Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
Eyes of the Chameleon
Collapse
-
- Published: 08-01-2011, 05:37 AM
- 0 comments
X
Collapse
-
Eyes of the Chameleon
Released by: Troma Entertainment
Released on: 5/10/2011
Director: Ron Atkins
Cast: Annie Teal, Lawrence Bucher, Robert Scott Howard, Mikos Zavros
Year: 2005
Purchase from Amazon
The Movie:
Sara is at a crossroads in life. She's in a crap job and her love life is lame. She goes with her friend to a psychic and somehow a curse is put on her. Then her friends start to become the victims of brutal murders. Who's committing the murders? A big dude that just grunts, that's who. At the beginning of the movie, a little boy is locked in a hole in the floorboards and subjected to horrible abuse at the hands of the man of the house. Apparently this abuse has turned him into a serial killer. But why is he stalking Sara's friends?
Sara's world goes into a spiral and she engages in all kinds of behaviors seemingly not typical of her, including group sex and drug use, all the while Detective Lundi is in search for the killer. Will he get to the killer before the killer gets to Sara? Hmm…mayhap…
Eyes of the Chameleon is played pretty straight, staying away from overt attempts at humor and sticking to most of the basics slasher movies follow. And that's a good thing. Seems more aimed at the horror crowd then going for a broader audience. With the little budget it was obviously made on, it puts forth a pretty hefty effort in creating atmosphere and tension. Unfortunately is doesn't achieve said atmosphere and tension. Really it just kind of jumps around and appears to be missing a few things. The filmmakers puts forth the initiative to set up Sara and her descent into darkness but they fail to set her up personally. Hence she's a character that doesn't garner pity from the audience and that right there is a big hurdle the makers never seem to get over.
They do however give the drooling fans what they want: lots of nudity and lots of blood. The killings have a lesser impact than say Friday the 13th, or Cat in the Brain, but they still give up the wet stuff and the boobies are nice. Too bad a horror movie can't rely on just those gimmicks to work, and this one just doesn't work. Even the “twist†ending falls flat because it can be seen 26.2 miles away.
The acting is ok, no one really stands out though. The production values appear to be higher than they actually are, but again, nothing stands out. They throw in some interesting camera angles here and there but it doesn't help the movie at all. The gore effects are pretty basic and none of the kills really inventive, so nothing there stands out either. The filmmakers put forward a valiant effort but the comes across the finish line with a “mehâ€. This one is at the back of the pack. Check it out if you like looking at boobs and blood, but for no other reason.
Video\Audio\Extras:
Presented here by Troma with a 16:9 aspect ratio, non-anamorphic. It's pretty murky and at times looks pretty crummy to be honest. Too much low lighting it would seem. Also, there's trouble with what looks to be interlacing (see image below). The audio is a 2.0 channel Dolby Digital track. It sounds okay, nothing great. The music seems a lot louder than the dialogue, but it's mostly just the bass rumbling from the woofer. No pops and hisses to report. Just mediocre run-of-the-mill.
The DVD cover boasts a commentary track by the director and a slideshow, but neither is on this disc. Instead, choose from 2 minutes and 12 seconds of deleted scenes, the movie's trailer, and Tromatic Extras. Don't know what Tromatic Extras are? Then you've not watched a Troma disc in the last few years. Same recycled stuff as always: Troma T&A, a preview of the Make Your Own Damn Movie boxed set, Transvestite PSA, Net Neutrality PSA, Radiation March, and Troma trailers. Come on, Troma. You can do better than that.
The Final Word:
Hasn't enough been said? You like tits and bloodshed, this might work for you. You like a bit more than that, don't put it at the top of your “watch†list. With a murky image and crap supplemental material, this one may be more trouble than its worth.
Posting comments is disabled.
Categories
Collapse
article_tags
Collapse
- album review (218)
- album reviews (274)
- arrow video (271)
- blu-ray (3225)
- blu-ray review (4140)
- comic books (1392)
- comic reviews (872)
- comics (988)
- dark horse comics (484)
- dvd and blu-ray reviews a-f (1969)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews G-M (1711)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews N-S (1757)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews T-Z (878)
- dvd review (2512)
- idw publishing (216)
- image comics (207)
- kino lorber (385)
- movie news (260)
- review (318)
- scream factory (279)
- severin films (295)
- shout! factory (537)
- twilight time (269)
- twilight time releasing (231)
- vinegar syndrome (496)
Latest Articles
Collapse
-
Released by: Severin Films
Released on: April 30th, 2024.
Director: Lee Frost
Cast: Joseph Mascolo, Virginia Goodman, John Alderman
Year: 1969
Purchase From Amazon
Hot Spur – Movie Review:
Director Lee Frost and Producer Bob Cresse's film, Hot Spur, opens in Texas in 1869 with a scene where a pair of cowboys wanders into a bar where they call over a pretty Mexican waitress and coerce her into dancing for them. She obliges, but...-
Channel: Movies
03-22-2024, 11:53 AM -
-
Released by: Mondo Macabro
Released on: April 9th, 2024.
Director: Max Pecas
Cast: Thierry de Carbonnières, Jean-Marc Maurel, Denis Karvil, Lillemour Jonsson
Year: 1985
Purchase From Amazon
Death Squad – Movie Review:
Also known as Brigade Of Death, French sleaze auteur Max Pecas’ 1985 film, Death Squad, opens with a night time scene outside of Paris in the Bois de Boulogne Forest where cars pass by a small gang of transsexual...-
Channel: Movies
03-22-2024, 11:46 AM -
-
Released by: Quality X
Released on: February 28th, 2024.
Director: Chuck Vincent
Cast: Samantha Fox, Vernoica Hart, Kelly Nichols, Jerry Butler, Jamie Gillis
Year: 1982
Purchase From Amazon
Roommates – Movie Review:
Directed by Chuck Vincent and released in 1982, Roommates opens with a scene where a young woman named Joan Harmon (Veronica Hart) gets a hotel room with an older man named Ken (Don Peterson, credited as Phil Smith),...-
Channel: Movies
03-15-2024, 01:10 PM -
-
Released by: Blue Underground
Released on: March 26th, 2024.
Director: Jess Franco
Cast: Christopher Lee, Maria Rohm, Dennis Price
Year: 1970
Purchase From Amazon
Night Of The Blood Monster – Movie Review:
Directed by Jess Franco, The Bloody Judge (or, Night Of The Blood Monster, as it is going by on this new release from Blue Underground) isn't quite the salacious exercise in Eurotrash you might expect it to be, and while it...-
Channel: Movies
03-15-2024, 01:07 PM -
-
Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: March 26th, 2024.
Director: Saul Bass
Cast: Nigel Davenport, Michael Murphy, Lynne Frederick, Alan Gifford, Robert Henderson, Helen Horton
Year: 1974
Purchase From Amazon
Phase IV – Movie Review:
Saul Bass’ 1974 sci-fi/thriller Phase IV is an interesting blend of nature run amuck stereotypes and Natural Geographic style nature footage mixed into one delicious cocktail of suspense and...-
Channel: Movies
03-15-2024, 01:02 PM -
-
Released by: Radiance Films
Released on: March 26th, 2024.
Director: Shigehiro Ozawa, Eiichi Kudo
Cast: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Minoru Ôki, Arashi Kanjuro, Bin Amatsu, Chiezo Kataoka
Year: 1969-1972
Purchase From Amazon
The Bounty Hunter Trilogy – Movie Review:
Radiance Films gathers together the three films in Toie Studios’ Bounty Hunter Trilogy, starring the inimitable Tomisaburo Wakayama. Here’s how the three movies in this...-
Channel: Movies
03-13-2024, 11:30 AM -