‘Dead Eyes’ Brings First Person Horror to London

Few horror films ask audiences to surrender quite so completely to their central character as Dead Eyes. Following a widely discussed festival run that began at SXSW, Australian filmmaker Richard E. Williams’ experimental feature is now set for its European premiere at Tubi FrightFest, bringing its distinctive first-person approach to London’s Leicester Square later this month.

Screening on Friday 28 August in Discovery Screen 2, Dead Eyes arrives with growing international attention after earning a Special Mention for Scariest Film at Fantaspoa, Latin America’s largest genre film festival. Williams will attend the screening alongside lead actor Rijen Laine for a post-film Q&A.

Rather than adopting the familiar conventions of found-footage cinema, Dead Eyes unfolds entirely from the perspective of its protagonist, placing viewers directly inside the story. Sean and his fiancée Grace travel into the remote Australian bush with two friends in search of Sean’s missing father, Paul, who disappeared following the death of his young daughter, Lilly. Their attempt to uncover the truth leads them back to the site of an earlier tragedy, where they discover that grief has driven Paul towards a horrifying obsession.

As the group’s investigation continues, they uncover Paul’s secret experiments to clone Lilly in an attempt to bring her back. The surrounding forest has since become home to grotesque, cannibalistic mutant girls, each believing themselves to be the real Lilly, transforming the search into a desperate fight for survival.

The feature stars Ana Thu Nguyen, Charles Cottier, Mischa Heywood and Stephen Phillips, with Rijen Laine leading the cast as Sean.

Williams wrote, directed and produced the film, working with cinematographer Julian Panetta to create its unusual visual language. Instead of relying on conventional body-mounted action cameras, the production employed a Sony VENICE digital cinema camera fitted with a custom-built head rig and Sony’s RIALTO extension system, allowing the filmmakers to sustain a true first-person perspective throughout the entire feature. The ambitious technical process recently attracted attention from Sony Cine, which highlighted both the engineering challenges and creative demands involved in maintaining the illusion across a full-length production.

Reflecting on the experience, Williams said: “Shooting Dead Eyes was crazy and incredibly difficult. I understand why it’s rarely done, but damn if it doesn’t make horror scarier. It amplifies the tension, fear and danger because the audience has nowhere to retreat. At times it’s an assault on the senses.”

He also welcomed the film’s selection for FrightFest, describing it as “the perfect place” for the European premiere, adding that the festival’s long-standing support for experimentation in horror made it an ideal setting for audiences to experience the film.

Produced by Whispering Forest and Motion 24, Dead Eyes was filmed in the bushland of South East Queensland and continues a festival journey that has steadily built interest around its technical ambition as much as its unsettling premise. Whether viewers embrace the format or find it overwhelming may become part of the conversation, and perhaps that is exactly what the filmmakers intended.

Dead Eyes receives its European premiere at Tubi FrightFest on Friday 28 August at 11.00am in Discovery Screen 2 at the ODEON Luxe West End, followed by a Q&A with Richard E. Williams and Rijen Laine.

Dead Eyes teaser trailer

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