You
have to hand it to the Spanish. They
know how to make creepy and effective thrillers. Some of the most notable Spanish/Mexican
thrillers consist of THE FINISHING SCHOOL (1969), TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD
(1971), THE HOUSE IN THE FOG (1972), THE LIVING DEAD AT MANCHESTER MORGUE
(1974) and WHO CAN KILL A CHILD? (1976). The latest addition to this genre is
JULIA'S EYES which features Belen Rueda who also starred in THE ORPHANAGE
(2007). Here she appears in dual roles
as identical twin sisters who are both suffering from an ocular abnormality
that is causing them to both slowly going blind.
Sara
(Rueda) is taunted by an off-screen person and is forced to commit suicide in a
dank basement. Her sister Julia (Rueda) senses that something is wrong at the
moment of her sister's death and rushes to her house with her husband Isaac
(LluÃs Homar) and is shocked to learn of Sara's fate. Julia finds it impossible
to fathom that Sara would have taken her own life (wouldn't you if someone made
you listen to Dusty Springfield's 'The Look of Love'?). Sara was going blind and Julia is convinced
that the truth is out there in plain sight. She only has to find it. This is
made difficult by the killer who has a nasty habit of popping up wherever Julia
is, especially in a creepy sequence where she makes her way to the Baumann
Centre for the Blind thanks to a tip from Sara's blind neighbor Soledad and stumbles
upon a conversation on several blind women in the locker room.
The
women, whose other senses are much more acute due to their lack of sight,
immediately pick up on her presence, as well as the killer who is right behind
her. In an effort to find out his identity, Julia chases him through several
dark corridors but to no avail. Stressed
out and frightened, Julia comes dangerously close to losing her sight as well.
Returning
to Sara's house, Julia finds a key and a receipt for Sara's stay at a
hotel. She and Isaac go there and Isaac tries
to locate a surveillance tape of the parking lot in the hopes of finding out
where Sara went. At this point, Isaac
himself goes missing, and the parking garage is plunged into darkness just as Julia
approaches the night watchman in the hopes of finding out where Isaac is. It is
obvious at this point that the killer is still one step ahead of Julia. To
divulge any more of the plot would ruin a memorable cinematic experience.
JULIA'S
EYES, while an accomplished film, does look a bit familiar to audience's eyes
as well; its plot devices are attributed to Alfred Hitchcock (REAR WINDOW from
1954) and Dario Argento (OPERA from 1987), particularly the latter with its
fascination with all things ocular. Belen Rueda is excellent as the twins and
newcomer director Guillem Morales stages some of the scenes with the same
directorial flair as Sergio Martino. There
is something to be said, however, about the director's depiction of blind
people in this film as they always seem to come off as malevolent and creepy,
especially those seen with just pale, white eyes and no glasses to mask them. I don't believe this to be deliberate,
intentional, or even malicious, it's just an observation.
If
the film feels derivative at times, that's because it is, but to be fair it's
very difficult in today's horror environment to make something completely and
totally original. JULIE'S EYES is long
on style but not so much on substance, however fans of the genre will still
find much to enjoy here. The
performances by all of those involved are quite good and the cinematography
does an admirable job of masking the killer's identity from the audience.
