Use of Tropes: Eyes of the Dead

Perhaps this should be titled ‘Use of Trope’ as there is only one used, but it is a doozy. Eyes of the Dead was a 2015 film directed by Ben Samuels (and released as a Samuels Brothers Film), this was for all intents and purpose a zombie outbreak film. It used the conceit that it was filmed in POV, taking Eddie’s point of view – played by Ben Samuels himself. This wasn’t the POV of a found footage film, rather it was all through the eyes of one character and looked, it seems, to capture the immersive quality of a first-person computer game. It worked pretty well, but there were issues.

The reason that a first-person video game is immersive is not solely down to the pov, the fact is, of course, even if the gameplay is on a rail the player has control. Watching a film in that style the viewer is a passenger, nothing more. Also, with regards the storytelling, a game will often move into third person cut scenes – which this did not do – to explore the story side. That said, there was a decent communication of story and character (for what there was) especially around the issues faced by Eddie and his wife Carla (Rosebud Baker). The other issue is that we get a prologue where Eddie is clearly zombified and therefore the tension of seeing everything from his POV is diminished as we know he will be bitten at some point. Personally I found the POV gimmicky and think a more traditional shoot would have served the film better.

turning

The general story is that Eddie and Carla have issues but they have friends visiting the farm he manages. Early on he sees a drone dusting crops – something he did not authorise – and then feds appear and ask to inspect the field. Unfortunately, the chemical causes a human to become aggressive and essentially become a zombie – continuing to function with the barest minimum of brain function. Soon the friends are holed up in Eddie and Carla’s house but, as they realise that there is no help coming, they decide they have to get away before the shadowy federal agency turns up in force.

reflection of a turning

So, what’s the trope? Glad you asked. You see, the substance sprayed is a fast-acting toxin (which can be passed on via bites). The film tells us, “It dramatically dehydrates the body, forcefully expelling all fluids. The hunger, or rather the thirst, comes on quickly driving the host even after brain function drops to almost subhuman levels. All that’s left is the need to survive. And to survive the host has to replenish fluids, blood, plasma, all the things only another human can provide.” And there is our trope – rather than being after flesh generally, or biting to pass this on, they are after blood pure and simple. Given this is science based, rather than supernatural, the logic withers under scrutiny, both in the blood drinking and, especially, the rapid onset foetal mutation (in a pig). However, logical issues aside, these creatures could be argued to be more zompire than zombie.

The imdb page is here.

On Demand @ Amazon US

On Demand @ Amazon UK