House
With 100 Eyes (2013/Artspliotation Films DVD)
Picture:
B- Sound: B-
Extras: C- Film: D
The
found footage style of filmmaking either works or it doesn't. In
cases like this one, Jay Lee & Jay Roof's House With 100 Eyes
(2013), the found footage is in the form of surveillance footage. Ed
and Susan appear to be a normal loving couple, however, they are far
from it. They are snuff filmmakers and want to make the first ever
triple feature; Three victims, three kills, all in one night. In
order to provide their fans with everything you'd get on a straight
DVD, they have rigged their entire house with cameras and audio for
your viewing pleasure. Ed's plan slowly unravels and it all is
captured on tape.
I
would be lying if I said that I haven't seen this EXACT same film
recently, it's such a tired concept. How can we make smut or torture
feel as real as possible? Well, we dirty it up with surveillance
footage. While the found footage style worked in Fred
Vogel's August Underground and the
events unravel in front of you as the story chugs along, here
everything feels perfectly planned as the cameras expertly catch the
victims being violated.
This
isn't August Underground
though, it's a film from the creators of Zombie
Strippers (and stars a few actors
from it too) and we have to witness their schlock all over again
here. Jim Roof (who is also a writer and co-director on this film as
well as the lead), and Shannon Malone star as the evil couple that
feels like they are making the ultimate snuff film by setting up the
'hundred eyes' of security cameras all around their house. Some of
the films worst moments include a scene where Jim masturbates, the
mishaps that go with torturing the women, and too top it all off a
script that can't decide if it wants to be a dark satire, snuff
movie, or a film solely made for gore hounds. It feels like
regardless of what it wants to be there, there are better films out
there like this like the Toetag
films or even the REC
films.
Shot
with low end cameras, the transfer is nothing spectacular but fine
for DVD with a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio and a
standard definition transfer paired with a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1
track. Nothing wild in the terms of extras, with the exception of a
commentary track by the Director/Writers, who affectionately
reminisce about the production. There's also a fake commercial and a
trailer.
All
in all, this is a straight-to-video one time watch. Nothing more.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.facebook.com/jhl5films
