according to hitchcock and various other filmmakers , isolated motels , diners , gas stations and similar establishments in american southwest can be rather dangerous place for weary travellers . 
at the beginning of eye of the storm , 1991 german- american thriller directed by yuri zeltser , one of such places becomes deadly for their owners who get murdered during the stick up . 
ten years later their son steven ( played by bradley gregg ) , who was blinded during the incident , still runs motel together with his older brother ray ( played by craig sheffer ) . 
hardly anything happens there until alcoholic and abusive william gladstone ( played by dennis hopper ) gets stranded there with his attractive wife sandra ( played by lara flynn boyle ) . 
their unexpected presence creates the chain of the events that would end in bloodshed . 
yuri zeltser , author of this film , was obviously inspired by hitchcock's psycho , but he chose to add some new and potentially interesting elements to the original plot . 
instead of norman bates we have two brothers - one of them traumatised physically , another mentally . 
sexual tension between beautiful female patron and shy motel clerk is heightened with the presence of alcoholic husband . 
eye of the storm is impressive in visual sense , with photography by karl walter lindenlaub providing a lot of claustrophobic atmosphere . 
the acting is fine - hopper , gregg and boyle are comfortable with their roles , but sheffer at times overacts his psycho routine . 
unfortunately , eye of the storm , which was supposed to be intense psychological drama , deteriorates into cheap and predictable slasher flick during melodramatic finale . 
in the end , this film reminds us that original approach can't prevent filmmakers from wasting too many opportunities . 
 ( special note to the profiler fans : ally walker appears in the beginning of the film in the small role of killer's girlfriend . )