My Little Eye (2002) User Reviews

Like the concept. But the plot just doesn't hang together

[k_guk · 5/10 · 18 November 2005]

Yes and No. I really like this whole concept of the reality show gone wrong – and a horror movie is always good in my book. But for all the bits I liked about the film, it didn't add up to a whole that I particularly liked. But yes there were some good bits.

The idea of people in a house being films raises all interesting possibilities about how people react when they're isolated, and how they would cope if people started dieing, or they had to start killing each other… I thought "house of 9" was really good because the behaviour of the characters was very interesting, when they realised their host wanted them to kill each other.

Here only one of the characters seems to have any idea that something dodgy is going on, and then when people start dieing its over so quickly, there isn't really time to watch the interactions of the people under stress and terror.

Some of the build up is good though – like the whole child that killed his parent's thing coming back. However I just didn't believe the rest of the plot. When the guy goes on the web; if there was nothing on the internet about this, then what was the internet site at the beginning which they applied through – surely that would still be on the web, and there would have been at least some information about the show… that it had been canned… that it had disappeared. However the idea that they were being watched in secret by some group of rich clients with the intent on watching them all die was pretty scary.

Anyway forget that, its ridiculous how this guy managed to wire a broken global satellite navigation system and get it to act as a modem to hook up to his computer. He also managed to try and hack into the website with some of the worlds most sophisticated hackers. I have a couple of questions here; why don't you send an email for help? Why don't you then email friends and family and find out if they know about the show? OR ASK THEM FOR HELP! And all this seemed to happen in a very short time span. I guess suspension of disbelief is required – but when its all about being a reality show gone wrong, which is meant to frighten with its reality type visuals… then when the plot is anything but, its just wrong. There's also this sequence about someone that visits, which just doesn't make any sense.

The first murder that we know is a murder is very shocking. But once the secret is out I was really not scared any more. I knew that each person was going to die in turn, it was just waiting for it to happen, and thinking, man, just escape… leave the house! As I say I like the concept, and there are some good ideas, and some bits that were a little bit scary. But for me the plot didn't really hang together, they didn't keep us guessing long enough on who the killer was, and they didn't get the people scared enough when they realised people were dieing. And man if I'd had email access I would have sent some emails – and called in the army to get me outta there!!!!

Interesting movie, but hardly scary

[Whazzuup · 6/10 · 25 June 2005]

What a great idea: shooting a film using only web cams. I usually like to watch movies that aren't mainstream, and the concept of My Little Eye sure stands out.

The plot isn't that complicated; it focuses on five people trying to live in an old house in the middle of a forest. If they manage to stay there for six months without contacting the outside world, each of them wins 1.000.000$. If someone breaks the rules, everyone loses their million. The movie takes place in the final week of the competition, and suddenly, weird things start to happen. It seems that the contestants' pasts have come back haunting them. But as it usually is, some things aren't what they seem to be...

The cast of My Little Eye is great, since all of the few actors/actresses are pretty much 'non-famous' (for me at least), helping to create an illusion of an Big Brother-type of game, where ordinary people do stuff for money.

There is this certain tension throughout the movie, creating a disturbing feeling that 'something isn't right'. However, in my opinion this movie wasn't scary. I'd rather call this movie a thriller-, than a horror-movie.

Don't get me wrong, but the movie disappointed me a little. Everything in this movie was a bit pale. I admit, that the night-vision scenes were cool, but at the end of the movie you've definitely had enough of web cams.

Anyways... There are lots of much crappier movies than this, so if you consider yourself a voyeur or if you like Big Brother, you should give this movie a shot.

There are worse films out there..silly with few jumps.

[stormruston · 6/10 · 21 February 2005]

OK I bought this film because of the rating and the tag line..."the greatest fright flick since the Exorcist" and the extreme violence rating...Crap..Five strangers spend 5 months 3 weeks in a house we come in on the last week and follow their generally boring demise.

Some of the camera work is mildly creepy and the acting does not suck.

It was mildly entertaining and the first half kept you in some suspense...but then it collapses,it gets to be very straight forward not exiting and very predictable with out the promised violence.

A very average film with a few jumps...if you liked Blair witch but wished it had some filming standards,them maybe you will like this.

