Eyes of a Stranger

Featuring Jennifer Jason Leigh’s first big-screen appearance, Eyes of a Stranger follows intrepid reporter Jane Harris (Lauren Tewes) as she becomes increasingly convinced that a neighbor (John DiSanti’s Stanley Herbert) is responsible for a series of brutal killings – with her suspicions inevitably putting both her and her deaf and blind sister (Leigh’s Tracy) in jeopardy. Eyes of a Stranger opens with a surprisingly effective sequence in which Herbert stalks (and murders) an attractive waitress, and although it does take some time to wholeheartedly warm up to the central character’s ongoing investigation, filmmaker Ken Wiederhorn effectively holds the viewer’s interest by punctuating the proceedings with a number of suspenseful stand-alone sequences and flashbacks – with the latter represented especially well by a disturbing glimpse into the grisly manner by which Tracy lost her ability to see and hear. It’s subsequently easy enough to overlook the film’s less-than-impressive elements (ie some of the supporting performances border on the amateurish), as Wiederhorn, along with cinematographer Mini Rojas, generally does a nice job of sustaining an atmosphere of mounting dread by emphasizing visuals of a decidedly foreboding and almost De Palma-esque nature. By the time the tense finale rolls around, Eyes of a Stranger has certainly established itself as an above-average slasher that seems to have been unfairly relegated to cheapie bins at big-box home-entertainment stores.

*** out of ****