ElWormo
I took a chance on this as it was (a) billed as an 80s slasher, and (b) in a shop display with other Arrow blu-ray releases such as Argento's brutal classic TENEBRAE, and the awesomely inept bucket of winning failure that is CONTAMINATION.White Of The Eye is a completely different sort of 80s slasher though - in fact not really a slasher at all, more like a very laid back, slow paced drama. The acting's good, the direction is solid, the script is fine - but so what. The atmosphere of vaguely quirky characters in small-town Americana almost made it feel like a Coen Bros film, but with zero laughs. It was too low-key, slow paced and talky to actually maintain my interest, and I gave up after about an hour. Not a 'bad' film, just not my particular cup of cinema...
Kieran Green
White of the Eye is a set in a small town in Arizona. Someone is butchering local women, and the investigating officer (Art Evans) is zeroing in on sound engineer (David Keith) who lives in the desert with his wife (Cathy Moriarty) and daughter. the film through wonderful uses of 16MM shows flashbacks which charts Cathy Moriarty's former relationship with Alan Rosenberg of Cybil fame,& depicts episodic moments which may give clues as to who the Killer may be, all is not what it seems which culminates in a rather bizarre climax. Directed by Donald Cammell Performance/Demon Seed, & also Ace Photographer on Nicolas Roeg films, there is lots of excellent photography especially innovative Steadicam (Larry McConkey)who is excellent wherever steadicam is used.the soundtrack is composed by Nick Mason (of Pink Floyd) a tour-De- force performances by David Keith, who does his best screen work, as does Cathy Moriarty of Raging Bull fame,
merklekranz
"White of the Eye" has a promising beginning as an unseen killer stalks and butchers an unsuspecting female. The kill scene is effectively cut between slicing flesh and a struggling goldfish gasping for air. David Keith and Cathy Motiarity along with some recognizable supporting actors do their best to save this stylish film. Unfortunately intriguing images alone cannot overcome a seriously muddled script. Numerous flashbacks and an overlong running time cause things to steadily spiral out of control. Eventually craziness prevails with stories of black holes and evolution deficiencies overtaking logic. The movie drags on until the final scenes in a gigantic quarry, where everything ends with a bang. - MERK
gridoon
What we have here is a clear case of a movie that tries to get by on sheer style, without any particular concern for the story or the characters. There are many interesting directorial touches and a unique atmosphere, but the film suffers from a weak script, and from overlength. Strictly for fans of the offbeat. (**)