My little cynical eye - different, reasonably refreshing movie that falls apart by the end

[Aidan McGuinness · 13 November 2002]

It is reasonable to describe this movie as Big Brother done with the style of the Blair Witch Project, although it would be unfair to label this movie as a Blair Witch Project seeing as how it implies that every horror movie done in a `documentary/realism' style with unusual camera positions is an actual homage to that movie.

Set-up here is pretty simple: 5 people in a house. Must stay in house for six months. Cannot ever leave the house at night. If any one person leaves they all lose and do not get the one million dollars awaiting them at the end. Grand. However, surprise ahoy, things start going weird towards the end and they must begin to wonder: Who is paying to view them? Why are they bothered? And will any of them survive?

Problems with the movie abound. Firstly we've dull characters. Some are so dull they blend into one another and become hard to distinguish, which is rather unfortunate since we're meant to. Only one character - the paranoid cynic - had any `depth' to them and their role was way too obvious. Sorry you can't misdirect me like that, I've seen it before and done better. Secondly we've got the structure of the movie. The first two-thirds are a hit and miss affair with tension. The `jump' moments are too sparse, too unconnected. There's an atmosphere built up by them, which has dissipated too much before the next event. It doesn't create unease so much as a greater indifference towards the movie. The final third is too derivative of the `hack-and-slash' genre and adds nothing to it except for an ending, which I admittedly enjoyed.

It's not all bad though. There is the way the movie is done. It's viewed primarily through web cams. Thus we're treated to some interesting point-of-views and techniques as the cameras focus on the participants. There's a nice night-vision element where everyone is in green with eerily lit eyes. There're also some nice sounds via a white noise effect. Some found this grating, but I found it more effective in creating a sense of things being off kilter than the traditional orchestral effect. There's an ending which made me smile and, despite their scarcity, one or two relatively decent `jump' moments. The sense of it being just that bit different helps lift it out of forgettable mediocrity but it cannot elevate it to a description of being good. I think a 5.8/10 is about fair.

Scary concept - kitchen sink delivery.

[okaycuckoo · 3/10 · 30 June 2006]

I was really looking forward to this, but Christ almighty, what a disappointment. The film promises a lot, but doesn't deliver a single scare. What it does deliver is patchy tension and a slasher climax. I kept hoping every step of the way, but the pace lagged just enough to let me dwell on the plot holes.

The start is good, with the 5 house inmates cleverly introduced through clips of their audition interviews. And the almost 6 months spent in the house is conveyed through a quick clockwise 1/4 screen split of various scenes. But then we're introduced to the everyday interaction of characters who are already tired of each other. The solution is to introduce an outsider and see what mayhem he can cause. But the 6th character is used just as a plot device, and all that ensues is a seduction scene and suggestions of an off-screen death. The plot is resolved by revealing the least likely character as a psychopath traitor. So what? In the very end the last victim was left alive in a cell - why? For the sequel?

The frequent loss of focus through the webcams is irritating, and the whirring camera-focus noises are done way too much. The night-vision effect, with glinting pupils, is overused; and Emma's gun-toting scene is a continuation of the Silence of the Lambs cellar sequence.

Charlie was sexy - whoopee! Emma was a Mia Farrow look-alike. The male actors didn't register.

Great concept. Just so irritating to have to carp and carp and ... hey, after 2 hours viewing I'm allowed to have a go. Maybe the Japanese will run with this concept and score with truly disturbing scenes.

Big Brother Goes Homicidal

[mjw2305 · 7/10 · 14 October 2007]

Five strangers are brought together to take part in a reality web cast, the rules are simple; they must stay in an isolated house together for 6 months to receive the prize of $1 Million, if anyone of them leaves early they all lose.

When strange things begin to occur in the house, the group suspect that someone is trying to scare them out of the house; but perhaps there is more to it than meets the eye.

Marc Evans Directs a cast of relative unknowns through this quite fresh feeling chiller, and he manages to create a dark and creepy atmosphere that helps to build and sustain the tension in preparation for a fine climax.

OK, so its a fairly trashy and a little easy to predict at times; but My Little Eye still prevails as a pretty original piece of work, that provides a few shocks.

7/10

A horror with no horror or suspense!

