Stars:
Sylvester Stallone, Tom Berenger, Charles S. Dutton, Sean Patrick Flanery, Dina
Meyer, Robert Patrick, Robert Prosky, Courtney B. Vance, Polly Walker, Jeffrey
Wright, Kris Kristofferson, and Rance Howard
Writer:
Ron L. Brinkerhoff
Director:
Jim Gillespie
Feature
length: 96 minutes
Extra
Features: Interviews, Deleted Scenes, Trailer
Languages:
English and French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 21
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year
of DVD Release: 2002
Home
Video Distributor: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: R
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Here
is a film starring Sylvester Stallone that as far as I know has never received a
theatrical release in the USA. Abroad the film was released under the title
“D-TOX” and has already seen a home video release in many countries.
Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment is releasing this film under the title
“Eye See You” to DVD-Video in the United States with both an anamorphic
widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratio presentation and a panned and scanned (1.33:1)
aspect ratio on the same dual layered DVD with identical extra features.
Stallone plays a detective on the trail of a psycho who kills cops without much
of a pattern except he always uses a drill to blind them. He is close to
catching the killer, but does not foresee the killer targeting his fiancée
(Dina Meyer) in what is certainly one of the film’s more gruesome moments.
Crushed, Stallone and the force track the killer to an abandoned warehouse only
to find that it is a decoy. Another officer is dead and the killer is still free
with no way to track him.
Soon
after his colleague (Charles S., Dutton) drives our crushed hero to a remote
detoxification facility for cops in the mountains so Stallone can get over his
drinking problem that has developed since the loss of his fiancée. There with
various other law enforcement personnel who are in the same program for various
substance abuse problems and whatnot, Stallone is trapped when a huge winter
storm blocks any access out of the facility grounds and bodies begin to appear
with their eyes drilled out, signaling that the killer is among them and posing
as a cop. Maybe he is a cop, but since no one knows who he or she might be,
everyone is a suspect much like John W. Campbell’s “Who Goes There?” short
story that was adapted into “The Thing From Another World” by Howard Hawks
and “The Thing” by John Carpenter minus an alien shape shifter.
From
the Director of “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” “Eye See You” is a
strange hybrid of thriller and horror that just barely runs over 90-minutes and
considering the amount of stars playing supporting roles, one would think that
the film would have turned out better, but alas it looks as though there is a
good reason why Americans have not seen the film on the big screen and that
appears to be evident in some absolutely incomprehensible and contrived story
elements as well as some heavy handed editing. However as much as this film is a
stinker, it is actually a very entertaining stinker. I have never seen Stallone
in a film that had the overtones of a horror picture, at least not purposely,
and for what I guess could be called a pseudo straight-to-video release, “Eye
See You” is pretty much a darker Stallone vehicle with more gore, but not as
bad a film as you might think.
The
anamorphic widescreen and full screen transfers both look fine and the DVD
features good English and French Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtracks
as well as English Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing impaired and
Spanish Language Subtitles as options. The soundtrack frequently uses the
subwoofer to create a digital quality creepy sound experience that adds to the
film’s overall feel.
The
extra features include eight deleted scenes made up of “Cold Shower” (1:38),
“The Tower” (: 41), “Eye Opener” (2:09), “Fireside Chat” (3:29),
“Moby Dick” (: 30), “Faith” (2:12), “Left Behind” (: 50), and
“Slater Concern” (: 42). Select-videotaped interviews with the following
cast members include “Charles S. Dutton” (2:12), “Kris Kristofferson” (:
40), “Polly Walker” (1:47), “Christopher Fulton” (1:47), “Robert
Patrick” (1:51), “Robert Prosky” (1:41), “Courtney B. Vance” (2:12),
“Jeffrey Wright” (1:41), and “Angela Alvarado” (1:32). The trailer
(1:50) wraps up the extra features on this DVD.
The
main menu is animated with animated transitions to standard still frame
interactive menus and the DVD features full motion scene selection menus too.
“Eye See You” will debut on DVD-Video from Columbia TriStar Home
Entertainment on Tuesday, December 31, 2002.
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.