Director Ramin Niami‘s Eye Without a Face, can be described as a modern twist on Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Henry, an agoraphobic and anxious young man living in Los Angeles, hacks into the webcams of various selected young women who inhabit the city. He watches over them getting on with their daily lives, seeing himself as a guardian angel. When his new charming roommate Eric, a Youtuber and struggling actor, pushes him to get out into the real world, he unknowingly puts Henry in danger. As Henry starts to suspect one of the women he watches, Laura, of being a killer, everything starts to spiral out of control.
The film is written and directed by Ramin Niami, director of the acclaimed films Somewhere in the City, Babe’s & Rickey’s Inn, and Shirin in Love. Niami has reflected on the plot, saying, “Nowadays, we are constantly being watched. On the radio, I heard about a female college student who found nude photos of herself on the Internet. The FBI discovered that her webcam was hacked and that a fellow college student had taken these images when she was changing in her college dorm room in revenge because she had rejected him for a date. This story inspired me to create a modern Rear Window.”
Whilst the film features a cohort of rising young actors Dakota Shapiro (“The Affair”), Luke Cook (“Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”, “Katy Keene”), and Vlada Verevko (“Beauty and the Beast”) it fails to sustain the much needed Hitchcock energy to keep your interest beyond a desire to see its conclusion. There are also scenes that only undermine its realism. Disappointedly, despite competent performances, Eye Without A Face is a film without a punch and serves as an example of how creative and intriguing plots don’t always convert into groundbreaking and memorable films.
The movie will be available On Demand and Digital on August 10 from Gravitas Ventures.
Movie Rating: 2.5 stars.
Movie Rating Guide
1 Star = Unwatchable
2 Stars = Cannot Recommend
3 Stars = Great for the Fans
4 Stars = A Solid Movie
5 Stars = Must Own (DVD/Stream Download)
About Author
