Watching a virtual reality film is not something that happens everyday, since the whole procedure still demands specific equipment (including a rotating chair) and has to be done in very specific technical settings. As such, my first review of such a film will be as much for the title itself as for the whole experience.
“Red Eyes“ is screening at Thessaloniki International Film Festival
What happens is, they sit you in a rotating chair, and then a person helps you to put up the VR glasses (which, if you wear glasses yourself, can be a bit tricky). As soon as you calibrate your view with two joysticks, and you manage to aim at the play button on the screen, they ask you to pause, they also place the headphones on you, and then you can start the movie.
The beginning is definitely disorientating, but soon you realize that the action is not happening only in front of you, but all over the place, meaning that rotating in your chair towards the left, right and back, is essentially a necessity, in order to focus on the action. At the same time though, the fact that wherever you turn, something is happening (or something is there at least) is what makes the whole viewing rather special. Even more so in the case of Lee Sngmoo's “Red Eyes”, a zombie invasion movie in the style of survival horror games, which soars with tension and action and actually demands from its viewer to move around in his chair in order to fully appreciate it.
As such, the story focuses on two special forces agents, a man and a woman, who enter the factory where a chemical weapon leakage turned all the people there into red-eyed mutants, and try to prevent a mass destruction. As soon as they enter though, they find themselves against scores of enemies jumping onto them from every direction, while they try to detonate the whole building and get out unharmed.
The action choreography is excellent, and actually looks even better in VR, with the way the two agents cover each other against the plethora of zombies coming towards them being quite impressive. At the same time, and close to the end, in an effort to add some more narrative elements to the movie, Lee has also included a brief romantic scene, and the Korean audience's all-time favorite aspect, melodrama. These do not work exactly great, since, at 17 minutes, the director did not have time to fully explore them, but at the same time, they do not actually harm the sense the movie leaves, which is quite rewarding.
Jung Young-sam's cinematography captures the claustrophobic sense of the setting artfully, with the visual aspect here benefitting the most by the 3D approach. Won Kyung-hoon's frantic editing induces the movie with a thunderous pace that suits the overall aesthetics to the fullest, while the brief moments of calmness are ideally placed in the narrative to offer some much needed relief.
“Red Eyes” is a film all fans of zombie-action will enjoy, but most of all, it is an unprecedented experience that I suggest everyone should indulge into.
