Hollywood actress Faye (Sarah French) loses her sight following botched laser eye surgery. Living alone in her mansion in the Hollywood Hills, Faye is trying to put her life together and relies on her friend Sophia (Caroline Williams) and her mute personal trainer Luke (Tyler Gallant). Withdrawn from the world, Faye spends most of her time at home and as she starts to fall for Luke, she’s unaware that someone has set his sights on her already, and is keeping very close tabs.
Blind is a highly stylish horror drama from director Marcel Walz and screenwriter Joe Knetter. Taking cues from Dario Argento, the film is beautifully lit, with colour running through every single frame. Given that Faye is blind, she doesn’t bother to turn the lights on in her house (although she manages to light a dangerous amount of candles) and Walz lights every scene in beautiful vibrant colours. Aesthetically it works very well and it brings a warmth to a story that is pretty tragic.
Having lost her sight, Faye is understandably down in the dumps. Early on we see her listening to an old interview on the TV, and the experience is too much for her. As she mopes in her home, Walz brings on the creepy factor by having a masked killer know as Pretty Boy, watching Faye’s every move. Sometimes he gets so close to her that it’s unbearable to watch and in other moments he’s imagining being in a relationship with Faye, giving the audience a glimpse of what he believes could be.
Of course, it’s not long before Pretty Boy is murdering Faye’s nearest and dearest, wanting her all for himself. Faye is completely unaware of what’s going on and it’s one of those cases where the audience knows far more than the film’s heroine. Walz cleverly builds the tension throughout as Faye begins to suspect that all isn’t well at home but she can’t quite put her finger on what the problem is.
There are some issues with Blind though. Stylistically it’s pretty flawless but storywise it is lacking at times. While there’s definitely tension throughout, the payoff isn’t what you hope for. It feels like it’s building up to a face-off between Faye and Pretty Boy but that never really arrives. Instead the film ends on a cliffhanger that leaves you wanting to know what happens next. That’s a little frustrating when you’ve spent the whole film wanting to know who is stalking Faye and why.
Performance wise the cast does a perfectly fine job. Sometimes the score is a little more overbearing than it needs to be, and that lessens the impact of the chills that Walz is hoping will thrill the audience. At times the soundtrack is so loud that it overpowers what’s unfolding on screen, which is a bit of a shame.
Blind is a film that is visually impressive and satisfying but doesn’t quite deliver on the story. There’s a chilling premise that’s never quite capitalised on and even though Pretty Boy is seriously creepy, he never manages to scare you. I appreciate what Walz has done here and he clearly has an eye for visuals, but I would have liked to see the story reach a more satisfying conclusion.
Cast: Sarah French, Caroline Williams, Tyler Gallant, Thomas Haley Director: Marcel Walz Writer: Joe Knetter Certificate: 18 Duration: 88 mins Released by: Signature Entertainment
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