[CharltonBoy · 3/10 · 4 March 2003]

If there was ever a film that lies about itself on it's publicity posters it is My Little Eye. The poster says "Truly Terrifying " and "The real stuff of nightmares". Anybody who has seen this film we see what a joke these statements are. If this film is Terrifying then i must have fallen asleep at those momments. I Dont think i have seen a more duller horror flick than this in a very long time. I remember looking at my watch after 70 minutes and thinking " When is anything going to happen?!".and before i knew it it was over and nothing of any interest had happened! Im not a lover of American slasher /stalker movies such as Scream but at least they have a bit of suspence this had NONE . None what so ever. The film looked like it had been pieced together by a primary school kid who had no idea in which order each scene should go. Appalling trash. 3 out of 10.

Do you think they're punishing us?

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 8 August 2010]

My Little Eye is directed by Marc Evans, it's about five adults who agree to spend six months together in an isolated mansion in the hope of winning the $1million prize. The twist being that it's all being filmed for the internet and if just one of the house mates leaves? Then the task has failed. Pretty soon the house mates' resolve is tested as the mysterious "company" starts doing all they can to make the group implode…….

Riding in on the wave of Big Brother style reality shows and low budget documentary type films such as Blair Witch, My Little Eye is an unsettling and claustrophobic horror piece. The set up is perfect, an old dark house setting filled with darkened rooms and the whirring of cameras. Five unlikable characters (a reality TV staple it seems). And then there's us, the viewers. Observing as these five beings (three boys-two girls) are steadily tortured psychologically. We be voyeurs to edgy emotion as the group start to crack under duress, things from their pasts are used against them. And of course nothing is quite what it seems. Given the truly creepy first hour, the piece is not as scary as a whole as it could have been. But Evans utilises the cleverly conceived premise for a series of shocks and unease inducing sequences. The sound effects are jolting and the night time green tint moments are hugely effective. The cast are standard fare, but that's most likely the point of it all, in that we need wannabe stars instead of stars, and the finale has a nice bent to it that lifts it away from the film's it has took influence from. Good and creepy horror piece that has a terrific DVD release that further implicates us in the story. 7/10

Another horror movie with wasted potential!

[geckodude · 5/10 · 6 October 2002]

Like the cliches that many horror movies are, it's beginning to feel like a cliche to say that a horror movie was filled with wasted potential. Unfortunately, it's so often true, and that's the case with My Little Eye.

The preview looked suitably creepy and promising but when I left the cinema I just felt like I'd been robbed. The set up is interesting due to the modern twist on a traditional horror movie cliche, but it just fails to deliver. I enjoyed the ambience that the movie had, very dark and always a little unsure about what was going to happen. But that's the problem, when something happens, it wasn't much at all. (*Spoilers*) The early attempts to shock failed and slowly killed the potential feeling of terror. And it feels that nothing really happened in the middle of the movie.

It does seem like the writers really didn't know where they were going with the plot - spending 3/4's of the movie convincing the audience it's a slasher movie then suddenly pulling the snuff movie card out didn't work. The snuff idea I thought was excellent and the scene where they realised this had me gripped, but they should've run with this idea earlier in the movie. I also hated the way the movie started 5 and a half months after they entered the house. Skip all that time, when they could've shown some relationship building and built some greater tension. Ineffective story telling. Finally, the killings in the end lacked imagination. They weren't gory or inventive enough, with the exception of the plastic bag - that was unexpected / shocking and quite graphic. The ending could've saved the movie somewhat, but didn't.

The acting was alright and it was good that they were unknowns (to me at least!). I mostly liked the way it was filmed, mostly, and I loved the effect of the glowing eyes in the dark. But on the whole it just lacked the scares and the nervous feeling of terror. So much more could've been done with this movie to make it so, and that's what seriously drags it down. A mostly unscary, sometimes tedious horror movie. You have to ask yourselves, is it worth your time?

My Little Evil Eyes

[raulfaust · 7/10 · 24 January 2011]

Much like "House of 9", this movie is about 5 twenties who get into a reality show a little different from what they thought it was.

In the beginning it runs kinda slowly, but after the first death it becomes more involving and intriguing. "My Little Eye" looks amateurish and low-budget, but that's what brings reality to this kind of movie.

