In 1987, an exceptionally dark thriller/horror film called White of the Eye premiered to little fanfare. Although it had some great unconventional actors, excellent writing, and stunning visuals, it is largely forgotten among the genre. A year earlier in 1986, another sleeper serial killer movie with literally the same pedigree, Manhunter directed by Michael Mann, initially suffered a similar fate.
Unlike White of the Eye, Manhunter would later go on to become a cult video classic. It would introduce the first onscreen version of Hannibal Lecter played by Brian Cox. Five years later its sequel, Silence of the Lambs, with Anthony Hopkins taking over the part of Dr. Lecter, would win a bevy of Academy Awards including Best Picture.
The Lecter franchise would go on to spawn sequels, prequels, books, and several TV series, including the new CBS series Clarice. The massive Lecter franchise was so successful that Manhunter itself was even remade with Hopkins reprising the part under the original book’s title, Red Dragon.
White of the Eye sadly got none of that love.
For starters, White of the Eye suffered from a video store jinx known as “the curse of the low letters.” The curse of the low letters says: if your movie begins with a low letter, meaning a letter far down the end of the alphabet, like the “W” in White of the Eye, chances are most browsers will pick a movie off the shelf long before they ever got to your film. A film like Manhunter with an “M” had a far better chance of getting browsed back during the alphabetical order of the Blockbuster days. Although this is by no means scientific, I maintain had White of the Eye been called Blue of the Eye it might have had better success.
Lucky for me I discovered this movie back in the late ‘80s from an “employee picks” section of TLA Video in Philadelphia. I cannot express the importance of the employee picks section in any store when it comes to media culture. If an employee picked it, chances are it’s pretty damn good. Back when Quentin Tarantino was a video store clerk his picks were legendary.
White of the Eye didn’t have a flashy super-intelligent serial killer like the Lecter character. In fact, the White of the Eye killer is pretty much the polar opposite. The movie is set in an upscale desert community in Arizona and follows a New York transplant named Joan, whose Arizona husband Paul might be a serial killer. It just so happens a series of women have been savagely murdered in the same area Paul has been working lately. Paul installs high-end stereo equipment and his truck’s tire treads match the tracks left by the killer. Coupled with Paul’s seemingly unfettered access to victims’ neighborhoods, he quickly becomes more than merely a circumstantial suspect. You’d think Paul would be worried with the walls closing in on him as quickly as they are, but he doesn’t. Even as a viewer you aren’t scared for Paul. That’s because Paul is, well, nice.
Paul White, played by stalwart ‘80s actor David Keith, is a hardworking everyman. Keith is one of those actors who almost became a leading man but somehow never found the same fame so many others around him did.
Today Keith is widely known as a character actor usually playing high-ranking military authority figures in films like Behind Enemy Lines, U-571, and Men of Honor, but his turn as Paul White is very far from the military world. It’s also very far from a serial killer. Paul is somewhat of a nature guy. He’s gentle, soft spoken, and a great dad to his daughter. Paul and his wife Joan have been married for ten years and have a very loving marriage. We learn about the genesis of their relationship mostly through flashbacks.
The flashbacks, which are placed strategically throughout the movie, set us up brilliantly for the deadly reckoning to come.
Each reveal tells us a little bit more about Paul, inevitably letting us see behind the veil. On the surface there seems like nothing to reveal at all. Paul is kind, funny, even goofy. He’s somewhat of a redneck as he drives a big truck and has hunting rifles, but all of that is very normal and in-character for Paul. Even during an intimate moment between Paul and Joan we find she’s the one on top during their gentle love scene. There is simply nothing savage about him. When Paul is being interrogated by the cops, he is so damn sincere it’s hard not to root for him. There is even a scene where we see Paul fight off the extremely aggressive sexual advances from a lonely housewife looking to score with the stereo repair guy.
This further leads us to believe the police simply MUST have the wrong guy.
Besides, who would ever want to cheat on Joan? Joan’s great.
Played perfectly by Cathy Moriarty, Joan is a tough, spunky, loving, New York woman. Although today primarily known as a character actress for her comedic turns in films like Soapdish and Analyze That, White of the Eye was a great leading part for her. It was also something of a comeback at the time for Moriarty.
After having come off one of the greatest one-two punches in cinema history, Moriarty was seemingly poised to become one of the all-time great leading ladies. Moriarty’s first film, Raging Bull, pitted her against none other than Robert DeNiro. Her turn as the young wife of legendary boxer Jake LaMotta earned her an Oscar nomination in her very first film role, having been plucked from obscurity by Joe Pesci after he discovered her picture in a bar. Her next film found her working opposite the biggest comedy duo in the world at the time – Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi – in the dark comedy Neighbors.
Then came a six-year gap before Moriarty would act on film again. She was in a terrible car accident that left her temporarily in a coma. During her recovery she was sidelined watching all the heat generated from Raging Bull and Neighbors go cold.
White of the Eye is a wonderful performance that should have put her firmly back atop the A-list. Her casting is inspired, much like Keith and the rest of the cast.
