Eye Of the Beholder (Wicked) Review

Eye of the Beholder is basically the adult film version of the Korean film "The Eye". While it is very entertaining at times, it doesn't quiet work all of the time.

The Movie:
The plot of "Eye of the Beholder" is as follows. Kaylani is a woman who was blinded in an accident. She just recently had an eye transplant sergery, so she can now see again, but there are problems. It seems that she can now see what the former owner saw. As she investigates she finds out that the donor was a porn star who may have been murdered!

This is one movie that really tries to be a legit film, but because of that, the sex scenes suffer greatly. A good deal of the sex is out of the context of the story, and tends to seem random. The first sex scene we even see is a random nurse and doctor in a supply closet in the hospital. Now, this would normally not be a problem, except for the fact that the movie is VERY plot heavy. If you don't like a lot of talking with your porn, skip this movie. You could actually take most of the sex out of the film, and you would still have a legitimate, although not that great, film. So, the sex doesn't really seem to fit at times, and because of that, the whole movie feels very jerky. Now, this isn't all the sex. The scenes with Kaylani fit in very well, as well as some of the Evan Stone scenes, and all of those scenes are actually very well handled. The main problem I had with the sex in this movie though, was the insane amount of spit used. I know that it's better than lube, but at times it got a little gross. Generally the sex is okay, and sometimes gets in to the more intense, although not really extreme, side of things. The women will have a lot to look at this time, because most of the smaller male parts are played by very good looking guys, although the lead males, Brad and Evan, are both looking a little doughy.

Oh, a special notice should go to a rather odd scene. There is a music video moment in the middle of the movie, and while it is cool for the most part, it goes really weird towards the end. It involves the donor being wheeled in to the emergency room, and then dieing. Then her ghost shows up, dances around a bit, and then proceeds to masturbate, while still bloody and bandaged. I don't know about you, but I don't think recently dead murder victims masturbating is very sexy. That may just be me.

The movie itself is pretty decent. Kaylani does a great job as the lead, and realy carries her own in the acting department. There is really a good amount of plot, and she makes all of the non-sex material feel legitimate. The supporting cast does a pretty good job as well, although Ava Vincent is WAY off this time. I've heard some voice work she's done in the past, and know she can act, but she just seems to be really nervous here, and is constantly stumbling through her lines. She isn't in very many scenes, but when she is on screen she has to talk quiet a bit, so it is a little bit of a problem. I have a feeling she may be a last minute addition to the cast, or maybe she just was having an off day.

This movie does have some violent content, and Evan Stone's character is very... aggresive. While the horror imagry is nothing to extreme, it is effective, and Evan really goes off the deep end towards the finale. The only problem I had was the scene where Evan finds Kaylani snooping through his house. He grabs her, and throws her up against a wall, and actually sticks his hand up her shirt. While it's not extreme, it does feel like a risk to do something like this in an adult feature. Other than that, the movie is decent, but a tad bit to long (it's over two hours long).

Tech Stuff: The picture and sound are all proffesional quality. This really feels like a low budget studio film, and not a porno at times. Very well done. Brad Armstrong is a great director, and handles the film very well.

Extras: This DVD is packed! It's a two disc set, with pretty much all the extras on the second disc. While you get all the usual stuff (bios, trailers, company info) you also get the behind the scenes feature, and some interviews with Kaylani and Brad. As an added bonus you get a very funny "How to..." video from Evan Stone. A total laugh riot.

There is also a feature length commentary for "Eye of the Beholder" with Brad and Kaylani, but I had to stop listening to it. The whole thing was actually a tad bit silly sounding, with Brad trying to get in Kaylani's pants the entire time. There is a good amount of dead space, and at one point Brad gets up and leaves to use the bathroom, leaving Kaylani alone to try and carry things during a very long sex sequance. I don't recommend listening to the commentary for this film.

Over All: Eye of the Beholder is a pretty good couples title, with a very large amount of plot. Anyone who wants to see something close to mainstream porn, or a good introduction to adult films, should check it out. Anyone looking for extreme hardcore should know to go elsewhere because this is a Wicked movie. I have now come to the conclusion that Wicked really is just one step above Soft Core when it comes to their features. I would recommend this movie if you can get it for around $25. If you get it online it should be about that cheap, but if you get it in the store, it's around $40 to $50. Hopefully Kaylani gets a better big project next time.