Eyes Of Crystal DVD > Reviews > Argento-style thrills for the Millenium

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Good
How does it compare to similar films?	Good

Advantages:	In the style of classic Argento
Disadvantages:	Runs out of steam

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

FILM:

A cop with a troubled past has three problems: a) his new girlfriend is being hounded by a mystery stalker, b) his boss is in hospital dying, and c) a psycho is murdering people, dismembering them and leaving doll parts in place of the missing limbs!

With a few sub-plots to follow (even peripheral characters are given their own points of note - secretive affairs, etc), EYES OF CRYSTAL demands your attention. But it's because you have to really watch it - especially since it's subtitled so it would be easy to lose the thread if you turned away - that the film becomes so absorbing.

It helps that the performances are solid and we get a cast of likeable characters that we can actually care about. Luigi Lo Cascio makes for a convincing lead, handsome but suitably intense and tortured by a tragic past, while Lucia Jimenez makes her role as the girlfriend a lot less redundant than it so easily could have been. They're an attractive, believable couple and the film benefits from their chemistry.

Eros Puglielli's (ALL THERE IS TO KNOW) direction is slick and assured - the cop scenes are crisply edited in a TV drama-type way (the opening chase scene is all erratic editing and shaky camera movements akin to NYPD Blue) while the murder scenes are stylish and considered, evoking Dario Argento's better Giallo moments.

While there are a few holes in the plot and things ultimately turn towards the implausible, EYES OF CRYSTAL is the best Italian Giallo horror-thriller in recent memory.

DISC:

Revolver's release presents the film uncensored in it's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The image has been enhanced for 16x9 TV sets. Picture quality is, as you'd expect for a contemporary film, very good - clear, bright and sharp with no grain.

The Italian 2.0 audio is fine, but the optional 5.1 mix is much better - a belter. Removable English subtitles are easy to read and free from typing errors.

Extras include a 20 minute 'Making Of' documentary, with plenty of cast and crew interviews plus split-screen comparisons between on-set shooting and the finished product, and a 3 minute 'On Set' featurette which is basically left-overs from the documentary. Both are presented in Italian with removable English subtitles.

SUMMARY:

Stylish, intelligent and violent - the type of thriller you wish Argento still had the talent to make. Revolver's release is worth a buy.

FILM: 8 out of 10

DISC: 6 out of 10