Eye in the Labyrinth (1972) Movie Review

It’s time to review another maze/labyrinth movie ! This one is a standard low budget horror film from Italy called L'occhio nel labirinto or Eye in the Labyrinth.

Eye in the Labyrinth (1972) (IMDB)

L'occhio nel labirinto (1972) movie poster
Eye in the Labyrinth (1972) movie poster

Nothing like an Italian film dubbed into English where the voice doesn’t match the person speaking ! This isn’t an old Japanese film where things get really wild when a character speaks but the version I watched was dubbed instead of subtitled and this did change the presentation of the film. That said, when you are tired, not having to read subtitles is a plus.

Let’s start with some education. This is an Italian giallo film, which means yellow in Italian. A giallo film is a genre of Italian film making that features a murder mystery with elements of horror, slasher, and sexploitation mixed in. Typically the murderer is not known until the very end of the film in a big reveal. The genre got it’s name from murder mystery books printed in Italy starting in 1929 that all featured a yellow background color. You can read more about all of this if interested on Wikipedia.

The opening title card states “A labyrinth is constructed to confuse the human mind. It's architecture rich in symmetry, is subordinated to that result. - José Luís Borges”. And that’s the last of the maze/labyrinth references although there is plenty of confusion in the movie which may remind you of solving a maze.

The film starts with a man being chased in what appears to be an underground concrete structure. It seems like this could represent a maze/labyrinth since he is trying to escape. Things do not end well for him. Part of me wanted to say SPOILER before that, but if something happens in the first minutes of a film to set-up the entire premise what are you really spoiling ? OK, on to the main part of the film - a woman ends up trying to find her missing lover, the psychiatrist (ok, ok we did not know his profession at the time - you win) we saw being chased in the first scenes of the film. Because if a person is missing there is one rule movies are famous for and that is DO NOT go to the police. The best thing to do is clearly to start your own investigation, because movies. I can’t tell you how many important investigations my friends and I have started throughout the years. Except we didn’t call them investigations we called them capers. So many stories.

Back to the movie. It is well directed, has good acting and nice camera work in some very nice settings (across Tuscany, Italy) that will make you want to take a vacation. But this is a mystery thriller that never felt tense. I felt bored watching it and that is a problem for a thriller. Say this is on tv and you are watching it and someone says ‘hey we need to leave’, you would not protest at all, just turn off the tv and go never caring what happened to the characters. But also, if nobody bothers you, you probably wouldn’t be annoyed enough to turn the channel either. I give it a boring, but well made 6/10.

Here is the trailer, or you can watch the entire film directly on YouTube with this link !

Haunted Maze (2017) Movie Review

It’s time to review another Maze movie ! This one is a standard low budget horror film. Let’s get to it !

Haunted Maze (2017) (IMDB)

Haunted Maze (2017) movie poster

Clowns are scary. Unless they are in a movie that features bad acting a weak script and a low budget. Then clowns become a different kind of scary. We have all heard of b-list movies. But this one appears to have been made with an even lower budget. Maybe a d-list movie where everyone is paid in donuts for showing up each day ? Is that a thing ?

The Premise: A group of friends enter a Halloween maze run by traveling carnies somewhere in a small town in the Midwest. I feel like we have seen this before. Seems similar to The Funhouse Massacre that I reviewed previously. And it is, kind of, except without Robert Englund and with much, much worse acting. The story also takes place with a story structure that involves 2 police detectives interviewing Clancy the Clown who insists on rhyming everything he says. There is a haunted maze which got me interested in watching it. It was a mistake.

I would rate this a 2/10 with a strong avoid. Luckily it can be found for free on many streaming platforms, but take those 88 minutes and stab yourself with a butter knife instead. Or film yourself doing impossible shots or eating live bugs. Or go to the dentist. Anything but watching this. I will say that as of the time of this writing the film has less than 200 reviews on IMDB, a very low number but appropriate. Maybe we ARE all going to be ok.