Joan’s cuckold ex-boyfriend Mike Desantos is played by character actor Alan Rosenberg. We discover through flashback Mike and Joan’s first encounter with Paul when they stop off in a small Arizona town seeking help with their busted tape deck. It’s clear the cross-country trip from New York hasn’t been kind to their relationship. This is further evidenced when Joan cheats on Mike with Paul. Seeing Joan and Paul’s relationship begin though infidelity is truly one of the only character flaws Paul exhibits, although we forgive him seeing as Mike is a jerk who is clearly all wrong for her.
More and more of Mike’s ill-fated stop to Paul’s repair shop is revealed throughout the film setting us up for what will be the big reveal.
Later, when Joan bumps into Mike by chance in the present day, she finds him to be a shell of his former self. It seems the last ten years have not been kind, including a tough stint in prison for her ex. When Joan tells Mike she’s still with Paul he becomes suddenly afraid. “Don’t tell him you saw me,” Mike begs.
Confused, Joan reluctantly agrees. It’s in this moment by Rosenberg that the movie goes from good to great. His fear of Paul, and his odd choice to ask her not to mention him, are so credible we are dying to know what he knows. The next flashback simply can’t come soon enough.
Rounding out the cast of the film is Art Evans as Detective Mendoza, a curious choice as Paul’s lead pursuer.
Evans, as well known for his trademark white hair as for his long list of character work ranging from Soldier’s Story to Die Hard 2, plays Mendoza with a meticulously even keel that’s a pleasure to watch. In one particularly gruesome scene, Evans’ Mendoza brings Paul to one of the crime scenes letting him know in no uncertain terms someone has to go down for this. The ghastly crime scene, strewn with gore and limbs, once again reinforces our feelings on Paul’s innocence as he’s disgusted by what he’s been shown.
White of the Eye was directed by Donald Cammell who also shared the writing duties with his wife China. Cammell only had two films under his belt prior to White of the Eye, both of which were instant cult classics. He co-directed Performance with Nicolas Roeg, which starred Mick Jagger as a rock star harboring a gangster, and Demon Seed where Julie Christie has sex with a lethal computer (yes that really happens).
Both films, while dated, remain controversial and often spark debate. Choosing a southwest serial killer movie for his next film was an unconventional yet seemingly on-brand choice for Cammell. Although White of the Eye failed to connect with audiences it did attract a fan in none other than Marlon Brando who tapped Cammell for his next film. That film, which would have starred Brando as an aging hitman opposite rising stars Julia Roberts and Andy Garcia, sadly never came to pass. Cammell only made one more feature film after White of the Eye, Wild Side with Christopher Walken in 1995, before tragically committing suicide the following year.
Art Evans was gracious enough to share some remembrances of working with Cammell during the making of White of the Eye. “He wanted me to put my hand in the toilet,” recalled Evans with a laugh about the shooting of one of the gory crime scenes. “I told him, ‘I’m not doing that!’ but he insisted, he was very strict, and after I did it, he was so appreciative…he had a style that was so cool.” Cammell clearly knew what he wanted in casting Evans. “He chose me after they’d already cast another actor… they paid him off and I got the part…what an honor it was to me to work for him.”
Evans was doing double duty working on Ruthless People with Bette Midler (“She and I are old friends”) while he was simultaneously shooting White of the Eye. Moving between a comedy and a serial killer movie must have been a jarring experience but Evans took it in stride: “I used to change clothes on the plane between LA and Arizona and walk right onto set.” Evans counts Cammell, along with Gordon Parks, Sr., Norman Jewison, and Ted Lange among his favorite directors to have worked for. He speaks very fondly of his time on the film and hopes it will continue to be discovered by a larger audience in the future.
What sets White of the Eye apart from the moody, dark nature of Cammell’s previous efforts is his wonderful use of natural light. Most horror films rely heavily on darkness and shadow. White of the Eye, conversely, is shot using extremely bright desert sunshine. Very rarely has a filmmaker shown such horror with such a cheerful visual backdrop. Even the shocking finale has a bright desert backdrop. It’s reminiscent of how David Lean portrayed the violence in Doctor Zhivago. Cammell’s visual storytelling is so disturbingly haunting that many images from this film have remained in my mind to this day.
The end of White of the Eye is the ultimate reveal.
We see through both the final flashback and the terrifying present just how far the killer’s mind has left reality. To give it away here would be unfair but I will say watching the heart-pounding conclusion to White of the Eye is a marvelous thrill ride that rivals the very best in the genre. It’s also a satisfying portrayal of a strong female lead in a horror film which, outside of Jamie Lee Curtis, really didn’t exist in the 1980s.
White of the Eye is currently streaming on Amazon Prime and has a decent DVD/Blu Ray that includes some fairly comprehensive extras on the making of the film. Extras include interviews with both Rosenberg and Evans, as well as audio commentary by Cammell biographer Sam Umland.
If you are interested in the true crime/serial killer genre or just want to see some great acting and storytelling, I highly suggest you seek it out.
It was a pleasure interviewing Art Evans about this film. He was extremely gracious and kind. In addition to White of the Eye, seek out some other fine performances from Evans including the Richard Pryor autobiographical film Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling; Trespass by Walter Hill; and A Soldier’s Story by the aforementioned Norman Jewison.
Fred Shahadi is an award-winning filmmaker, playwright, and television writer
living in Los Angeles. He is author of the cult science fiction conspiracy novel Shoot the Moon.
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