It has its tense moments, its suspenseful moments and was very good after creating a creepy atmosphere. "House of 9" was released 3 years after this one and seemed to have copied many things of this movie, but they did a much better job there. They had better casting, better plot and a much better ending with philosophical thoughts. But after all, it's still a good movie that deserves to be more known than it currently is.

Don't be fooled by the trailer

[Beanbagels · 2/10 · 7 October 2002]

Those of you who saw the exciting trailer to this movie and are tempted to go and see the full film I have just two words......don't bother!!! All the action in this movie is contained in the trailer, the rest of the movie is just padding, which resulted in me nodding off at least twice. The plot is nothing more than cashing in on the current craze for reality TV programs. You get to know hardly anything about the characters which means you don't really care what happens to any of them. There are a lot of good "killer in the house" type movies around, but this is not one of them. I give it 2 out of 10 for effort, but overall it is a waste of 95 minutes.

A great creepy thriller.

[nfaust1 · 8/10 · 24 February 2005]

Why all the bad comments? I don't understand it. True, most low budget thrillers are terrible. Serial killer knock offs without big name movie stars usually depend on gore effects, not characters, to keep us interested in what's going to happen next. This movie, though, is a tightly wound little scare piece that takes its time developing the characters and building suspense. The actors are terrific, the camera work unique and unsettling, and the direction always seems on target. The movie's main gimmick reads like it's going to be glib and possibly stupid, but the actors, and the director's ability to maintain a mood of foreboding, quickly dismisses any possible derision. I bought it and recommend it to anyone looking for a good, creepy thriller.

My little rip off of Kolobos. *wink*

[Monica4937 · 7/10 · 5 June 2005]

This is an interesting film about 5 people selected to live 6 months in someones house while their every move is video taped and broadcast live on the internet...or so they think. I remember a little while back someone mentioning this film, so I was happy when it aired on digital cable. At first I was a bit hesitant at how good this would be considering the female lead was played by Laura Reagn of They fame, a film that had me completely unimpressed with her acting skills. But I must admit to actually liking her in this. I also liked the use of the night vision camera, which, for me, added to the suspense of the film. Perhaps they could have used it a little bit less towards the end though because I almost felt like I was about to see Paris Hilton pop up on screen. Overall I'd say this is a pretty decent suspense/horror that plays well with our minds and gives us a subtle, creepy atmosphere. 7.5/10

Wow, what a trash!

[velame · 3/10 · 9 June 2003]

When I was watching that movie at a Cinemark Multiplex, I just started thinking, what was the reason for showing it in the theaters. This movie has nothing special, there is no opportunity to show something that could support it at all. There are no moments of considerable unpredictability. The plot, about a "Reality show" of 5 young and not-interesting people, ask for a lock at the cinema, or most of the audience would like to spend this time in a more interesting situation, as eating French fries....I could say that it would be useful it made before the Blair Witch Project...the movie connections are so obvious that we can believe it is a parody..But we can believe it is an ode to human futility and dumbness.

A nice concept delivered with great tension but sadly lacking in substance, commentary and development

[bob the moo · 2 April 2006]

One house. Five people. Six months. One million dollars. A reality show webcast offers five young people the opportunity to make money by staying in a house for six months with the only catch being that if any of them leave then none of them win anything. After some time in the house with loads of boredom, one of them gets a letter saying his grandfather has died. He wants to leave but nobody wants to make it that easy for him to blow all their money. When bricks get delivered instead of supplies and a stranger who happens by the house says he has never seen or even heard of their reality show, alarm bells start to ring.

When this came out I just assumed it was a slasher movie that decided to try and ride the wave of reality show popularity all the way to the box office. Even if that was the case, it didn't really work and this film didn't do a great deal of business in the UK – although respectable returns considering it was low budget anyway. The film takes a very "Blair Witch" approach to things by being pretty unnerving rather than out and out scary or gory. The director cleverly uses the angles and grainy appearance of Big Brother (night vision included) to invoke the feeling of the series but also to raise the tension. It is a bit of a gimmick but it does work because, despite it showing its budget, the cuts and the angels do raise tension.

