The Asylum tackles a psycho thriller with this their second in-house production and while the acting is stable, the script has some good points, and the entire effort is competently made; the problem here lies in the fact that the entire idea behind the script isn't a new one and they also try to tie-up all the loose ends too quickly while throwing in a twist ending that just doesn't work (think Carrie redux).

Adam Baldwin stars as a struggling scriptwriter who's been getting used to being rejected by Hollywood studios. His luck may soon change though when producer Udo Kier (who it's always great to see) steps into the picture and offers him a job writing a script based on a family massacre that occurred thirty-five years prior (a fact we're showing in an opening sequence that contains an electrocution, a couple of axe slashings, and a gasoline suicide). Baldwin takes it as a chance to revitalize his career but soon he's suffering from various visions and nightmares while everything he's writing seems to come true.

Evil Eyes does have some things going for it by managing to build an alright eerie mood for the first half of the film and actually having a script (by Naomi Selfman) that does okay at mixing various elements (reality and dreams) together; but the film eventually starts to feel contrived and stale due to the aforementioned problems and we have something that could've been an above average time becoming a watchable, if flawed, effort.

Rocky Faulkner's make-up effects are pretty impressive in the brief glimpses we get of them.

Visit The Asylum for more information. (Chris Hartley, 12/25/04)

Directed By: Mark Atkins.
Written By: Naomi Selfman.

Starring: Adam Baldwin, Jennifer Gates, Udo Kier, Mark Sheppard.

Picture Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: Presented in a perfectly fine transfer the picture here is solid and lacking in any real noticeable flaws.

Extras: We get a trailer (plus trailers for Lady In The Box, Death Valley: The Revenge Of Bloody Bill, Human Nature, and Corpses Are Forever), some outtakes (which are always skippable), an alright "making of" featurette, and a somewhat bland but listenable commentary with director Atkins and executive producer Rick Walker.