eat my brains header graphic
RSS  l  Facebook  l  Twitter  l  About Us  l  Contact Us  l  Link to Us    
    Home    News    Reviews    Features    Top Ten    Zombie Club    Competitions    Links        
latest reviews Back | Next   

Eyes of Crystal

Director
Eros Puglielli

Cast
Luigi Lo Cascio
Desislava Tenekedjieva
Simón Andreu
José Ángel Egido
Carmelo Gómez
Lucía Jiménez
Eusebio Poncela

Rating



Runtime
107 mins

Genre
Thriller

Available From

Amazon UK
Amazon US

Click on the icons above to purchase this title and support Eat My Brains!


Eyes of Crystal (2004)

11th Dec 06





Plot
Inspector Giacomo Amaldi is both a busy and troubled man. Whilst he investigates a grizzly triple homicide he is also wrestling with a deep seeded personal issue (that you just KNOW is going to come out in the wash along the way). The thing is that this particular murderer he is looking out for has a habit of chopping parts of his victims and replacing their limbs with a similar part from a Victorian sex doll.

Saddled with a fairly inept partner (who also has some of the scariest hairiest shoulders EVER depicted in a feature film), Amaldi also has the small concern of trying to protect a stunning-looking student in the shape of Lucia Jimenez (Desislava Tenekedjieva) who has a stalker problem.

The investigation takes an interesting turn when it appears that a colleague with a brain tumor just might know the all the answers to the questions Amaldi is looking for.

Review
Sometimes a movie pops along that completely and unexpectedly enthralls and enraptures you. Eyes of Crystal is one such movie. From the very moment we see someone in the shadows inject a live squirrel, before removing its entrails and then set about stuffing it as another piece to place with other stuffed beasties on the end of a series of beds, you are hooked.

Kicking off with a fast paced opening chase scene that climaxes with young cop Amaldi surprisingly shooting a rapist in the kneecap we know that the gloves are off. Director Eros Puglielli’s big screen version of the novel by Luca Di Fulvio, scripted by Dario Argento regular Franco Ferrini, plays with the conventions of the serial killer genre and comes up with the best of it’s type since David Fincher’s Se7en. Indeed some of Puglielli’s styling feels like a nod to that movie, especially THAT scene where they all need really BIG torches.

Through excellent performances, nifty camerawork – a nice use of reflections in windows crank up the tension - an unsettling score, and some terrific production design Eyes of Crystal grips throughout. Tense and with constantly surprising refreshing clichés, it turns the standard serial killer movie inside out, only ever pausing for the central couple to have some rumpy pumpy.

Eyes of Crystal is considered to be a return to form for the gialli genre that, with the exception of the likes of Dario Argento’s flawed and typically misogynistic 2001 serial killer flick Non ho Sonno (a.k.a. ‘Sleepless’) had not really seen any proper life since 1987’s Opera (a.k.a. Terror at the Opera’), again Argento. There is also a nice nod to classic gialli by having Amaldi’s dying cop buddy Agent Ajaccio played by Simon Andreu (Death Walks at Midnight, 1972 and Death Carries a Cane, 1973).

Luigi Lo Cascio is excellent as Amaldi, never once failing to convince as he follows the trail of clues to the killer. No deduction he makes ever sounds contrived or random but rather well-considered and intelligent. He FEELS real given the level of writing and depth afforded from dialogue and performance.

The killings are shown on-screen, but are never gratuitous, meaning they are pleasantly nasty without over-egging the cake. Each scene is carefully paced, exacting the right amount of chills in the build up, showing enough but never dwelling unnecessarily.

Unfortunately, the film does come to quite a disappointing audience-friendly ending which, considering the build-up, just kind of felt wrong. It would have been far better had it been far nastier, leaving the viewer numb from the overbearing bleakness of it all. It’s a big shame as everything up until then was pointing to a rather rare (for me) five star rating.

