PLATFORM: VOD | RELEASE DATE: NOVEMBER 16TH

Struggling to adjust after losing her eyesight to a botched laser eye surgery, actress Faye (Sarah French) tries to unwind with a quiet night in. Takeaway sushi, a few glasses of red wine; it’d be a lovely evening, if it weren’t for the crazed stalker slinking about the place. They say that love is blind – well, Pretty Boy (Jed Rowen) is determined to put that to the test. Why is this man who preys almost exclusively upon blind women wearing a mask? Director Marcel Walz never explains it, but Pretty Boy is a terrifying figure nevertheless.

The bare bones of the story will sound familiar to anyone who saw Mike Flanagan’s Hush, but this stalk ‘em up is… not that. The pacing is glacial, the action restrained and surprisingly lacking in gore. Sure, Pretty Boy racks up his kill count, but the film is more concerned with its heavily stylized cinematography (there’s at least two surrealist dance routines) and deeply unsettling atmosphere. French is a sympathetic lead, even if the film doesn’t give her much to do beyond get skeeved on by Pretty Boy and a creepy sushi delivery guy. After all, she’s unaware of his presence for almost the entirety of the movie. For the horror fans, there’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 star Caroline Williams as Faye’s pal Sophia – this and Ten Minutes to Midnight marking a good year for the veteran actress.

Part Giallo, part De Palma-esque slasher film, and part sleazy stalker picture, Blind is voyeuristic horror at its most voyeuristic. The creeping pace and that divisive, frustrating ending will piss a lot of people off, but this is easily, queasily, one of the most disturbing horror films this year.