In this modern world of easy body augmentation and on-demand surgery, we rarely worry about mistakes. A quick injection of Botox for that frown wrinkle and off to the grocery store. And yet, when you stop to consider what could happen when these simple procedures go wrong, the potential for horror is endless.
This is the foundation for Marcel Walz’s (Blood Feast remake) new film. In BLIND, Faye, played by Sarah French (Rootwood, Art of the Dead), struggles to come to terms with the botched laser eye surgery that left her blind nearly a year ago. Helping her on her journey to self-acceptance is her friend Luke (Tyler Gallant, #FollowMe, Alpha Wolf), a mute man struggling to admit his feelings for her.
The simple love story becomes slightly more complicated when Walz introduces his antagonist “Pretty Boy” — a hulking, silent creep played by Jed Rowen (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Ghastly Love of Johnny X) who sports the expressionless mask of a young male face. Who is this guy and what’s he planning?
The film flips back and forth between protagonist and antagonist, slowly folding the two stories in on each other until the final confrontation.
Marcel Walz’s work often feels like a peek into another time, and that’s true with BLIND. Thanks to slower cuts and longer scenes, the film works as a throwback of sorts, serving some serious drive-in vibes while never fully diving into the subgenre.
In fact, I was surprised at how much of the film is a meditation on trauma and the minute-to-minute reality of going through it. Walz shows us extended sequences of Faye simply waiting. What is she waiting for? Neither we nor she knows really. Perhaps she is simply waiting for her heart to heal and the pain to pass. Trauma rarely gives us a reliable timeline.
Even so, Walz makes sure to include some scenes of candy-colored 80s-inspired horror. Pretty Boy’s mask will haunt you as it glows with eerie holiday lights, while the third act leaves you leaning in for just a little more.
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This looks sooo bad, but I will check it out. :DD