ETERNAL is one perverse horror thriller. No one is safe as our so-called hero, Detective Raymond Pope (Conrad Pla), gets
in over his head as he searches for his missing wife who had a meeting with a recluse millionaire Elizabeth Kane (Caroline
Neron) aka Erszebet. Ray is a vice cop in Montreal who cheats on his wife with his partner's wife. His wife does feel the
desire for women before her untimely demise at the start of the film at the hands of Elizabeth. Ray easily tracks his wife's
last known location to a big estate where Elizabeth and her proteg Irina (Victoria Sanchez) reside for the time being. Irina
gets fresh young blood for her mistress while going after her own kills. Elizabeth kills young women to drink and bathe in
their blood to stay young. Could she be the long dead Countess Erszebet Bathory (aka Countess Dracula) from the 17th century?
Can Ray stop her or will Elizabeth draw him in to his demise?
ETERNAL was filmed in Montreal and on location in Italy (Venice, Rome, and a small town). It is nice to see Montreal being
filmed as Montreal instead of standing in for another city. Caroline Neron is creepy and sexy as Elizabeth while I have the
hots for Irina. Even the teenage babysister of Ray's son is a hottie waiting to come out after you take the glasses off. Ray
has his own vices (he loevs the threat of violence while having sex). In the second half of the film, Ray makes his way to
Venice where a party of many vices is thrown at one of Elizabeth's many residences. Besides rough language and some violence,
the sexuality borders on the edge of being a soft core porn film. ETERNAL is a twisted horror film that reminds me of the
bastard offspring of a Hammer horror film and Basic Instinct. I love it.
VIDEO: 1.78:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen)
Colors and Image detail are good, but shadow detail is terrible in nighttime and scenes of darkness. The detail in the
scene falls as some things tend to blend together.
AUDIO: English 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English
It's OK, but it leans more torwards atmospheric.
SPECIAL FEATURES: It would have been nice to have extras liek an audio commentary, original trailer, and a featurette.
Alas all we get are previews for six DVD releases: three are anamorphic Widescreen (THE FORSAKEN, SAVING FACE, and BOOGEYMAN),
one full frame (BLOOD OF BEASTS), and two letterboxed (KINGDOM HOSPITAL and VAMPIRES: THE TURNING).
FINAL ANALYSIS: ETERNAL may not be to everyone's tastes, but this thriller may appeal to those who are looking for something
a little twisted.
This DVD Review is (c)10-12-2005 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com and look for additional content (and news/updates) at http://www.livejournal.com/users/enterlinemedia
