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Men In Black 3

It’s not a sequel that needed to be made, but thanks to the charm of its leads and a tone that harks back to the wit and humour of the original, it’s a pretty enjoyable trip.

Bel Ami

The excellent female support cast saves this patchy effort, which is let down by its leading man and a flat screenplay.

The Dictator

A disappointing, often repulsive and mean-spirited mess of a film with seemingly only one real criterion on its agenda: to shock and offend.

The Woman In Black

Packed with atmosphere, this old-fashioned but deftly told ghost story delivers ample chills and thrills.

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Julia's Eyes (Film)

by Emmet O'Cuana | May 30, 2011 14:12 | Edited May 30, 2011 14:13

Driven by terrific performances and clever direction, this eschews modern gore in favour of traditional horror chills, and it pays off.

Julia's Eyes continues the Spanish horror renaissance with this winning homage to Dario Argento, particularly evincing the Italian giallo master's love of ocular trauma. Twin sisters Sara and Julia (both played by Belén Rueda) have both suffered from a degenerative disease that will eventually rob them of their sight. When Julia receives a premonition of a terrible fate befalling her sister, she travels out to her home with husband Isaac (Lluís Homar). In the basement, they find Sara's body hanging from the ceiling, after having committed suicide in despair at her blindness. Julia is distressed to discover just how isolated her sister had become before her death, but refuses to accept that she had taken her own life. Convinced that Sara was murdered, Julia follows up on rumours of a mysterious boyfriend whom no one remembers seeing. Isaac grows increasingly frustrated with his wife's obsession, and the police are dismissive of her theories. As she finds herself abandoned by everyone that she trusts, left alone as Sara was, Julia begins to catch glimpses of a shadowy figure, just out of sight.

 

Belén Rueda (The Orphanage) is phenomenal in the role of Julia, running the gamut from terrified vulnerability to steely determination when her back is against the wall. Her scenes with Lluís Homar (Broken Embraces) are warmly romantic, with the two actors selling the tensions of a marriage with a serious illness hovering overhead.

 

Director Guillem Morales intelligently explores the themes of blindness and isolation through his use of light and shadow. There is also a subtle supernatural aspect to this psychological horror reminiscent of Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's Intacto, and a welcome eschewing of modern gore, despite the thrilling Grand Guignol climax. Julia's Eyes is a traditional horror that shows there's life in the old spine-chiller yet.