rodrig58
It's not bad at all but it has some flaws. What killer leaves his muddy shoes in the closet to be found there by a lady who's living in the same building? Only a stupid killer. What killer throw a shirt dirty with blood in the garbage bin from the garage at the base of the block where he lives? The same stupid killer. But they're all stupid, the killers, since they commit crimes. I wanted to watch this because of Jennifer Jason Leigh. But she has a small role of a deaf-mute almost blind. She's very young, one of her first roles. OK, let's accept that she has a very strong shock, being almost raped by the killer-psychopath and that helps returning her sight and speech. The interesting idea of the movie is the killer watched by the neighbor, tortured by phone, as he watched and tortured his victims. Lauren Tewes looks like Agnetha Fältskog, the blonde of ABBA, and John DiSanti, the killer, looks like Rod Steiger. They are both very good, specially DiSanti.
Jonny_Numb
Outside of the superb '70s sleeper "Shock Waves" (which is blatantly referenced here), director Ken Wiederhorn's stabs at horror have been maddeningly mediocre-to-awful, largely personality-free affairs, and "Eyes of a Stranger"--yet another early-'80s knock-off of "Friday the 13th" and "Halloween"--is no exception. Lauren Tewes (who acts as well as can be expected from a "Love Boat" alum) plays a news anchor covering a rash of rape-murders, and can't help but get emotional about the whole subject: after all, her younger sister (Jennifer Jason Leigh) was rendered a blind deaf-mute by an encounter with a neighborhood molester years before; Tewes' lawyer boyfriend sensibly concludes that she's overreacting to the possibility that her overweight neighbor (John DiSanti) in the opposing apartment tower is spending lonely evenings making obscene phone calls before claiming his female prey. While post-"Halloween" slashers like "The Prowler" and "My Bloody Valentine" wallowed in imitation, they at least brought their own unique elements to the table; "Eyes" creates some decent suspense early on (Wiederhorn certainly knows how to manipulate light and shadow to great effect), almost enough to detract from the wobbly performances and the Idiot Plot elements at work, but the film becomes--even at a scant 85 minutes--a needlessly drawn-out affair made worse by the lack of interest/exploration into the killer's 'modus operandi.' As usual, Tom Savini's effects are quite good, and go a long way toward making these mediocre "Eyes" worth watching.4.5 out of 10
saint-21
spoilers ahead..Chances are, this movie is over 25 years old , if you haven't seen it by now, you probley won't!Eyes of a stranger came out in the spring of 1981 along with the slasher craze of the early 80's 1981 seemed to be a huge year for slashers.Eyes of a stranger plays like a made for t.v. movie with some pretty violent scenes and some gore.The story is a crazed killer is stalking women in Miami FL. And hes targeted a young jennifer jason leigh as his next victim.with gore effects done by tom savini of all people who was pretty busy from 1980-1983.. doing gore shots for horror films. The violence in eyes seems like its real, we get a woman being attacked in her apartment and raped. and we get a lovers lane couple getting sliced up too. One departure from the other slashers i will point out is when the woman has her throat sliced in the car, she suffers quite a bit making it look disturbing and realistic. She basically chokes on her own blood. So warner now has finally put the film out on DVD In its uncut glory... And don't forget to watch for the head in the fish-tank i kid you not... not much else... also look for the Dawn of the dead poster outside the movie theater, kinda a inside joke cause tom savini also did the effects for that film as well..
fertilecelluloid
"Eyes Of A Stranger" is a slasher with a mean streak. Its killer is an overweight sleazeball rapist (John DiSanti) who is shot in plain view. The film is not a mystery, a whodunit, or a gore-fest. Director Ken Wiederhorn, who was responsible for the highly original and atmospheric "Shock Waves", has a solid style and creates some effective suspense sequences. Tom Savini handles the gore chores, and delivers a couple of grisly sequences including a knife thrust into a throat and a very authentic beheading (shot through a fish tank). The pacing slackens towards the end and the script offers no surprises. Lauren Tewes (from TV's "Love Boat") plays a TV presenter who learns that the killer is living in her apartment building. Her semi-blind sister (played by young and sexy Jennifer Jason Leigh), who is shown in flashback being abducted as a child, ends up being victimized by DiSanti in "Blind Terror" style. Warners released this film in the very early Eighties when cinemas were filled with knife-wielding psychos. For a dose of sleaze, this is worth catching.
AD
