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Close Your Eyes, 2002
Hypnotist Michael Strother (Goran Visnjic) specializes in curing people of smoking addictions, but his work takes a darker and more dangerous turn when one of his clients, Detective Losey (Shirley Henderson) , draws him into a case involving a sadistic kidnapping. Heather (Sophie Stuckey) was kidnapped, held captive, tattooed, and finally rescued, but has been mute since her ordeal. But Heather’s ordeal is far from over, and Michael has put himself in the line of fire regarding the sinister plot behind her kidnapping.
A game cast is totally let down by a bizarre and cliche-ridden plot.
I think that my teenage self might have enjoyed this film. Maybe. It’s got just enough of a plot and just enough disturbing imagery to string along an undiscerning viewer. But having seen any decent number of thrillers or horror movies, this one simply pales in comparison.
I can’t fault the cast. Visnjic is a very likable presence in the lead role, and the best scenes are the few sequences where he gently coaches Heather through reliving her traumatic experience. Visnjic has a wonderfully soothing and seductive voice, and so casting him as a hypnotist is a stroke of genius. In the scenes where we see him at work, and particularly the delicate way that he works with the child, you do grasp the emotional intensity of trying to walk someone through a life-destroying event and helping them come out the other side.
But not to put too fine a point on it: the rest of the movie is basically trash. There are way too many time-wasting scenes of Losey arguing with her bosses about giving Michael access to Heather. Likewise, Miranda Otto is basically wasted as Michael’s wife, who only appears in scenes to ominously say things like “We moved here to get away from this kind of thing” and make snarky remarks about whether or not he’s taken his “medication.”
The horror itself consists of satanic conspiracies, wicked tattoos and blood transfers, and an evil man who has managed to pass his consciousness down through multiple bodies. In a better film, this could be a passable supernatural plot, but it all comes off as an unpleasant mish-mash of bland and grimy exploitation.
It’s hard to talk about a movie like this. It’s a nothing burger. My main reaction to it was feeling sorry for the actors. The ending is offensively predictable and irritating.
Skip.
Close Your Eyes, 2002
Hypnotist Michael Strother (Goran Visnjic) specializes in curing people of smoking addictions, but his work takes a darker and more dangerous turn when one of his clients, Detective Losey (Shirley Henderson) , draws him into a case involving a sadistic kidnapping. Heather (Sophie Stuckey) was kidnapped, held captive, tattooed, and finally rescued, but has been mute since her ordeal. But Heather’s ordeal is far from over, and Michael has put himself in the line of fire regarding the sinister plot behind her kidnapping.
A game cast is totally let down by a bizarre and cliche-ridden plot.
I think that my teenage self might have enjoyed this film. Maybe. It’s got just enough of a plot and just enough disturbing imagery to string along an undiscerning viewer. But having seen any decent number of thrillers or horror movies, this one simply pales in comparison.
I can’t fault the cast. Visnjic is a very likable presence in the lead role, and the best scenes are the few sequences where he gently coaches Heather through reliving her traumatic experience. Visnjic has a wonderfully soothing and seductive voice, and so casting him as a hypnotist is a stroke of genius. In the scenes where we see him at work, and particularly the delicate way that he works with the child, you do grasp the emotional intensity of trying to walk someone through a life-destroying event and helping them come out the other side.
But not to put too fine a point on it: the rest of the movie is basically trash. There are way too many time-wasting scenes of Losey arguing with her bosses about giving Michael access to Heather. Likewise, Miranda Otto is basically wasted as Michael’s wife, who only appears in scenes to ominously say things like “We moved here to get away from this kind of thing” and make snarky remarks about whether or not he’s taken his “medication.”
The horror itself consists of satanic conspiracies, wicked tattoos and blood transfers, and an evil man who has managed to pass his consciousness down through multiple bodies. In a better film, this could be a passable supernatural plot, but it all comes off as an unpleasant mish-mash of bland and grimy exploitation.
It’s hard to talk about a movie like this. It’s a nothing burger. My main reaction to it was feeling sorry for the actors. The ending is offensively predictable and irritating.
Skip.