Some secrets are better left unknown...

Raymond (Gary DeVirgilio) is a thirty-something year-old who lives at home with his Uncle Joe (Joel M. Reed), an abusive and vindictive Korean War veteran who resents his nephew for living off of him and never making anything of his life. Uncle Joe wears an eyepatch, one of the presumed visible after-effects of life in the war, and has accumulated quite a bit of cash from years of not spending it.

He has no intention of spending and fully plans to die with it all. During a meeting with his lawyer, Joe is told that he needs to declare an estate administrator or he risks having hsi entire estate in the hands of his closest kin - Ray. Ray overhears the conversations and goes snooping around Joe's room, a factor that doesn't exactly go over well with Joe when he's caught.

Ray suffers from debilitating headaches and has fantasies of killing his abusive uncle. When he's not serving Joe or being harped on by Joe, he's working on one of his true passions - his own graphic novel or simply spending time in his yard staring at the girl across the street. When Joe suffers a stroke and Ray is forced to assume an even greater degree of responsibility for his care. Suddenly, Ray's life is improving and even the girl across the street starts to notice him. Unfortunately for Ray, when he starts to delve deeper into his Uncle's life he learns that some secrets are better left unknown.

A psychological horror flick written and directed by Louis Affortunato, Dead Eye has as its major claim to fame the presence of horror icon Joel M. Reed, writer/director of such noteworthy flicks as Blood Sucking Freaks, Blood Bath, Wit's End, and Night of the Zombies. While his presence here is a joy to behold, and quite a bit of fun, it's not enough to help Dead Eye rise above its mediocrity as the film would have been a much more effective endeavor with more of a B-movie flavor that could have had fun with its obviously low-budget. Instead, the film tends to come off as a more straightforward psychological horror flick and the result is a film that really isn't particularly horrifying, involving or, for that matter, very much fun.

The film also stars relative newcomer Gary DeVirgilio as the young Raymond, while New York stage vet Hank Offinger is here in a supporting role as Edmund Gurtz.

Dead Eye, shot in Staten Island, was an official selection of the 2012 Manhattan Film Festival and will most likely see its highest potential for viewing from a post-festival DVD release of VOD distribution. For more information on the film, visit its website linked to in the credits.

© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic