| Author | Message | ||
     John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.142.241.230 |
We went to see this today and seeing as I had quite a few thoughts I've given it it's own thread: In recent years one country has given hope to Euro-horror fans everywhere. Ghost stories, zombie epics and even a splendid series of TV ‘stories to keep you awake’ have put Spain on the map as the leading producer of quality horror pictures. Whether Julia’s Eyes could be considered to be one of the above is going to depend entirely on your personal taste. Completely inappropriately marketed as a subtle psychological chiller, anyone going to see Julia’s Eyes because of its implied links to subtle Spanish horror hits like The Orphanage or some of Guillermo del Toro’s own projects won’t just be upset with this, they’ll be mortified. The rest of us can sit back and relax, safe in the knowledge that the spirit of the giallo is well and alive and living in Spain along with most of the other good horror that’s out there these days. Julia suffers from Made-Up-Movie-Optic-Nerve-Degeneration, one of those plot devices that allows her to lose and regain sight whenever it becomes necessary to the plot or to aid in the construction of an atmospheric scene. Her sister has the same condition at the beginning but is swiftly put out of the picture (literally) because she appears to be another one of those movie characters who can tie an expert noose to hang themselves with (or do they sell them in ‘specialist’ shops nowadays?). Julia’s convinced her sister was murdered and that the girl’s mysterious new boyfriend is to blame and so the hunt is on, taking her to the hotel where they stayed just before her death by way of a changing room full of naked blind women who sniff out Julia’s presence, and the man who is now stalking her, in one of the set pieces that, along with what is actually a very well developed, tense and mysterious first forty five minutes, certainly endeared this writer to this particular picture. It’s in the movie’s second half that the audience is going to be divided, when the movie enters seriously silly giallo territory, with the requisite One Daft Thing After Another taking place. However, and where the film scores big points, all these daft things are perfectly executed, the performances are spot on and some of the shocks are so well choreographed that I jumped and cringed along with everybody else. Two of the murders later on suggest that, rather than studying the likes of Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth and The Devil’s Backbone, director Guillem Morales has been rather more influenced by the works of Norman J Warren (Satan’s Slave) and Pete Walker (Schizo). The climactic turning out of the lights has been used in many a picture but there’s no reason why it shouldn’t work again here and in a way it would be disappointing if it wasn’t. Definitely designed as a crowd pleaser, Julia’s Eyes is delicious entertainment. It’s scary, well paced, and when it realises it’s going to go over the top it does so with verve and enthusiasm, embracing its clichés with gusto and is a much better film for it. It also happens to be a film with a more mature central female character than we get to see from Hollywood, someone who is in a loving relationship which the film manages to express on several levels and at several points in the movie without interfering with the pacing. Actually it’s a genuine pleasure to see a modern thriller without a teenager in sight. Kate and I really loved it. Cracking job, Guillem – we’ll be first in line for your next one. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.4.19.77 |
Phew...  | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 2.24.27.249 |
I discussed this film at some length in the 'Thoughts on new horror movies' thread, so won't repeat myself here. I'm glad you both had a better time watching it than I did. | ||
| Kate (Kathleen) Username: Kathleen Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 86.142.241.230 |
I'm sorry it didn't work for you, Joel, but I do understand why. At least you lowered our expectations, so we probably enjoyed it even more for that. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.142.241.230 |
The movie threads are getting so long it takes ages for my computer to load them but we had read what you'd put Joel and it definitely helped us to enjoy the film. I do think the advertising is a bit to blame and I can understand how bits in the film could have the wrong kind of cumulative effect if the film didn't have you on its side. There's an awful lot of bollocks in there but fortunately we were in the right mood to enjoy it. Probably watching an early Fulci giallo the night before put us in a more forgiving mood as well. Plus some of the positive reviews have picked up on the movie's Argento influence so if that kind of stuff doesn't work for you then the film's going to be a loser anyway. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 2.24.30.254 |
Oddly, I like Fulci's films quite a lot (despite their occasional lapses into crude splatter), so it's the attitude rather than the genre that bothers me with some of this stuff. In the case of Julia's Eyes it's the attitude towards the audience. I felt manipulated from start to finish. My view of horror has changed over the years: I feel the genre should reveal, build some kind of vision (however terrifying), rather than try to make the reader/audience jump at shadows. For that reason I thought The Orphanage was superb, but this wasn't. Nor did it seem particularly skilful, though I did like the very last scene. There's a kind of demographic cynicism that leads directors to factor in carefully moderated gore while avoiding anything sexual in order to get the right certificate. This film was strangely, perhaps inappropriately, chaste while making free with the knives and needles. It lacked the courage to do anything that wasn't playing by the rules. I'm repeating myself, I know, but I felt this wasn't a bad film, just a film that was sadly under-achieving given the assembled film-making and acting talent brought to bear on it. I feel like that about a lot of 'mainstream' horror films. As Ramsey said quite a long time ago, the cinema should pamper your arse, not your mind. On which theme, I should note that Birmingham's Electric Cinema is the ideal small cinema to watch good films in peace and quiet, with a well-stocked bar/cafe ensuring you have whatever you need to take to your comfy seat, and an audience who will not interrupt your enjoyment with screams, whoops or bursts of laughter. That also sets the expectation barrier quite high, of course, so a bad film makes you angrier than it would in the popcorn-scented atmosphere of Cineworld. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.4.19.77 |
