Tuesday 4 November 2014

Eternal Evil (1985)



The idea at the core of this film actually has the potential to be pretty creepy, but that potential is squandered by the clumsy and obvious way it is revealed, and by the fact that it happens way too early.  You spend the rest of the film waiting for the cast to catch up with what has now been obvious for over 30 minutes.

Originally titled The Blue Man, and re-named later to make the horror themes more obvious to potential viewers, this is the story of a disillusioned film-maker whose career has sunk to directing commercials after the failure of his films.  Searching for something to give him meaning in his life, he meets a 'new age' woman who encourages him to try astral projection.  He'd flirted with the concept earlier in life but not really pursued it.  Now, he throws himself into it more fully, and soon finds himself undergoing vivid out of body experiences.

If only the people around him wouldn't keep dropping dead.  A friend, his father-in-law ... it's certainly enough to get the police interested him, though they are at a loss to explain how he might make someone's heart burst from the inside.

But when people keep dying around you, it's natural that you start to worry you might be responsible.  Are there deadly side-effects to these astral journeys he has been undertaking, or is something more sinister afoot?  Since the answer to that question is the movie's only real point of note, I'll not reveal exactly what's going on.  Suffice it to say that I wish the idea had been used in a better film.

Ultimately, this film is a bit too static, and just not tense enough to pass muster.  The main emotion it inspires is frustration as you wait for the plot to finally get the characters to the climax you've known was coming for a good half hour.

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