The big-budget Sylvester Stallone film that
virtually no one saw is finally on Blu-ray!
That was the word this past week from MVD Entertainment Group.
Director Jim Gillespie’s 2002 film adaptation of the
Howard Swindle novel, “Jitter Joint,” which was originally titled D-Tox —
but reached the domestic theatrical arena as Eye See
You — will be making its Blu-ray debut as a
Marquee Collection entry on Apr. 14.
A serial killer, a victim’s pool (an all-star cast
at that) and an isolated, snowbound, location … all the makings of a genre-fan
delight. And it is exactly that, but
after the initial cut of the film, Universal Pictures put it out for test
screenings in, get this, 1999 and didn’t like the responses.
Perhaps they were thinking that it was another Copland or The
Specialist or Cobra, or
something. Maybe they didn’t see director Jim Gillespie’s
1997 hit, I Know What You Did Last Summer,
which is about a serial killer knocking off high school kids who did something
stupid one night.
In any case, Universal ordered some re-shoots and a
new ending … and then shelved it. They
gave up. After Labor Day in 2002 DEJ
Productions somehow got the rights to it and took it out theatrically on a
whopping 78 screens with no promotional budget … and then Sony Pictures Home
Entertainment picked it for release on DVD and, get this, released in on New
Year’s Eve of 2002 (do you think they buried it, or what). Tell me if anyone actually saw this film
based on this wacky distribution scheme!!
MVD Entertainment Group steps to the table with a
long-lead (plenty of time to beat the promotional drums), a new Blu-ray
presentation and some nice extras, making this Marquee Collection edition the
first time that director Jim Gillespie’s Eye See
You is actually going to get a proper release.
Jake Malloy (Stallone) is an FBI agent investigating
a series of murders involving law enforcement officers (nine in all). The investigation hits close to home when
his former partner becomes the next victim … and while looking for clues at his
residence, the phone rings and it is the killer! He is calling from Malloy’s own home and taunts
him with his next murder victim, Malloy’s fiancée, Mary (played by Dina Meyer —
Starship Troopers, Star Trek: Nemesis …
and as Kerry in the Saw films)!!
Her murder drives Malloy over the edge and after
months of heavy drinking he tries to kill himself. Doc Mitchell (played by Kris Kristofferson)
comes to his aid and has him brought to his clinic in the wilds of Wyoming … a
place reserved for cops who have seen too much, lived through too much and need
time to recover.
Among the recovering law enforcement clients are a
diverse group (genre fans will recognize this as the pool of potential victims),
including a former SWAT officer named Peter (Robert Patrick — Terminator
2: Judgment Day, Cop Land, The Faculty …
and who was on X-Files at
this point in time playing John Doggett), Lopez (Angela Alvarado-Rosa — Judgment
Night, Freedom Writers), a Brit by name of
Slater (Christopher Fulford), “Reverend” Jones (Courtney B. Vance … perhaps
best known as Carver on Law & Order: Criminal Intent),
Connor (Sean Patrick Flanery … as Indiana Jones in the TV series, The
Adventures of Young Indiana Jones), Jaworski
(Jeffrey Wright — as Bernard on Westworld) and
more.
Plus the staff includes Jenny (Polly Walker), Doc’s
assistant, Hank (Tom Berenger), the cook, Manny (Hrothgar Mathews) and
more. And last, but not least, we have Agent
Chuck Hendricks (Charles S. Dutton), who made the arrangements for Malloy to be
admitted to Doc’s clinic, and who sticks around to make sure that his friend is
doing well in the new environment.
OK, now we have a remote location and a victim’s
pool, but these guys and gals are experienced, some are even packing, so it
doesn’t look like the right place to start a killing spree, which is what
serial killers do. But when a snow
storm hits, all bets are off at the body count quickly mounts.
Your job is to figure out who the killer is and how
the hell he got into the clinic. Is it a
cop? Is it Hendricks (how convenient
that he decided to stay)? One of the
staff (a ringer)? Eye See
You is a nifty blend between stalker/serial
killer tales and mystery thrillers … and it has a terrific cast.
As to bonus goodies, MVD Entertainment Group is giving
you two movies for the price of one.
You get the original D-Tox
movie (never-before-seen, except at Universal test screenings) and Eye See
You, the re-cut version that DEJ released
theatrically.
You also get eight deleted scenes and video sessions
with actors Robert Patrick, Kris Kristofferson, Charles Dutton, Polly Draper,
Robert Prosky, Christopher Fulford.
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