The problem is that the plot is never as good as it should have been. It goes where you expect it to do and there isn't much more to it than that. The film could easily have been making a point about the exploitative nature of such reality shows, the type of people that go on them and the sort of things that we turn in to watch (lets be honest – the fights and the sex). It does these if you think about it but the delivery lacks the intelligence that the concept potentially had. It is a shame because this would have been better if it had had this commentary because it would have covered up for the lack of substance, plot and development of the film. The cast are fairly average which suits the reality TV feel of the film.

Overall then this is a film all about atmosphere and tension – well handled by director Evans. The concept offers commentary but the film delivers none or very little; what remains is a simple thriller in the low budget mould of Blair Witch. As such it works for the majority of the running time on atmosphere alone but the descent in the final 20 minutes didn't really work for me. An interesting film for this aspect but sadly lacking in things like commentary, substance, development and total worth.

Utterly terrible is being to kind.

[eddy-49 · 1/10 · 6 February 2005]

This movie had none of the ingredients necessary to make a successful horror/thriller, it was weak from beginning to end, and was incapable of thrilling or shocking, when you take into account this is the point of such a movie you can see what the problem is. It's a film that lacks any humour whatsoever, and doesn't compensate with enough of the dark chills that you would expect from such a storyline. The complete implausibility of the story/plot ensures that you never forget you are watching a bunch of half-baked actors plying their trade. Their attempts bringing to life to a leaden script failed, it stunk and it sunk. Whatever you do avoid this one like the plague, if you do not heed my words, fine, I will only say "I told you so".

Quite unsettling horror film.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 7/10 · 20 January 2005]

"My Little Eye" reminded me a little bit "Kolobos",but it's not as memorable.Still this experimental horror film managed to terrify me and this is not an easy thing to achieve.Like Japanese nasty "Red Room" series "My Little Eye" is obviously influenced by reality TV programs.However,instead of being on commercial TV,this competition to see who stays in a creepy isolated house is broadcast only on the Internet.Five young people are members of the household and if they can all stay in the house for six months then they'll win $1 million.Soon they are thrown into the nightmare of snuff film."My Little Eye" starts slowly, but once the action kicks in it is quite exciting and rather gruesome.There is a fair amount of gore including one nasty decapitation scene,so I was satisfied.The film was shot entirely by the surveillance cameras dotted around the house and from a few hidden lenses inside household objects.Give it a chance.8 out of 10.

Well this sucks!

[udeaasykle · 2/10 · 10 January 2004]

What can i say. I can't figure out why this movie has such a high rating. I really hated this film. And i can honestly say that it was the longest one and a half hour i have ever experienced. But if you like these kinds of movies i wont stop you. See it at your own risk. It is stupid, badly written and it seems to go on forever.

Proficient Big Brother horror

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 30 August 2016]

I won't deny that I was pretty excited about seeing this movie. Three years had passed since I saw one of my favourite horror films ever, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, and MY LITTLE EYE seemed to be a film very much in a similar vein – a low budget production about kids trapped in the woods, focusing on realism over everything else. Trailers made the film look extremely scary and with the Halloween season upon us once again, I was eager to see a film that would freak me out. MY LITTLE EYE is no classic but instead a solid, atmospheric and at times deeply disturbing horror film that hits the mark more often than not. Despite a deluge in the horror/reality show market (before the film there was an advert for HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION, with a very similar premise by the looks of it), this is a film to take full advantage of the new internet medium, with a soundtrack chock-full of weird modem noise and sounds of zoom lens and unnatural computer effects.

The pacing is deliberately slow with minimal action. The first hour consists of endless plot set-up, character building, and spooky events occurring which only add to the mystery of the situation. The setting of the old, creepy wooden house works well and the isolation of the situation sets in before long. The film itself is strong on atmosphere and as realistic as you could want it. One pleasant surprise is the calibre of the acting, generally being fantastic and as good as you could get: the cast of fresh-faced twentysomething youngsters make their various characters as realistic as possible without resorting to overacting for effect. The best thing to say is that you forget they're acting, so they've done their jobs more than adequately. Special mention to Kris Lemche (GINGER SNAPS), once again stealing another movie with his highly effective and edgy performance.

