Eyes of Fire

Summary

“The devil lives in the trees.”

Severin Films has recently released an astonishing box set revolving around the folk horror genre called All the Haunts Be Ours. I have been interested in folk horror since viewing the classic The Wicker Man as a teenager. It is a niche genre, but Kier-La Janisse did a solid job of discussing what aspects of the genre define folk horror in her documentary Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror. Some of the defining characteristics of the genre included a focus on the uncanny and a focus on spiritual elements in nature. Eyes of Fire definitely fits the bill. I had never seen the film before, but when I saw the amount of buzz given to Severin’s undertaking of releasing the film, I knew it would be something special. It is also one of four films within the All the Haunts Be Ours box set which has received an individual release by Severin (the others are the aforementioned Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched, Dark Waters, and Viy.) I watched Eyes of Fire the other night and now I understand why people were excited for the release. It is an extremely unique folk horror film that takes place in the early days of the American West.

The film begins in 1750 on the American Frontier. A young woman and a child are interviewed by a French soldier. He needs to know how they ended up in French territory far away from their counterparts. The young woman explains that they had survived a devil witch that was in the valley. The soldier asks for her to start from the beginning. She explains that they were living in Dalton’s Ferry. Her father was a waytrapper and her mother Eloise (Rebecca Stanley,) unwilling to wait for his return, had begun an adulterous relationship with William Smyth (Dennis Lipscomb,) the new preacher in the town. William lived in a house with the orphaned and possibly insane Leah. Eloise and her family had moved in with him. When the town becomes an angry mob and storms his house to hang him, William is taken to a nearby barn along with Eloise and Leah. William is saved when his noose breaks, possibly from some power within Leah’s incantations. An older man named Calvin storms the barn alongside the young man Jewel Buchanan. They point their rifles at the townsfolk and abscond with the preacher and his followers. They lock the townsfolk in the barn and steal whatever food and wares they need for their journey and begin their travels on the town’s ferry boat raft. Calvin brings his wife who goes by “Sister” and their granddaughter Meg. Jewell brings his wife Margaret and their daughter Cathleen. Eloise brings her daughter Fanny. They begin to head downriver into the Shawnee Indian territory. The waytrapper, Marion (Guy Boyd,) begins to track them downriver once he returns to the town and finds out what his wife has done. As they all enter into territory deemed as bewitched by the Shawnee, the film dives into magical and strange supernatural occurrences as surviving members of the group move inland.

Eyes of Fire is a strange film. Parts of the film reminded me of the feeling I had reading Cormac McCarthy’s novels Suttree and Blood Meridian, while other parts of the film which focus on nature based horror set the film apart. The narration of the film and some of the imagery recalled Terence Malick’s early filmography. The film’s script is well-written and positively eerie. It blends together the American West, early American cult ideology, Native American religions, and the unknown of the forrest, to create a potent cocktail of imagery. It is unlike any other American horror film that I have seen, and it is also uniquely a film that could only take place in America. Some have called the film a horror-western, and I think that is a fair description if you consider the film a bizarre travelogue into the unknown west. I do not consider this in any way a traditional western like High Noon or 3:10 to Yuma. There is a lot to unpack in the film, and I think for the most part the film is extremely successful. The actors are up to the task, with an excellent performance by Dennis Lipscomb (who I had recently watched in Severin’s release of Retribution.) He plays the religious despot with the type of infuriating cowardly and effite affectations that work to make his character despicable. It’s a great role and he plays the part very well. The role of the well-worn hunter and father Marion is played by Guy Boyd capably.

The film is directed with skill by Avery Crounse. Unfortunately he only has a couple other directorial credits to his name. I would have liked to see other films from him considering how unique his debut film was. Crounse shows a real talent for creating bizarre scenarios in the film with a nice eye towards maintains the setting’s authenticity. While the film did not cost a tremendous amount to make, it manages to recreate the eighteenth century frontier in a convincing manner.

The only aspect of the film that has lost some of its power is during some of the sequences involving the creatures in the woods. At times a video technique is used that changes the coloring of the film. It is an effect that feels out of place in the picture and I don’t feel fully holds up. I felt myself taken out of the picture when these moments occurred. The only other gripe with the film is that when the creature in the woods is shown, maybe the creature is shown too long to maintain a frightening presence onscreen. These are very minor gripes considering the ambience and other aspects of the film that are done so well.

In preparation to begin watching the films in the All the Haunts Be Ours box set, I went ahead and read the book The Witches by about the Salem Witch trials. I had a feeling that it would help put me in the proper mindset to explore the folk horror films in the set. This definitely helped me to enjoy Eyes of Fire, but another book I had recently read was just as applicable if not more so. The book The King of Confidence by Miles Harvey explores the life of a conman who attempted to take over the Mormon religion after the death of Joseph Smith. It’s fascinating to think of the numerous cults that were spawned as young Americans began to use manifest destiny to claim their promised land and expand into the frontier. There is an audio commentary by Colin Dickey on the disc, who wrote “Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places,” and I read that book as well and enjoyed it, so I was happy to hear his thoughts on the strange happenings in Eyes of Fire. 

Eyes of Fire is a unique and bizarre film. Folk horror fans owe it to themselves to check it out. Not everything in the film works, but it swings for the fences and leaves a lasting impression. Highly recommended.

Video

Severin Films has provided an impressive transfer in 1080p of Eyes of Fire in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with an MPEG-4 AVC encode from a new 4K scan of the original negative. I watched the film on my 4K Epson Projector and was pleased by the amount of detail that came across. The film displays a nice density of film grain which sometimes comes across as saturated but not in any meaningful or distracting way. The film’s elements seem to be in good shape. Severin have obviously put a lot of care into the release of this film which had not seen the light of day on any format since its VHS release.

Audio

Severin Films has provided a solid DTS-HD MA Mono track. The sound quality on the track is essentially reference quality. I did not notice any hiss or other distracting elements. The score by Brad Fidel comes across nicely. Range and immersion is limited on the Mono track, but fans will have no reason to complain.

Supplements:

• Crying Blue Sky – Alternate Longer Cut restored in 2K from Director’s personal 35mm answer print
• Audio Commentary With Colin Dickey, Author of “Ghostland: An American History In Haunted Places”
• The Secret Is In The Trees — “Nightmare USA” Author Stephen Thrower Interviews Avery Crounse
• Bonus Short Films:
  • The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow – (Sam Weiss, 1972)
  • Transformations – (Barbara Hirschfeld, 1972)
  • Backwoods – (Ryan Mackfall, 2018)

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 4/5

Supplements – 4.5/5

Overall – 4.5/5

Eyes of Fire is a truly unique folk horror film that takes place in the early days of the American frontier. The tale it spins draws to mind Cormac McCarthy’s writing and British folk horror films like Blood on Satan’s Claw, while also showing some influence from Terrence Malick’s early works. The film makes a few small missteps that date the picture a little, but these are minor gripes for having created something so strange and original. Folk horror fans will definitely want to check this film out. The supplemental package from Severin is well done and includes an alternate longer cut of the film, and as per usual they have done a great job on the restoration of the film and its original audio. I would recommend adding this release to your collection, and if you enjoy this film you would be wise to check out the wonderful All the Haunts Be Ours box set which features Eyes of Fire alongside nineteen other films.