My Little Eye (2002)

My Little Eye

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ 

(Liked It) 

Netflix* Synopsis:  Five people must bunk together for six months as part of a reality TV show with a $1 million prize. But if even one person leaves, no one wins a cent.

The Peeps:  Mark Evans (director); David Hilton (writer); Laura Regan, Sean CW Johnson, Jennifer Sky, Stephen O'Reilly, Kris Lemche, Bradley Cooper (!)

Quick Run Down:  Atmospheric and Tense, Decent Scares

Worth the Watch?:  Sure, why not? 

My Little Eye follows 5 people, all in their early 20's, recruited to appear in a reality TV show that puts them in a house for six months under 24 hr surveillance.  The prize is $1 million if everyone stays in the house for the whole duration of the alloted time.  Fast forward 5 months and two, maybe three, weeks, and you have your 5 people still intact, friends (as much as they can be), and ready to get the hell out of that house.  Hints are dropped that the close of the 6 month period is soon, and the people are cursing the hours left until they can finally get out.  The following day, the regular food drop is found outside - the people can leave the house but cannot leave the compound as a whole or contact anyone outside of it - but it turns out to be only a load of bricks and a letter.  The next drop is also a load of non-sequitor items - champagne and a gun.  Questions are now cropping up:  why aren't "they" giving us food?  Why the random items? etc.  I don't want to give away the twist, but let's just say it doesn't end pretty for most everyone in the film.

The premise for My Little Eye is not so much original as is the way in which it is presented.  Five people in a house, creepy things happening, whodunit scenarios playing out - it's sort of like a sinister, twisted version of the board game "Clue".  The presentation, though, employs mounted cameras all over the house and the compound to provide the shots from which we can observe the characters at play.  Cameras are all over the walls, on posts outside, even in flashlights and pens.  It might sound stagnant, but it's actually unique.  And it becomes even more so.  Once the twist hits, the presentation provides an additional layer of viewership that enhances the plot and the audiences involvement in it.  It's a pretty cool transition of interest and intrigue.

The film is a slow burn, with a lot of dialogue and the whodunit theorizing going on, but the red herrings build the suspense and tension of the story to make the film more and more interesting.  The climax was a bit much for me, but it makes sense in context of the story.  The acting is overall decent, but Kris Lemche (Rex) does a really good job.  His voice grows stronger and more pertinent as the film progresses, and he turns out to be a pretty important character despite his caustic attitude.  Also, Bradley Cooper stops by for a few scenes, supposedly a drifting skiier whose car has broken down and he's trying to make his way back to civilization.  Considering the success he'll go on to sow, it's cool to see him in an independent flick, and his role in the film pushes the suspense and questions of the film that much further.  There are some good scares that happen, the most notable ones revolving around sound, but some visual tricks are still used to provide a few jolts.

So, overall, My Little Eye is a good flick that doesn't make a huge splash in the pond of Horror but is still a good watch on a quiet Saturday night.  Turn off all the lights and have a view - it's on Netflix!

"It was the kindest thing to do."



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