Don't Open Your Eyes

I'm going to do my best to leave spoilers out of this review because I really want people to understand what's going on here and what the actual issues are with this movie. Here we go, everyone is tearing this movie apart over it being slow and it's pacing. OK? So this isn't a drag car kind of movie and in no way does it portray itself that way. If you want fast paced horror go find something else to watch. This a movie that builds on itself lair by lair. Everyone complains about the old ladies accent and they can't understand what she's saying...it's never that bad I promise and if you are having trouble there's this really cool thing called closed caption...turn it on

Here's the issues with this movie, it gets lost in itself and in the process the movie asphyxiates itself. WAY too many things not explained and unanswered questions. Plot holes, lack of constructive continuity. If you read reviews about this movie you'll find an ongoing outcry for, "I don't get it, someone explain this to me!" Unfortunately, I'm not sure anyone can because after a rigid search on Google, there are none, zero, nadda explanations or attempts or even reviews on this movie. Why? Because I don't think anyone can. THAT'S the problem with this movie. You will get lost and confused and there's no help waiting for you at the end. I've watched this movie so many times trying to see what I missed or pick up on something but trying to understand this movie is like trying to put together a 5k piece puzzle without the picture on the box of what the puzzle looks like. So there it is, yes it's a slow B movie. Yes it's low budget, but the acting really is not bad, I've seen WAY WAY worse. It's all shot in one spot so the scene is good. The lighting has some really bad spots in it, which you'll see. Man, yeah the damn movie is confusing as hell and leaves you lost after watching it. Hell maybe THAT'S the point of it, to make you feel like you have dementia too be the end of it life the old lady, who knows...not me and apparently not anyone else. So I invite you to watch this and see if you can figure it out and piece it together for the rest of us.

Very confusing plot. Might have understood more if I understood the dialogue. But a lot of the lines were mumbled or too thickly accented or drowned out by music. Subtitles would have helped a lot.

Acting and photography was OK but the film was very slow and tedious. Don't bother with this one.

I'm the kind of person who likes things everyone else scoffs at and abhors the popular so it's not surprising to find myself enjoy this movie. Then again, the main character reminded me so much of a former friend of mine, I was a bit more patient with it than others who've reviewed this.

Yes, it's a cheap, low budget movie that is very clearly someone's pet project. The kind of schlock I love.

So, we have a male nurse who takes a job as a home hospice carer to save money for his wedding, frequently pulling out the engagement ring to remind himself of why he's putting up with the needs of this sour, foul tempered old lady whose suffering appears to be caused by her one instance of showing a hint of joy.

But the old lady is a practicing occultist and has prolonged her own life at the expense of victims, who continue to prowl about and go "boo!" after the old lady's death. Our boy is stuck in the house after the adopted daughter of the biddy just straight up leaves him there with the dead lady in the most blatant construction of the isolation trope you may ever find. He's left to stumble about in the dark with a spooketty tape recorder and come to terms with the failings of faith and traditions while being harassed by spoopies and ghoulies who come out at night to be creepy.

There are a couple points of the movie lacking in any logic or reasoning. Less as plot holes and more a lazy cop-out of "ghosts did it! deal with it!" The soundtrack is nonsense.

It could have been streets better. Still, it's not so worthy of trashing. Not really. Or I'm just being nice because the guy reminds me of someone I knew. One or the other.

Don't open your eyes has its flaws, that's for sure. Lots of them, from too-heavy accents to pacing issues to the composed music drowning out the dialogue. If you look past that, though, it is a very creepy diamond in the rough. Watching it reminded me of when I first read Stephen King's Gramma, it felt like it drew inspiration directly from that. Needless to say, Gramma freaked me out, so naturally, this freaked me out too. It takes a very long time for the supernatural aspects to come into play but when it finally does happen, it's all kinds of spooky, and the last 30 minutes or so are one hell of a ride. Those that so boldly claim that it's the worst film they've seen or utter trash have clearly never seen an Uwe Boll or Tom Six movie or anything in that vicinity. This film lacks polish, has some issues, but aside from that, it was a very pleasant surprise, and I wholeheartedly recommend it above some other mainstream horror films.

I really liked the cinematography which was atmospheric and reminded me of classic horrors such as The Omen and The Exorcist, with wintry outside shots slightly blue grey.

For the most part the visuals in the film were excellent - moody with interesting shot choices that really kept visual interest.

As for the story. It was an interesting concept that fell far short in delivery.

In the end this film became tedious to watch. Long dialogues that were difficult to understand and make out through the thick accent of the main actress -Gergana Mellin - and her portrayal of the character. No doubt she is a good actress and her theatre experience showed through, but something went very wrong in the volley of scenes where she relays important information about the story that just get lost. Perhaps it was a technical issue - either way, it just ended up being boring to try and figure out.

I also think there was a severe lack of build-up to some of the pivotal parts in the film. They just seemed to happen without any drama associated with them, and were gone as soon as they arrived. This led to a linear experience watching this film. There was nothing to get excited about, scared at, or have any particular emotional response to.

The ending also left a lot to be desired. Again, there was no build up or anticipation and it just happened fairly much as expected.

There are other points that detract from the enjoyment of watching this film, but I can't be bothered going in to them.

It is a shame. There were brilliant aspects such as the visuals, then the abysmal application of story telling. This is not a film I would want to watch again, which it could have been with a little more thought going in to telling the story.