For the early settlers of this country, the New World offered freedom as well as the unknown. This was certainly true of the first colonists who had no idea what awaited them on these strange, new shores. The story of The Lost Colony, a settlement on Roanoke Island that was sponsored by Sir Walter Raleigh, was one of those childhood history lessons that stuck in my mind as a creepy unsolved mystery. Sometime between the years of 1585 and 1587, numerous attempts were made to establish a permanent base for English immigrants in the Virginia territory. Then supplies for the Roanoke community were cut off for three years during the Anglo-Spanish War so when John White, whose daughter and granddaughter were among the colonists, was able to return from England with aid, he found the settlement deserted with no trace of the people, only the cryptic word “Croatoan” carved into a tree. Much speculation but no evidence has emerged over the fate of The Lost Colony. Some say sickness and starvation killed them off, others say they were captured and assimilated into the local native tribes, either the Croatan or Hatteras. A few historians theorized that the survivors attempted to return to England and were lost at sea. There was also a theory that cannibalism may have decimated their ranks as it did the infamous Donner party.   Which brings me to Eyes of Fire (aka Cry Blue Sky), a little known, independent film from 1983 that has obvious connections to The Lost Colony in its tale of a band of settlers driven from their community and forced to find shelter in the wilderness. There they find themselves at the mercy of hostile tribal groups, the elements and….something much more insidious.