PINK EYE (2008)
Directed by James Tucker
Review by Jason Tosta


Released by: Halo Eight
Running Time: 78 Minutes
Rating: NR
Color format: Color
Audio/Subtitles: English Audio, No Subtitles
Region Code: 1, NTSC
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen
16:9 Enhanced: No
Special Features: Director’s Commentary, Two episodes of horror talk show, “The Scream”
Trailer Online: Yes

On the marquee today is 2008’s low budget independent horror film PINK EYE. That’s right. It’s not just an eye infection anymore. In the rough and tumble world of homegrown horror, where does PINK EYE stand? Well, let’s find out. Just keep your fingers away from your eyes, please.

Weird things are afoot at the local insane asylum. Strange experiments are being performed on the guinea pig patients. The test drugs are causing terrible side effects including horrifying hallucinations and in some cases, self mutilation. Other inmates begin to fantasize about killing people, including the orderlies and doctors at the asylum.

We are introduced to an inmate referred to as Edgar, because of his constant quoting of the works of Edgar Allen Poe. Edgar has a terrible skin condition that has disfigured his head and face. He’s lived an extremely sheltered life and ended up at the asylum after his mother’s death. Mixing his tormented past with these experimental drugs has turned poor Edgar homicidal. After killing an orderly and a doctor, he escapes and begins killing people in the community near the asylum.

During this time, a dysfunctional family moves upstate to a house near the asylum. Edgar runs across one of the young daughters, but ends up kidnapping the child’s beautiful aunt (Delilah) instead. Worried for her safety, Delilah’s boyfriend, Brandon, begins searching for her. After a little game of cat and mouse, Edgar whisks her back to the asylum where the eventual final showdown takes place.

PINK EYE is one of those horror movies that starts out fairly promising, but just kind of loses steam the further on it goes. Let’s start with the positives. There are a couple of good gore set pieces on display here, including a patient who literally scratches her eyes out because she believes that there are ants burrowing inside of them. Also, the character of Edgar is very interesting, but really could have benefitted from a little more back-story. He’s pretty much reduced to a Poe-spouting Jason Voorhees knock-off in the end. The acting is about average for a low budget indie horror flick with Joshua James (Edgar) and Melissa Bacelar (Delilah) as the real stand outs. There is also a very cool scene transition device used several times in the film where the camera pulls back from stylized still photos of the inner workings of the asylum.

On the negative side, the script has many fairly large logical holes. For example, the asylum is overtaken way too easily by the patients. There’s more security at a “Ross; Dress For Less” than at this asylum. Also, why would Edgar take Delilah back to the asylum that he just escaped from? I’m still scratching my head on that one. Beyond that, the asylum storyline and the family storyline come together in a very uneven way. It’s like something is missing that should connect the two storylines. This leaves PINK EYE’s narrative a little disjointed and sloppy. This film also features some unfortunate post production dubbing. Just watch for scenes where characters walk on snow. To his credit, in a very good commentary track, director James Tucker speaks at length about running out of funds and production woes. I truly believe that Tucker and crew did the best they could here with what little they had.

In this reviewers opinion, PINK EYE is a perfect case of a “good try but no cigar” horror film overall. That being said, it will definitely find its fair share of supporters. There is some good “low budge” gore, a spooky asylum, a masked lunatic killer, some nudity and plenty of comfortable horror clichés to make this flick digestible to the nondiscriminating horror fan. Just take my advice, turn off your brain and don’t expect too much, and you might find something to like here.

Extras on the DVD include Director’s Commentary, and two 30-minute episodes of a horror themed talk show, “The Scream” featuring PINK EYE leading lady Melissa Bacelar. I enjoyed the episodes of “The Scream.” It’s kind of like “Elvira” meets a trashy version of “Entertainment Tonight,” with actor/actress interviews and some horror film reviews.