I went with two mates to see this in my local arthouse cinema, the Queens Film Theatre in Belfast, expecting a slow moving sombre, intelligent psychological thriller and was initially irritated at the in-your-face directorial style and overly emotive acting (along with rest of the packed audience, judging by the shuffling, muttering vibe in the air) until about twenty minutes in it suddenly clicked that this was actually a good looking slice of old-fashioned schlocky Euro-horror suspense nonsense. Then, remarkably for the usually restrained QFT audience, the laughs and squeals and screams and jumping started and one could sense everyone there getting behind the movie and thoroughly enjoying its hokey but wonderfully stylish (ala Argento) lack of pretension. The final outrageously romantic scene, you speak of, was every bit as gloriously OTT as the rest of the picture and all the better for it. 'Julia's Eyes' may not be great art but it is a wonderful night out at the cinema and a humdinger of a horror movie. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.183.79.254 |
I watched this on friday evening and thought it was a nice little chiller, although I take on board other's comments here and on the other thread. A good late night watch-it-in-the-dark film! Loved the central performance and the idea of the 'baddie' being invisible. Plus, even though I've seen the effect elsewhere, I liked the "only seeing freeze frames as the flash gun goes off at regular intervals" thing they used. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
... At long last, I finally caught up with this one. I'm halfway between John and Joel's assessment: it's certainly entertaining and fine, but comparing it to, say, THE ORPHANAGE (a fair comparison), that latter one comes out very much on top. Still, I like the three divisions of the film: the first, a sort of standard if atmospheric mystery/giallo; the second, following Julia's eye operation, is the most fascinating, as the film deftly hides every character's face through the course of it, replicating experientially for the audience, the paranoia of being blind, and having to remember who these people are purely by their voices; and in the final part, a vicious cat-and-mouse between killer and victim, as Julia must feign blindness now, and then escape. Fine camera work, and cinematography; a bit too long though, could certainly use some editing. If all horror films were of this caliber, we'd be a lot better off... but still missing out.... | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.158.153.34 |
I have to confess I liked it less on second viewing. It's still good fun but Joel had trashed it so much it made the initial viewing experience an unexpected surprise. Thanks Joel! I actually think it's an ok film rather than anything that special. But these days even those are thin on the ground..... | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.37.199.45 |
Eek! I never said it didn't have good production values. So if you were expecting a work of performance art in the medium of fail, you would have been pleasantly surprised. But even if you enjoyed it on first viewing, it's not really meant to be seen more than once. Once your expectations have been manipulated in that way, your psychic carpal tunnel plays up the next time round. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
It's an extremely well put together piece of pure horror hokum. I really enjoyed it while being fully aware of its flaws. You may be right though, Joel. It's one of those daft gimmick thrillers that probably only works on a single viewing... or watched again after many decades have passed and all details have been forgotten. A more than noteworthy debut, imo. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.158.153.34 |
I'd agree with that - it certainly doesn't bear up to a second viewing after less than a year | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.18.174.156 |
It certainly can't compete with Argento's 'Phenomena', John. Good choice, man! | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.158.153.34 |
Thanks Stevie! There are some films you can just watch again and again. We saw TENEBRAE again earlier in the week and that's another one that just gets better and better with the passage of time | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
Ha! I love TENEBRAE, John! I have to have a fix of it every so often, it's just loony gory nasty fun, that one. I first saw it many years ago, on Vestron Video I believe (their logo even now, sends chills up my spine, because I so associate it with horror, and because it always was so creepy! http://youtu.be/ovV5hSn7wCA ). It was retitled, UNSANE - hee-hee! Best retitled horror movie ever!  | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.35.236.200 |
Craig - that twangy sound to video logos used to frighten me, too. Even the sound of video generally spooks me. We dug out a Count Yorga from the garage recently and the sound, and the presence of tv links at the beginning was spine tingling. It felt almost 'too' alive. (as an aside, the film at the end of it was The Gate, and bugger me if the picture quality - 20 years on - wasn't better than the dvd we have). | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.35.236.200 |
Talking of manipulation - bring it on for me. Some of the best projector nights me and the lads have had have been of this 'ghost train' nature. To jump in fright in unison or squirm in suspense and seek out each others hands is sheer joy to me. I'd rather this than feel miserable after something of higher quality. I find it life-affirming. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
Go to youtube and put in "VHS Companies from the 80's" and you'll get almost 200 opening logos! Most of them, frankly, I just don't remember, but some of them I do... and are still creepy.... Tarrantino did a pitch-perfect job, of course, in homage/parody to this kind of thing (he worked in a video store after all) with his Grindhouse logo: http://youtu.be/YjmJxZqDPjM | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
'Tenebrae' has long been my favourite Argento movie although I think 'Profondo Rosso' may be his best film. Both movies are constantly changing places in my Top 10 horror movies list. Here it is at the minute: 1. 'The Exorcist' (1973) 2. 'Rosemary's Baby' (1968) 3. 'The Shining' (1980) 4. 'Don't Look Now' (1973) 5. 'Night Of The Demon' (1957) 6. 'The Birds' (1963) 7. 'Tenebrae' (1982) 8. 'The Wicker Man' (1973) 9. 'Psycho' (1960) 10. 'Dawn Of The Dead' (1978) The Top 5 have stayed constant for many years but 6-10 are prone to change quite regularly. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
Good list, Stevie. I suppose The Innocents wouldn't quite belong there, since it's not as purely horror-genre saturated as your other films - that one shades into drama, just as Alien/The Thing shade into sci-fi. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
'The Innocents' & 'The Haunting' are both in my Top 20, Craig, and both have dallied around the upper margins of the Top 10 from time to time. Sometime I may show you the Full List but it would be the biggest thread on here before anyone even replied! |