One of Bradley Cooper’s First Roles Was in This Forgotten Horror Movie (2024)

Bradley Cooper's highly anticipated Leonard Bernstein biopic, Maestro, has finally hit theaters before dropping on Netflix next month. It's A Star is Born all over again, with Cooper starring, directing, writing, and producing this thing. Not only that, this movie is looking to be a major awards race contender for the next few months, leading all the way up to the 2024 Oscars. Not everyone can start at the top though. It's been a long road for the Maestro star to get where he is today, and part of that road included taking roles in cult classic comedies, network TV shows, indie dramas, and long-forgotten horror movies. For Cooper, the horror movie that helped kickstart his career was 2002's My Little Eye.

Despite being mostly lost to time, My Little Eye is a fun little gem that showcases some of the early 2000s most well-defined horror elements. In some ways, these tropes can feel a bit dated, but if you're a big horror fan, this movie is more of a charming treasure trove of what made its era's spooky films so fun. That being said, if you aren't a big horror fan, and you're coming to My Little Eye because you're a mega Cooperhead, then you desperately need to manage your expectations. Bradley Cooper does indeed appear in this movie... for all of just a few minutes. He's also not playing his typical charming self. No, this is Cooper at his sketchiest, playing a character that you can't trust as far as you can throw him. Thankfully, this movie only helped throw his career into the A-list status that he has today; so for Cooperheads, My Little Eye is an essential viewing experience!

2002 Saw Bradley Cooper Do Romance, Comedy, and Horror

Bradley Cooper has one of those bizarre filmographies where you look at it and are kind of blown away by the amount of work that he's taken part in. After attending Georgetown University and sitting in on a few live recordings of Inside the Actors Studio, Cooper set his sights on breaking into the movie business. He skipped his college graduation in order to make it to the set of Wet Hot American Summer, began starring in Alias starting in 2001, and took his first leading role in the 2002 romantic drama, Bending All the Rules. While he probably remembers that year more for his portrayal of Jeff in the previously mentioned film, the better Bradley Cooper movie from that year would be My Little Eye.

My Little Eye is just about the most 2002 horror movie you could ever imagine; but fear not, it's a good time! This film comes from Marc Evans, a filmmaker who has continued to work in the years since, but never quite achieved the career that he deserved. While My Little Eye proves that Evans has what it takes to make a decent horror, he has opted to focus more on dramas and comedies since. My Little Eye centers around a group of people who have to live in an isolated mansion together for six months while being filmed for a reality webcast the entire time.

This is one of the earliest movies to take on the found footage genre after the smash hit that was The Blair Witch Project, and it does so intelligently. Instead of using found footage as its only means of bringing audiences into this world, it uses this narrative device sparingly. We only catch glimpses of the web show that is being broadcast from the mansion, as opposed to the entire movie being told this way. Any time we cut to one of those in-universe camera angles, we know it's about to get real. That or Evans is busy trying to make our eyes dart around the room and build up a sense of paranoia. It's a brilliant means of finding a unique way to approach a new and popular subgenre.

When it's not busy jumping on the found footage train, My Little Eye is acting as a somewhat mean-spirited, typical early 2000s horror movie. It doesn't have the greatest script in the world, but not a lot of 2000s horror did. Instead of roping us in with compelling characters, Evans works off of his intriguing premise and builds an effective atmosphere around that. The mansion and area that surrounds it are lit low, covered in shadow, and give a real sense of doom upon arrival. The decrepit premises wouldn't make anyone feel safe, and when it's being captured through grainy, low-grade cameras for the in-universe web series, the movie only becomes spookier. Between its aesthetics and unsettled banter between actors like Kris Lemche and Stephen O'Reilly, My Little Eye is a paranoid and cynical 95-minute horror ride.

Bradley Cooper's Performance in 'My Little Eye' is Brief Yet Effective

But what about Bradley Cooper? That is who we're all here for, right? Well, take a deep breath, Cooperheads, and lower your expectations. He's really not in this movie for all that long. That being said, he's one of the more memorable characters in the entire film (and no, not just because he's played by Bradley Cooper). The future Hangover star plays Travis Patterson, a mysterious man who basically just stumbles upon the mansion, drops in for a sex scene, then leaves the next day. That said, his character's presence creates a sense of unease about the intentions of the show that the characters are on. We grow used to the fact that My Little Eye's cast is extremely contained, so when somebody else pops in and ruffles things up a bit, you can't help but feel a little unnerved. It also helps that Cooper plays the role with a bit of charm, but the kind where you feel like you can't trust a word that this guy says. The way his character exits the film is especially effective. It'll leave you on the edge of your seat for the rest of the film.

After My Little Eye, Bradley Cooper's career basically went sky-high. He's one of the biggest stars working in Hollywood and is consistently reliable in delivering acclaimed and interesting films. His performance in My Little Eye might not be as fascinating as his work in The Place Beyond the Pines, Silver Linings Playbook, or even Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but it doesn't have to be. Instead, it's an interesting artifact both of the time that it was made and in the early career of a future star. I spy with my little eye a fun horror ride!