Sans the Chainsaw and a more naked Leatherface.
God, I love (the Streaming Service) Shudder. ALWAYS bringing the most unique and wonderful horrors to my eyes. I just opened up the app tonight to see what treasures they had instore this week. Barely reading the synopsis of this, I dove right in and was so very pleased.
This movie claims to be an homage to 70's Exploitation Cinema. To be honest, I'm unfamiliar with this subgenre. But, I LOVED how this was shot from the very beginning. It truly captured and mesmerized me.
An American couple is all-but backpacking through the so-called ruins of the former Yugoslavia, in Serbia and Macedonia when they meet "Saint Peter." He's playful, knowledgeable and willing to take them places they can film and explore. Despite the female-half of the couple being annoyed/suspicious, they journey down a dark path of the Macabre and might not make it back to sanity.
This movie was super weird and had me hooked all the way. I loved how strange it was and despite it not being even slightly original, it still was its own thing and it was fun ride through a 70-style of filmmaking set in modern times.
Don't look for rhyme/reason here. It really felt like a love-letter to the 70s and someone's really creative vision. Yes, it ultimately felt like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre for some aspects, but it also channeled a little of Suspira and Hostel.
Mercifully, it's a quick watch and while it's set in 2023 when it came out, they really went out of their way to dress the cast in the 70s. I would highly recommend this experimental cinema to true horror fans looking for something both familiar and wildly different.
***
Final Thoughts: Not sure if this was intentional, but "Eight Eyes" was 88 minutes. At least it was from the Shudder copy. Per IMDb, it's 89 minutes.
