Writer/director Donald Cammell is a cult figure pur-sang. Not so much for the movies he actually realized, but more so for the numerous projects that couldn't get funded, were abandoned, faded out, or got heavily altered under the pressure of producers/investors. Allegedly, Cammell was a stubborn man who refused to make compromises and always oppressed his will onto others. It's even believed that dissatisfaction and frustration regarding his final film ("Wild Side") drove him to commit suicide. Twenty-five year after his death, Cammell is now referred to as a cult-directors, whereas - I'm sure - when he still alive, he was simply known as a guy with whom it was impossible to work with. Personally, I'm a giant fan of his "Demon Seed", but he himself didn't like the end result.
"White of the Eye" was going to be different for Cammell, because he was given a lot more authority and artistic freedom. Hence, since he was a self-declared expert, one would expect the film is nothing short of a masterpiece, right? Alas, ... wrong!
This is fundamentally a very basic and derivative serial killer/stalker thriller, but Cammell pretentiously disguises it as a complex and overly ambitious mystery, chock-full of references towards blurry Indian mysticism, redundant semi-artistic symbolism, a diverse but hectic soundtrack, by-the-numbers red herrings and close-ups of eyeballs. Lots and lots of eyeballs! The film starts promising enough, with an incredibly intense and steadily built-up murder sequence, but after this "White of the Eye" is shockingly dull and mundane. David Keith and Cathy Moriarty give away flawless performances, but the script is just too bland and there isn't enough story material for profound character studies. The extended footage of flying eagles and the Arizonan desert is beautiful, but if I want to see that, I'll watch nature documentaries instead.
Yes, I'm probably too skeptical in my review and rating, but that's my logical reflex in case directors are borderline arrogant.