Posted by
S Cockwell



Return to Reviews Index

comments powered by Disqus
Exclusive interview; Anders Banke, director of Frostbite
3rd Dec 06
We caught up with the Anders Banke at Dublin's Horrorthon to chat vampires, Swedish dramas and Peter Jackson's Bad Taste.
Exclusive interview; Anders Banke, director of <b>Frostbite</b>
Don't Look Now

1st Nov 04
Above all though, it is the relationship between John and Laura Baxter which is the film’s central focus throughout, and the gradual disintegration of their relationship amidst a haze of grief.
Don't Look Now
Top Ten Films of 2005
5th Jan 06
Whoever it was that said “You’ve never had it so good” was obviously talking to genre fans of last year. Here's our Top Ten of 2005...
Top Ten Films of 2005
latest news
Review - Bait 3D
14th May 13

News - Winner of our Baise Moi Competition
13th May 13

Review - Motel Hell
4th May 13

News - DVD & Blu Ray UK release of Motel Hell
3rd May 13

News - Winners of our Radley Metzger competition announced
22nd Apr 13

News - Romero's Knightriders finally released on DVD & Blu Ray
22nd Apr 13
More...
latest comps
Old competitions...
latest Zombie Clubs
Bait 3D

14th May 13
Just when you thought it was safe to go to an underwater supermarket wearing a special suit constructed out of shopping baskets.

Motel Hell

4th May 13
It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent's fritters!

Delirium Photos of Goia

22nd Apr 13
Everyone admires Serena Grandi’s magnificent chest, but which tit-fancier is knocking off the models working for her skin mag?

Friday the 13th

4th Mar 13
Hello? Is anyone hiding behind the curtain with a machete? Hello? Mrs Vorhees...?

Lisa and the Devil
27th Feb 13
Piranha 3DD
20th Feb 13
latest top tens
FrightFest Glasgow 2013 - Day Two
4th Mar 13
Dumb movies are a lot easier to have fun with when they drop the rape.

FrightFest Glasgow 2013 - Day One
3rd Mar 13
Another sunny, snowy February in Glasgow and another rollercoaster of a line-up from Frightfest team

Interview with The Revenant's David Anders
22nd Jun 12
We talk to David Anders about this absolute gem of a cult classic in the making

Film4 FrightFest Glasgow 2012 - Day Two
11th Mar 12
No matter how hard you try, it is not possible to beat a zombie to death with just your fists.

Film4 FrightFest Glasgow 2012 - Day One
3rd Mar 12
Going off on one about Gremlins with Anthony OD
6th Jan 12
More Features...
    Home    News    Reviews    Features    Top Ten    Zombie Club    Competitions    Links        

Reviews

Bait 3D
Motel Hell
Delirium Photos of Goia
Friday the 13th
Lisa and the Devil
Piranha 3DD
Black Sunday (Blu Ray)
Zombie Apocalypse
Django, Prepare a Coffin
Zombie Flesh Eaters (Blu-Ray Steelbook)
Phenomena
The Return of the Living Dead
The Devil Rides Out
Troll Hunter
Rage
Snowtown
The Cabin in the Woods
The Revenant
Hostel: Part III
The Theatre Bizarre


Features

FrightFest Glasgow 2013 - Day Two
FrightFest Glasgow 2013 - Day One
Interview with The Revenant's David Anders
Film4 FrightFest Glasgow 2012 - Day Two
Film4 FrightFest Glasgow 2012 - Day One
Going off on one about Gremlins with Anthony OD
Glasgow FrightFest - February 2011
I SPIT ON YOUR COUNCIL: THE ROUGH GUIDE TO FRIGHTFEST 2010
Talking of Torment : In Conversation With Andrew Cull
Interview with Victoria Summer


Top Ten

Top Ten Films of 2011
Top Ten Essential Takashi Miike Works
Top Ten Great Moments from Overlooked 2010 Movies
Faking Fear: Top Ten Mockumentaries
Top Ten Alternatives to The Exorcist
Top Ten Nightmarish Moments on Elm Street
Top Ten 2009 Genre Movies You Might Not Have Seen But Really Should
Top Ten Movies to watch this Halloween
Top Ten Frightfest Moments
Top Ten Defining Friday the 13th Moments


Zombie Club

Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3: Dream Warriors
Vigilante Night
Deodato Night
Peter O'Brian Night
Strike Commando Dawn
George Kenne-Day
Ninja Ninja Ninja Night
Juan Piquer Simon Night
Panther Night
Klaus Kinski Sci-Fi Night
Revenge Night
Sergio Martino Night
Monsters and Dinosaurs Night
Trollogy Night
Italian Post-Apoc Night
Late Fulci Night
Warrior Women Day
Ozploitation Night
70s Kidnap Night
Chinese Super Ninja Night


              All written material © Copyright EMB 2003-2013       

Porkhead's Horror Review HoleA very cool UK based blog on all the new and old cult Italiana.
Nicko and Joe's Bad Film ClubJust keep saying to yourself...