Running Time: 86 Minutes
Starring: Jasper Hammer, Ben Hall, Danielle Evon Ploeger, Nick Ballard
Podcast host Allen Wolf (Jasper Hammer) has found success with his show, U.S Sane, which capitalizes on conspiracy theories from guests Allen selects from his "box of Freaks". When he conducts a livestream interview with a past guest, the situation ends in tragedy which leaves Wolf disgraced and fired for his recklessness.
After the tense opening sequence, Allen is left demoralized. He tries bouncing back by interviewing Don Thomas (Ben Hall), a widowed farmer who claims a thousand-eyed beast lives in the woods outside his farm. Jumping on this potential comeback story, Allen agrees to join Don in his attempts to trap and kill the beast, although things become less simple than the interviewer expects.
Central to this tale is the frosty relationship between the pair, as Hammer and Hall wonderfully bring alive the men with colliding personalities. There's much entertainment from seeing straight man Don and smart-ass Allen bouncing off one-another, as a man of few words is interviewed by somebody he believes "talks too much".
Don is a blunt man who cuts through the host he sees as phony, yet reaches out because Allen's show was beloved by Don's deceased wife. There's a great sadness as he grapples with grief, feeling lost without the woman who kept him grounded, while Allen is left questioning whether Don is lying to himself or the interviewer about his fantastical story. There's never the threat of these characters becoming cartoonish, because the performances and writing make them constantly feel real.
Director Todd Greenlee and writer Alex Greenlee mix wonderful humour with the engrossing tale that contains shocking turns, particularly coming alive during the third-act where everything seems to go wrong in spectacular fashion. Through the small-budget tale of an unseen monster, a spectacular character study is created which carries shades of The Endless and Home Alone. What's left is an emotionally engaging story as a man faces the reality of where his uncaring and tactless nature got him.
All Eyes made its International Premiere at SoHome Virtual Horror Fest 2022
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