Cinema Dream Network Classics: Volume Four | Region-Free (Blu-Ray)

Alternate Title: Cry Blue Sky

Genre: Folk Horror, Drama, Western

Plot Synopsis:
Set in 1750, a preacher is accused of adultery and, along with his followers, is expelled from a British colony. They venture into uncharted territory to establish a new settlement but become stranded in an isolated forest haunted by malevolent spirits. As the group confronts supernatural forces, they must grapple with their own inner demons and the harsh realities of the frontier.

Cast and Crew:

• Director: Avery Crounse
• Writer: Avery Crounse
• Cast:
  • Dennis Lipscomb as Will Smythe
  • Guy Boyd as Marion Dalton
  • Rebecca Stanley as Eloise Dalton
  • Sally Klein as Fanny Dalton
  • Karlene Crockett as Leah

YouTube Trailer:
Eyes of Fire | Trailer

IMDb Link:
Eyes of Fire (1983)

Reviews from Letterboxd:

1. Mark Tinta – ★★★½
   “Author Grady Hendrix wrote about this film somewhere that I can’t recall and described it as ‘Alejandro Jodorowsky’s LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE.’ That’s a pretty apt description of this 1983 oddity that was a video store staple in the ’80s but has since fallen into obscurity. EYES OF FIRE hasn’t been easy to see since the glory days of VHS (hitting video stores in 1987, four years after its completion), but it’s been restored and is now available on Shudder. It’s a slow-burn folk horror tale set in 1750, with a preacher (Dennis Lipscomb) and his followers banished from a British colony after he’s accused of adultery. They head into uncharted territory to start their own settlement, but end up in a haunted forest inhabited by evil spirits. Writer/director Avery Crounse creates a genuinely unsettling atmosphere with some impressive low-budget effects, and the film has a unique, dreamlike quality that makes it worth seeking out for fans of obscure horror.”
2. Slig001 – ★★★★
   “The horror of nature is burned into the narrative of Eyes of Fire – it’s the epitome of folk horror, as we follow an ignorant bunch of people that fail to heed the warning of the native Indians and try to set up house in the land of the spirits. The film is a real slow burn as we follow the pilgrims on their unwitting descent into hell. The film is very atmospheric and the low budget effects are used to great effect to create a real sense of dread. The film is a real hidden gem and deserves to be more widely seen.”
3. LGwriter49 – ★★★★
   “This unjustly overlooked movie, the first directed by Avery Crounse, ranks along with Pumpkinhead as one of the best examples of dark fantasy rooted in pure Americana. The story begins with adultery committed by a minister, somewhat hammily played by Dennis Lipscomb, and a settler’s wife, resulting in the cuckolded husband taking his children off into the forest where they meet up with a strange girl who shows them much they never knew before about the ways of the land. Crounse gets his setting just right and also does a great job fusing the real with the fantastic–not always an easy thing to do. One of the absolutely critical ingredients in any fantasy film–whether high fantasy, sword and sorcery, dark fantasy or horror–is atmosphere, and in that this movie excels. The brooding forest scenes are superb, making the viewer feel that at any moment the trees could come alive and snatch you up right from where you’re standing. Aside from Lipscomb, the other actors are excellent. The momentum of the story is escape from a known evil to an unknown evil and that drives the movie to its strong finish. Highly recommended.”

Meta Description:
“Eyes of Fire” (1983), also known as “Cry Blue Sky,” is a folk horror film directed by Avery Crounse. The story follows a preacher and his followers, expelled from a British colony in 1750, who venture into a haunted forest inhabited by malevolent spirits.