For the first hour, the suspense and atmosphere is gradually upped with a string of inexplicable events. A crow becomes trapped in the house and is killed, a parcel of bricks is found outside, and a bloodstained hammer appears on the bed. Then a stranger arrives, Lemche finds access to the internet and all hell breaks loose. The last twenty minutes turns the film into something like a routine slasher movie, with a maniac going on a varied killing spree, and thus some of the unsettling atmosphere is lost and instead the film turns into a stark, gory stalk-and-slash suspenser. Personally I prefer my horror films to have supernatural explanations so I didn't think this finale was as great as it could have been. It also seems to be needlessly nihilistic just for the sake of it.

The film falls into the trap of saying too much at the finale, having to reveal every single plot point to the audience when perhaps some ambiguity should have been in order. Technically, this film is surprisingly proficient and makes fine use of little gimmicks like having the screen split into four at the beginning and end, and some excellent sequences with night-vision cameras which make pupilless eyes glow spookily in the dark. Although this falls short of being a classic in the same way I consider THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT to be a classic, strong production values and acting make it a contender and one to check out for all major fright-fans.

Abysmal, useless rubbish

[nichomach · 1/10 · 12 October 2002]

I like horror films, I like thrillers, I like (well-made) slasher flicks. I feel I should establish this at the start of this comment/review. With that, here we go:

[Rant] It has been some considerable time since I have seen a film this morally repugnant, technically inept and benightedly unintelligent. I have just spent two of the most excruciatingly unenjoyable hours of my movie-going life watching what can most kindly be termed a pile of witless crap, not wanting to walk out for fear of offending the friends that my wife and I went to the cinema with.

I was quite frankly glad when the five central characters were dispatched in tediously unimaginative fashion, but was disappointed to note that no-one appeared to have done the decent thing and ensured that the director, cameraman and scriptwriter (now that's GOT to be an offence under the Trades Description Act) joined them in gory oblivion. If they'd asked, I'd have done it myself, only too happy to help.

This film is utterly devoid of any plot worth noticing (they have a plot device, but it's more guff than mcguffin). Characterisation is minimal, risible and banal. The script makes Conan the Barbarian sound like Citizen Kane. Their attempt to co-opt "Teh Intarweb" as a dramatic device is possible the only bright moment in the film as one of the characters converts his GPS receiver into a wireless modem and gets better page load times than I get with a 512kbps cable service. How dey do dat den? The film is poorly shot with abysmal wacky camera angles.

On another level, the films treatment of the female characters is actually downright nasty - and I'm not talking about Halloween-type scream queen stuff, it's just deeply unpleasant.

I don't even have much of an objection to dumb films, but this one doesn't even fall into the "so bad it's at least a good laugh" category.

All in all I can heartily recommend this film to anyone that I really don't like - but you guys here, do yourselves a favour and avoid this one.

This has been a cinematic health warning, thank you for your attention. /RANT]

"Statistically strangers rarely kill strangers." I quite liked it.

[poolandrews · 7/10 · 9 April 2006]

My Little Eye has Emma (Laura Regan), Charlie (Jennifer Sky), Matt (Sean Cw Johnson), Danny (Stephen O'Reilly) & Rex (Kris Lemche) answer an advert on the internet that reads 'Wanted, 5 contestants for reality webcast & 6 months in a house for $1 million if anyone leaves, everyone loses!' & they become the chosen five. They are stuck in a large house in the middle of a snow covered forest, the house is rigged with cameras which capture their every move & every conversation for the subscribers of the website to see & listen to. At first things go alright but things soon take a sinister turn when Danny receives a letter which states his Granfather has died, Rex receives a gun, Emma finds a bloodstained hammer in bed next to her when she wakes up one morning & a skier named Travis Patterson (Bradley Cooper) mysteriously turns up out of nowhere. Is it all a game? As tensions grow the friends begin to fear for their very lives...

This English, American, French & Canadian co-production was directed by Marc Evans & I thought it was a pretty good horror/thriller. The script by co-producer David Hilton takes it's inspiration & theme from modern pop culture, from reality TV shows such as the extremely popular Big Brother shown here in the UK to the fascination with the internet & the power it has. The fact that we are always being watched, the fact we live in a proverbial goldfish bowl where no aspect of our lives are truly secret & the desire for more extreme forms of entertainment. I liked the ideas in My Little Eye & I thought it was very effective at drawing the viewer in, it's quite gripping, engaging & overall fairly interesting to watch how things unfold. My Little Eye is also one of those films that you could almost put yourself in the position of any of the character's & try to think about how you personally would react in their situation. As a whole the film is quite open ended & not much exposition is given & not much is revealed about the what is happening. It takes itself 100% seriously, it moves along at a pretty good pace, the character's are convincing enough & most of what happens is at least feasible I suppose.

