Shadows on the Wall: xxx

D-Tox

aka: Eye See You
dir Jim Gillespie
scr Ron L Brinkerhoff
with Sylvester Stallone, Tom Berenger, Kris Kristofferson, Polly Walker, Charles S Dutton, Jeffrey Wright, Christopher Fulford, Robert Patrick, Courtney B Vance, Sean Patrick Flannery, Robert Prosky, Dina Meyer
release UK 1.Feb.02
Universal 02/US 1h32 1 out of 5 stars

R E V I E W B Y R I C H C L I N E

After seeing this, I can understand why it has been gathering dust on a shelf somewhere for the past two years ... and why it is unlikely to ever get a US release. What were these relatively talented actors were thinking when they agreed to make this film? Surely they read the script before signing on board! The story centres on an FBI agent (Sly) who hits the bottle after a serial killer case goes horribly and tragically wrong. His partner (Dutton) finds him a special detox centre for cop addicts in the remote Wyoming wilderness. In the dead of winter. With a huge blizzard just about to close in and knock out the power and communications. The centre's director (Kristofferson) and shrink (Walker) seem unconcerned about either the storm or the fact that the place is full of psychopathic, gun toting drunks. And of course, they start dropping like flies once the killer gets back to work.

You'd think director Gillespie would try to put his I Know What You Did Last Summer days behind him, but no. This cop thriller slowly morphs into a bad slasher film as it progresses. There's not a single moment of actual suspense to be found ... because the script is so inept that you can never take a moment seriously. And the direction, music, editing and set design aren't much better; the detox centre is a disused missile silo bunker that looks like nothing more than a cheesy movie set. And the characters and situations are so lamely set up that you wonder if it wasn't originally supposed to be a spoof. It's so silly and predictable that it's genuinely funny to watch Stallone playing it straight, while the rest of the cast try to fit uncomfortably into their cliched roles. Then it gets astonishingly grisly and we realise we're meant to actually be frightened. As if.
themes, violence, gore, language 17.Jan.02

R E A D E R R E V I E W S

"I used to like Stallone's films but quickly after 1996's Daylight his carrer started going down and his film choices began to take the glitter out of his once very bright star. Eye See You is another film that will help to sink his career since it is a violent, sad and baddly directed film that is very easily forgettable. After seeing this turkey, it's very easy to see why it picked up dust on the self for three years." --Andre LeBlanc, Canada 2.Jan.03