Movie Review – Eyes of Fire

Eyes of Fire (1983)
Written and directed by Avery Crounse

The American folk horror genre is surprisingly sparse compared to its British counterpart. Starting in the 1970s and continuing through today, British filmmakers continually find new angles to approach the horrors of rural life. With the States being such a vast landmass with plenty of myth & danger sprinkled through its most sparsely populated corners, you would expect more. Robert Eggers’ The Witch is the most prominent American folk horror film, and it becomes hard to name another. Avery Crounse wrote & directed his first feature film by focusing on the expansionist period of American history, following pioneers poorly prepared for what they would find and facing ancient evils tied to the land. 

Set in 1750, Eyes of Fire starts with a mystery. French soldiers discover a young woman and child in the wilderness. They fled their original settlement after internal strife collapsed. These survivors went with a group to found their own village because of these conflicts, and the further they go, the more the native people become a threat to them. Among these people is Leah, a woman with what they assume is mental illness practicing witchcraft in secret. The Shawnee make moves against the pioneers, and it drives these desperate people into a valley that not even the natives will go into. What appears to be a white girl is discovered alone in the valley, and they take her in, but she proves to be just the start of a campaign of horrors beset against the travelers.

Eyes of Fire is an ambitious film but hindered by its clearly low budget. Crounse is attempting to tell a story deserving of a higher production value, but we manage to get a very atmospheric and affecting tale with what he has. The film was caught up in the growing glut of movies made easier to produce due to cheaper consumer video technology, but that doesn’t mean this looks like a home movie. Eyes of Fire has bold cinematography that communicates a greater vision for the picture. There’s apparently a 4k restoration, though I could only watch a VHS transfer; I did not see it in the form it was meant to be seen.

Crounse shows an understanding of how to develop an intense horror story. The supernatural elements are alluded to, but the interpersonal conflicts between the human characters are the most important. We watch small arguments bloom into outright physical confrontations. Then there’s the external threat of the Shawnee, underlining how poorly prepared for this environment these colonists are. Part of this conflict is Reverend Smythe’s adulterous relationship with one of the women in the group. Leah, whose mother was burnt at the stake for witchcraft by Smythe, is always wandering around on the fringes of the group, seen as an idiot but more attuned to what the group is getting into than anyone else.

As the people explore the valley, Crounse teases us with beautifully crafted shots of the landscape; the trees especially provide a sense of foreboding. He has actors wearing full body makeup and camouflaged against the bark; a close observer might notice them. Crounse ensures we know they are there when they open their eyes, the whites & pupils providing a jarring image against a seemingly quiet forest scene. Our human characters become aware of the entities lurking just beyond their encampment’s boundaries, which proves to be what undoes their fragile union. Fights break out over how to handle it, and we begin to suspect this discord might be sown in some way by the same spirits they are worried about.

What I found most interesting about Eyes of Fire was its themes of the pointlessness of religious faith when dealing with material circumstances. The forest spirits could easily be seen as the ravaging elements of nature, and they simply do not acknowledge religious faith in how they operate. Smythe is more the villain than anyone or anything else in the film, an authority figure twisting the scripture to suit his particular tastes. The force he is up against doesn’t care how righteous and faithful he claims to be.

The flashback framework of the story is a weakness. That only works in rare instances, like some Lovecraft short stories. Films in flashbacks with voice-over narration spoil some of the events while hand-feeding the audience too much. Imagine The Witch being narrated by Anya Taylor Joy after the events. It would completely undermine her character’s arc by telegraphing that everyone else dies. Part of what appeals to me about folk horror is the mystique, going into a strange world and not knowing the outcome. When we finally see the horror fully manifested at the end, it’s deflated by the low production values and comes across as cheap monster movie stuff. Keeping things hidden and obscured through clever cinematography may have been a better choice. Eyes of Fire is still an excellent American folk horror, something I wish we had much more of.