Director Evans shoots himself in the foot with the film-making techniques he uses, from jerky hand-held camcorder shots just like The Blair Witch Project (1999) to shots & entire sequences seen in infra red night vision which ends up giving the film a cheap & annoying feel to it. On the other hand some of these techniques work well in the sense it gives My Little Eye a gritty, realistic almost documentary feel to it, unfortunately the negative aspect outweighs the positive in my opinion on this issue. There isn't much gore, a quick decapitation & that's it although there is a brutal scene of someone being suffocated with a plastic bag which would be a horrible way to die. The film has a nice atmosphere, good amounts of tension & a nice creepy feel to it.

My Little Eye supposedly had a budget of about $3,000,000 & I must admit that sounds a lot of money for what eventually ended up on screen although curiously the 'Trivia' section on the IMDb states that My Little Eye was originally four hours long which is more than double it's length now so maybe that's where a lot of the extra money went. I don't think I could sit through a four hour version of this, what on Earth did the extra footage consist of? Anyway, I guess we'll never know so it doesn't matter. The acting was decent & naturalistic which is what the film was obviously needed.

My Little Eye isn't a complete success that's for sure but there was enough here for me to like it. Having said that I think My Little Eye is one of those films that you will either love or hate & I doubt too many people will sit on the fence as it were. I liked it but it's far from perfect, still definitely worth a watch if you like your horror.

Will the real Jennifer Sky please stand up

[aimless-46 · 4/10 · 24 May 2005]

The most amazing thing about "My Little Eye" is that 171 viewers have already commented on it. Not bad for a weak little movie that received minimal distribution. Even more amazing when you realize anyone with a vacant house and a few aspiring actor buddies could have shot this thing over a long weekend. If you are thinking about watching this movie you could do worse and you could do better. It is just slightly below average.

The concept of a thriller based on a six-month season of "The Real World" sounds promising and it actually starts out fairly well. It is a relief to find that none of the five housemates are anywhere near as irritating as Trashelle, Puck, or Mulie.

Unfortunately as things progress the plot holes begin to overshadow the whole concept. Just the idea of waiting almost six months to begin killing off the characters strains all credibility. Apparently the rich clients who are paying for this exercise in torture get some enjoyment from watching six months of mundane "Real World" stupidity, then they really get off on witnessing the long-anticipated demise of the cast. A more promising idea would be if the rich clients were people with a past grudge against each cast member who pay contract killers to wipe out their specific enemy as part of a group kill. The screenwriter vaguely hints at this possibility but it is never confirmed so such a scenario was probably not part of the story.

Like "Blair Witch" the videography is intentionally horrible because it is supposed to be from "eye in the sky" surveillance cameras. Unfortunately they decided that limiting the POV to wide surveillance-type shots would be uninteresting so they quickly destroy the illusion with hand-held tight shots and nervous editing.

If you saw Jennifer Sky in the "Three Blondes" episode of Charmed or on Xena you would be hard pressed to identify her in "My Little Eye". They actually manage to make her look "dowdy" in this movie which was quite an achievement, certainly more difficult than anything else they attempted.

Gripping and disturbing ...

[hysteria-3 · 9/10 · 7 October 2002]

Funnily enough, before the film they showed a trailer for the new HALLOWEEN flick (out in the UK in time for, well, you know ...); I heard a few people muttering that this seemed to have exactly the same plot as the film we were about to see (we'll gloss over KOLOBOS and BIG BROTHER.COM - THE MOVIE, shall we?).

MY LITTLE EYE has had some blistering reviews, and, unlike most genre efforts, has had a TV ad blitz, which is probably why the Sunday night screening I saw was way over 3/4 full.

As often seems to happen with these things I had invited a few friends who don't mind a few horror-lite morsels but would rather not step into the darkside. They thought they were in for fluff; as the movie progressed, and became darker and darker in tone, I realised I had made something of a mistake inviting them. "Whoops!", I thought, trying to avoid their ashen faces in the flickering light.

