JULIA'S EYES- Review

The thing about appreciating foreign films like Julia's Eyes is that my enthusiasm is immediately tempered by the dread of a boneheaded American-language remake if it becomes any kind of box office success. We're fortunate that Pan's Labyrinth and The Orphanage, which also had Guillermo del Toro involved in some capacity, haven't yet been dumbed down for the PG-13 crowd, but I can't help but wonder if his latest production will be pillaged.

Perhaps the rubbish Jessica Alba flick The Eye will put them off, as this one also gets under the eyelids of sight-related horror. Twin sisters Julia and Sara share a degenerative sight disorder, which has already made Sara 100% blind. At the opening of the film, Sara hangs herself in her basement. Julia isn't convinced it was suicide, as Sara was optimistic about an eye transplant operation, and much to the chagrin of her doting husband, she needs to find answers.

Relatively early on in the film, it becomes apparent that it could go in one of two ways. As per usual, that means Sara's suicide could have been influenced by supernatural forces or simply by worldly bastards. The film is a little overlong at 112 minutes, but refreshingly, Julia's Eyes refuses to rely on that ambiguity of nature for too long, and it's a film that constantly shifts its terms slightly with each subsequent twist, to keep you intrigued throughout.

In all honesty, it would be quite a typical horror film, but writer-director Guillem Morales never quite lets it settle that way. For one thing, it's wonderfully shot, with some excellent use of POV shots as Julia's sight begins to deteriorate in the second act. Morales gets to the core of the loss of control that comes with the loss of Julia's sight, spending a number of scenes that introduce new characters showing only Julia's face. She can't see them, nor can we, and somewhere out there, a monster is prowling.

I can't pretend that I didn't second-guess that particular revelation, even with the impressive seclusion of the viewer to heighten the tension. It's clumsily foreshadowed at one point, in a way from which lesser films would have difficulty in recovering. But when that revelation comes to pass, the tension goes right through the ceiling five seconds later. The offending twist becomes almost like a non-event in the new disequilibrium that we're confronted with- you might have seen it coming, but move on, now this is happening.

This is what supports the film past the potentially more concise 90 minute running time, and I can't say I was ever bored with the film. Its principal strength is in its loving development of characters. Belén Rueda really makes Julia a character worth caring about, because she's experienced and expressive in her performance. There's none of the leering misanthropy that Hollywood horror cinema has towards much younger heroines, and subsequently, you're just as invested in the character's fate as you should be.

I was also impressed by Lluís Homar's turn as Julia's husband Isaac, a carefully constructed character who's well established early on so that his arc with Julia packs the most profound emotional punch later on. It's a film that prizes the emotional value of fear rather than the adrenaline rush that accompanies a jump scare. Compared to the one-note jump-scares of Platinum Dunes' output, Julia's Eyes is a symphony of terror. Somehow, everyone in the world seems to understand that, except Hollywood.

Julia's Eyes isn't going to shock more jaded horror fans into acclaim, but it is classy, beautifully assembled and never, even for a moment, any less than intriguing. It could probably use a good edit, to take out some of the running time, but it's always taking care to build the characters and build the story in a way that's all too rare in the genre these days. Its devices may be those you have seen before, but it ticks so many of the right boxes in its execution that it's hard to begrudge its excellence.

Julia's Eyes is released on Friday, in selected cinemas nationwide.
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When you see Julia's Eyes, why not share your comments below?

I'm Mark the mad prophet, and until next time, don't watch anything I wouldn't watch.

Variety is the Splice of Life- SPLICE Review

As something of a regular disclaimer, it's only my opinion here- others are available. As ever, mild spoilers may occur in the process of reviewing, but never so far as to spoil any major plot developments.
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The one film that seems to have been overlooked upon its UK release, opening as it did alongside juggernauts like Toy Story 3, The Karate Kid and The A-Team (review coming on Friday), is Splice. In the vein of David Cronenberg's creature features, this is a film about the folly of geneticists Clive and Elsa playing God. When their corporate sponsors deny them the opportunity to experiment with human splicing, the couple work in secret and produce something incredible- a quickly evolving hybrid lifeform which they christen Dren.

To call Splice a film in the vein of Cronenberg is a compliment, the difference between homage and rip-off being, as with all critics, whether I like it or not. But it does have new tricks up its sleeve- perhaps not enough to be called entirely original but certainly enough to make it a thoughtful sci-fi parable. It counts Guillermo del Toro amongst its executive producers, and given his long-mooted desire to remake Frankenstein, there are no prizes for guessing the other major influence on the story.

What's refreshing about Splice is its oppositional spin on the "science gone wrong" subset. It doesn't blame all that inevitably goes awry about Dren's mere existence on scientific endeavour. Rather than being so backward thinking or conservative, the creators' folly is in how they nurture their creation, a point from Mary Shelley's original story that seems to have been lost in translation across the years. So many will instead say "Frankenstein is the real monster, for even doing this."

The trade-off for this accommodation of discovery and innovation is a curiously reactionary indictment of women. It's specifically Elsa's treatment of Dren that makes shit go wrong. An impressive Sarah Polley's character is played and written as motherly, as having viewed the process of creating this hybrid through a reluctant desire for motherhood. Of Adrien Brody's character, I probably shouldn't say a lot, lest I ruin one of the better plot twists in Splice. However, the representation of Elsa is perhaps the one thing that's skewiff in a film that otherwise has a remarkable common sense in its ethics and morality.

The other thing you can expect from a del Toro production is stunning visual effects, and Splice doesn't disappoint. Like Inception, it tempers CGI creations with dazzling practical effects, albeit on a much smaller scale and budget. The CGI foetal version of Dren metamorphoses into the ethereal and exotically attractive actress Delphine Chanéac, embellished with an alien quality by her shaven head and a couple of animated appendages. Her performance and Polley's are the standouts of Splice, and they keep you arrested throughout.

Not to damn it with faint praise, but Splice is a B-movie with brains. If that conjures images of a smarter Mega-Shark vs. Giant Octopus or Surf Nazis Must Die, remember the original meaning of the term- a film intended as the bottom part of a cinema double feature, less publicised than the main attraction. Although some will argue that a certain scene with Adrien Brody steers it into exploitation territory, this is a sci-fi parable of real ingenuity that isn't afraid to engage with its audience intellectually at the same time as deploying some stunning creature effects.

Splice is now showing in selected cinemas nationwide.
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If and when you see Splice, why not share your comments on the film and/or my review below? And rejoice! Since I first saw BrodyQuest, it's the first Adrien Brody film I've watched without thinking of it once!

I'm Mark the mad prophet, and until next time, don't watch anything I wouldn't watch.