DVD Review: Eye of the Beast

By Jeff Swindoll Apr 2, 2008, 13:29 GMT

"Eye Of The Beast" is a rousing thriller rising out of the depths to put the squeeze on you. For centuries, tales of its existence have inspired fear and fascination. It is one of the largest creatures on the ocean floor. A massive, tentacled invertebrate that tends to feed on smaller creatures. Government scientist Dan Leland (James Van Der Beek, "Dawson\'s Creek")is sent to investigate a reported story of a ...more

Sadly James Mason is dead so when you have to battle a giant squid you have to slap a beard on James Van Der Beek?!?  This film continues the “nature gone amok” series called the Maneater series. I wish that the man responsible for them would get eaten already.  

When a small fishing village complains of a dwindling fish population, government scientist Dan Leland (James Van Der Beek) is called in to investigate this odd occurrence.  The local population is being economically devastated because their livelihoods are tied to the same fish population that is shrinking.  It’s also causing a racial divide in the town since the local Indian (or is that Eskimo?) population is now fighting for the same fishing waters that the white population has laid claim to for all these years. 

Into these already tense waters swims a giant freshwater squid that we soon discover is responsible for the shrinking fish catch as well as some deaths on the lake.  In her youth, Sheriff Katrina Tomas (Alexandra Castillo) witnessed her father being killed by the beast and her story of the event spawned the local legend of a killer beast within the lake.  Now the stories turn out to be true and Dan, Katrina, and the fishermen have to find common ground to kill the beast before it can kill again. 

If you were to have a copy of the screenplay for Eye of the Beast you might be able to pull off the sticker with the title on it and find Jaws or even Orca underneath.  The film is another in the long (with more on the way!) line of direct to video (or the Sci-Fi Channel) films in what Genius Products is dubbing the Maneater series. 

It doesn’t take a genius to see that these are made for the quick turnaround profit that horror films can bring to the producers, but they’ve been severely lacking in the quality of the screenwriting.  The creatures are usually CGI and Eye of the Beast’s giant squid is no exception. 

We only see tentacles (another name under the sticker might also be Tentacles as well from that same titled film with a slumming John Huston) for the most part and the only shot of the “eye” of the beast is rendered in all its crappy CGI glory. 

James Van Der Beek is okay enough but the film is definitely one that you’d rather catch on the late, late show than throw down your rental dollars for.  

Eye of the Beast is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions.  The only special features are some trailers for more Maneater DVDs that play before the main menu.  These include a killer Grizzly movie (coming next month) and one about ants on the rampage.  

The eye of the beast is full of cataracts as the film is really more chum than one that is a quality catch.   Don’t let the cool cover art into fooling you to rent it.  

Eye of the Beast is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.