I don't want to give anything away, really, lest to say that the two movies that this reminded me of most were THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and SESSION 9: they were all shot on video, and they all had an unrelenting bleakness and

an innate power to unnerve which distinguished them from the popcorn horrors of, say, SCREAM and the modern crop of audience pleasers (which I having nothing against, by the way).

The makers of MY LITTLE EYE use a dizzying array of discordant camera angles and white noise (and loud jarring sonic shards to unnerve its audience); it's the most inventive low budget genre film making I've seen since THE EVIL DEAD, and it doesn't seem overly contrived, or forced; the subject matter and set-up (the Big Brother'esque all seeing cameras constantly whirring, slipping in and out of focus) lend itself to it perfectly.



As the majority of reviews point out, this *is* scary stuff. It's unnerving; getting under your skin like THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE did. There is no comic relief what-so-ever. The film's all-pervading nihlism spreads - relentlessly - like an ever increasing black ink blot. To say it won't end well is not spoiling anything, really; it's clear from the opening scenes that we're on a one way journey downwards.

Essentially, stripped of all it's visual trickery and clever manipulation, it's a teen horror flick at core (a teen slasher movie at that), but it's a million miles away from genre films like URBAN LEGEND, and it's ilk.



MY LITTLE EYE (a British film made in Canada with American actors) is a gruelling hour and a half; it's endurance test horror. It's the kind of 'entertainment' (and I don't mean the inverted commas in a derogatory way, I just find it hard to equate this powerfully morbid film with that notion) which I never thought I'd see in the cinema again in this country. Judging by the total silence in the cinema, as the harrowing final shots faded, I doubt anyone else did either.

Real fans of the genre miss it at your peril!

Underrated psychological horror film

[michaeljharvey · 7/10 · 1 July 2008]

My Little Eye tells the story of a group of young people who have decided to live together for several months in an isolated, snowbound house and have their lives broadcast on the internet. They believe they're participating in an internet reality show. If they all make it for six months, they win 1 million dollars each. If anyone gives up and leaves the house, they all lose.

Right from the start a creepy mood is established. There's the feeling that something just isn't right with their situation. The voyeuristic views through various web-cams help to create the uneasiness. This movie is very silent, gray and brooding with lots of disconcerting camera angles. The viewer has a sense of foreboding that something horrible is going to happen. As the contest begins to wind down, things start to get a little surreal. The food shipments that would mysteriously arrive in a box at their front door are suddenly empty or contain bizarre items that raise a lot of questions and concerns. A mysterious visitor happens by the house and also raises a lot of good questions about the legitimacy of the "game" they're participating in.

Spoilers ahead!

As it turns out, they've been unwittingly recruited as the stars of a snuff film that's being broadcast live on the internet. People are actually subscribing to the site to bet on who will be killed first. It also turns out that one of the house-mates has been in on the game all along...or at least he thinks he is. Things go from silent and brooding to terrifying in a matter of minutes as the house-mates realize their predicament. This is a wonderful change of pace and really keeps the viewer on edge until the end of the film.

Yes, some of the characters are a little predictable and one-dimensional. Overall though, this movie offers a lot more character development than most horror movies. The acting and writing is not always brilliant, but it's much better than expected from a B-movie like this. The end of the film is where it falls down a bit. All along the movie has almost seemed a little too real. As the killings start, it starts to become more of a B-grade slasher movie; this pulls the viewer out of the eerie reality that had been created. Also, many of the house-mates fall prey to the standard "stupid decision" horror movie clichés. This is not to say the conclusion is bad, it's just not great like the first three quarters of the movie.

Despite an ending that doesn't live up to the rest of the film, this one is still well worth watching. If you like psychological scares, My Little Eye will stick with you for quite a while.

No brainer

[colonel matrix · 1/10 · 14 October 2002]

Pace is an important feature of any film and this one lacks it. The plot is not original and easy to see through. Hark back to "Driller Killer" and "The Texas chainsaw massacre" and throw in "Big Brother" then you have this film. I wanted to walk out after the first 30 mins. Other semi-good and good films about for you to not waste your time on this one.