The movie happens to make my list of 10 Unbelievably Bad Maze Movies to Never, Ever Watch at a very high spot.

Here is the trailer. And before watching it consider that this is supposed to get you excited to watch the other 87 minutes. This is the highlight reel of the movie…the advertising…the make them want to pay to see this….

The Labirynth (1971) Movie Review

Not to be confused with David Bowie and that sweet hair from Labyrinth. This is the animated story of the Greek myth done by Russian animators.

The Labirynth (1971) (IMDB)

The Labyrinth 1971 movie poster

This is the story of Theseus and his attempt to kill the Minotaur and then escape the maze in Crete. You might think I spelled this title incorrectly above because it clearly says The Labirynth and not The Labyrinth. That is almost the Polish spelling of the word if you drop the h from the end. Either way I checked it.

It’s odd watching Greek characters speak Russian even if you are reading the subtitles (SEE THE UPDATE BELOW). The animation is not Pixar or Disney, but I’m not sure what to expect from 1971. It’s not Hanna Barbara either. If you want a quick 20 minute version of the story….I guess it is ok, but only if your queue is empty. The real highlight comes just after the 8 minute mark when, while on the ship to Crete a Bollywood-like dance number breaks out ? Because ? Well I’m not exactly sure. It feels awkward to me in the movie. I would rate this movie a 5.7/10.

If you like this story I suggest you check out my Maze Comic Book Reviews - Theseus and the Minotaur that reviews 4 different comic book versions of the story ! There are so very good illustrations to go with the story you probably already know.

This movie is part of a series of Greek animated short films made in Russia: Prometheus (1974); Argonauts (1971); Perses (1973) and Return from Olympus (1969). Each is about 20 minutes long and well reviewed. All were directed by Aleksandra Snezhko-Blotskaya, who was born in Russia in a part of the country that is now in Ukraine….maybe. This may be a bad time to get into where this city is…

UPDATE: A version of the movie has been restored with English dubbing and is now posted onto YouTube. Notice it is titled Labyrinth and not Labirynth !! Enjoy ! I rewatched it and changed my review rating higher !

The Man in the Maze (2011) Movie Review

It’s time to review another Maze movie ! This one is a standard low budget horror film. Let’s get to it !

The Man in The Maze (2011) (IMDB)

The Man in The Maze (2011) movie poster

I have always liked how James Bond movies start with action. Like the story has been happening and they turned the camera on mid-story to let you in on what is going on. The Man in The Maze starts with a masked man having already captured 3 people, all of them injured and passed out (maybe dead ? - the viewer isn’t sure yet ) and the assumed assailant working to bind them. I prefer stories that begin like this.

Not giving too much away, not that most of you would care, but this becomes a horror chase movie through a wooded area that the 4 main characters do not know, making it a bit of a maze. And there is a curse on some of the ground they stumble upon, the ancient Native American burial grounds from the Trail of Tears. Things get complicated. Who is this masked assailant and can the group escape from the grounds ?

I have seen some bad movies. This is plagued by bad acting, dialogue, and a script similar to a much better Spanish movie Los Cronocimenes, which has nothing to do with a maze but has a similar masked chaser. You may know that movie as Timecrimes from 2007, which I highly recommend. Watch The Man in The Maze only if forced to, I rate it as a 3/10.

I do want to mention the title of the movie and where it comes from. The Man in the Maze is a symbol from the Tohono O'Odham nation. It shows a man named I'itoi, a creator and God of the people standing at the entrance to a maze. The symbol is said to represent a person’s journey through life. The turns of the maze (it is actually a labyrinth) represent the choices one makes as they move through life. You can learn details about it here, and here.

Man in the Maze Labyrinth

You can find this symbol in the movie poster, although it can be missed since it tends to blend into the background. Here is a look with less noise of that part of the poster:

Man in the maze logo close up

Here is the trailer: