to how Paul met his wife Joan, played by Cathy Moriarty) possess an art-house vibe that, coupled with the impressive imagery, give the film a somewhat surreal atmosphere.
In the film's major plot twist, Joan discovers a secret stash of bagged, bloody body parts hidden in a cavity underneath the family bath: it turns out that Paul is the killer after all! From here-on in, the film goes into bonkers over-drive, with Paul displaying his true colours to his wife and young daughter Danielle (Danielle Smith), allowing Keith to give a truly deranged performance. Paul puts his hair into a man-bun, paints his face red, straps explosives to his body, and begins talking complete nonsense, giving Joan serious cause for concern, despite his proclamations of love.
The film also throws in some mysticism regarding the positioning of objects to symbolise the points on an ancient Indian compass, but the relevance of this is never really explained.
It's all a bit weird, but, at the same time, quite entertaining. 5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.
Cammell draws inspiration from the giallo for his first murder scene, which is shot in ultra-stylish fashion, with extreme close-ups of the killer's eye. During a bath-tub drowning, the murderer holds up a mirror to the victim's face so that she can see herself die, echoing Michael Powell's classic Peeping Tom (1960). Other scenes (including several flashbacks to how Paul met his wife Joan, played by Cathy Moriarty) possess an art-house vibe that, coupled with the impressive imagery, give the film a somewhat surreal atmosphere.
In the film's major plot twist, Joan discovers a secret stash of bagged, bloody body parts hidden in a cavity underneath the family bath: it turns out that Paul is the killer after all! From here-on in, the film goes into bonkers over-drive, with Paul displaying his true colours to his wife and young daughter Danielle (Danielle Smith), allowing Keith to give a truly deranged performance. Paul puts his hair into a man-bun, paints his face red, straps explosives to his body, and begins talking complete nonsense, giving Joan serious cause for concern, despite his proclamations of love.
The film also throws in some mysticism regarding the positioning of objects to symbolise the points on an ancient Indian compass, but the relevance of this is never really explained.
It's all a bit weird, but, at the same time, quite entertaining. 5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.