The five or so previous reviewers of this film on IMDb have a homework assignment: get the SWV standalone DVD-R and re-watch the entire film. That's your punishment, because THE WALLS HAVE EYES is a full-length, 55-minute feature, not the 28-minute "extra" you've all so knowingly commented upon.
Besides fixing the running time for IMDb, I have also submitted the correct release date, 1969 not 1964. The film has plenty of full frontal nude scenes, verboten in '64. Before the plot really takes hold, there is endless lesbian-sex footage, which is probably the most interesting part of the film, de-emphasized in the excerpt. Filmmakers play equal time -first presenting a white lesbian couple and then a black couple. Latterday unintended joke has one of the black lesbians named Grace Jones (!).
The musical score was my most pleasant surprise. Over 40 years ago I used to play Jimmy Smith's Verve LP "Monster" quite frequently on my stereo at college, but haven't heard it in ages. Several tracks, including his take on the theme from "The Munsters" (!), are included over the action here, and they dominate the rather listless sex-tease visuals. "Monster" was recorded by Jimmy in 1965, putting to the lie this movie's erroneously assumed 1964 date.
Even at twice the length, there's not much meat on its bones, but EYES has an odd quality stemming from its amateurism. You just can't recreate to order the gritty, sometimes ugly in a stag film way, black & white photography here, serving the most basic of porn plots, voyeurism. Exterior "highway driving" scenes are so poorly shot, and the film is so clumsily constructed right down to the lousy sound editing and dubbing (it was definitely an MOS shoot) that it's hard to take seriously.
What let me down the most is the constant cheating of the viewer. The premise is simple enough: although we see some set up scenes of various marks heading for the motel to check in, the lion's share of footage is that shot from sleazy hotel manager William Henry's hidden hand-held camera's point-of-view. He later projects the incriminating films to scare and blackmail his victims, leading to a predictable grim conclusion. Needless to say, the violent fight scenes are staged and executed with 100% ineptitude.
The cheating comes in when director Steve Hawkes (using the pseudonym Gene Martyn) varies the perspective with reverse shots and different setups that bely Henry's spot for filming, hiding behind a mirror. He even shows us the other half of the conversation when horny heroine Jody Baby calls boy friend (played by Hawkes) to get him to come over to the hot-sheets-motel and service him, pronto. A better film would have almost claustrophobically attempted to confine us to the strictly voyeur point-of-view, but for this team any old slop would do.
Besides fixing the running time for IMDb, I have also submitted the correct release date, 1969 not 1964. The film has plenty of full frontal nude scenes, verboten in '64. Before the plot really takes hold, there is endless lesbian-sex footage, which is probably the most interesting part of the film, de-emphasized in the excerpt. Filmmakers play equal time -first presenting a white lesbian couple and then a black couple. Latterday unintended joke has one of the black lesbians named Grace Jones (!).
The musical score was my most pleasant surprise. Over 40 years ago I used to play Jimmy Smith's Verve LP "Monster" quite frequently on my stereo at college, but haven't heard it in ages. Several tracks, including his take on the theme from "The Munsters" (!), are included over the action here, and they dominate the rather listless sex-tease visuals. "Monster" was recorded by Jimmy in 1965, putting to the lie this movie's erroneously assumed 1964 date.
Even at twice the length, there's not much meat on its bones, but EYES has an odd quality stemming from its amateurism. You just can't recreate to order the gritty, sometimes ugly in a stag film way, black & white photography here, serving the most basic of porn plots, voyeurism. Exterior "highway driving" scenes are so poorly shot, and the film is so clumsily constructed right down to the lousy sound editing and dubbing (it was definitely an MOS shoot) that it's hard to take seriously.
What let me down the most is the constant cheating of the viewer. The premise is simple enough: although we see some set up scenes of various marks heading for the motel to check in, the lion's share of footage is that shot from sleazy hotel manager William Henry's hidden hand-held camera's point-of-view. He later projects the incriminating films to scare and blackmail his victims, leading to a predictable grim conclusion. Needless to say, the violent fight scenes are staged and executed with 100% ineptitude.
The cheating comes in when director Steve Hawkes (using the pseudonym Gene Martyn) varies the perspective with reverse shots and different setups that bely Henry's spot for filming, hiding behind a mirror. He even shows us the other half of the conversation when horny heroine Jody Baby calls boy friend (played by Hawkes) to get him to come over to the hot-sheets-motel and service him, pronto. A better film would have almost claustrophobically attempted to confine us to the strictly voyeur point-of-view, but for this team any old slop would do.
