Los ojos de Julia

The Spanish horror cinema is one of the big surprises of recent years. The orphanage, and less-in measure-REC REC 2 showed signs of the vitality of a genre that scares when it comes forward with a Spanish accent.

Julia's Eyes is a psychological thriller where a woman who is going blind in the middle of her job has the sensation that she is being strangled after that she shortly receives news that her sister who is already blind due to both having a genetic illness they both share, committed suicide (the myth that twins,can feel when something happens to his/her sibling at the same time)which is never brought again in the film,Julia who knew her sister pretty well knows that it wasn't a suicide but murder instead.

This is an excellent hook for a thriller that, relatively speaking, could be related more with old mysteries of Alfred Hitchcock or the early films of Dario Argento.In fact it would not be unusual for Alone in the Dark (1967), Terrence Young film with Audrey Hepburn would have represented some influence in this story, as they have some points in common.

The tension in the film is produced by great acting specially from Belen Rueda, the strong band and effectiveness of the sound effects,angle shots framing( there's a brilliant technique in the middle of the film that gives an idea on how a blind person interacts with someone that they can not see), photography, and the locations. it has some minor flaws in the plot but above all its a terrific film to enjoy

The same team - actress (Belen Rueda),producer (Guillermo Del Toro) , musician (Fernando Velazquez) , cameraman (Oscar Faura)- who made ¨The orphanage¨ bring us another terror film , ¨The Julia's eyes¨ or ¨Los Ojos de Julia¨ . And again a wonderful Belen Rueda as semi-blind woman in a movie with intense sequences of horror and suspense . The story deals with a mature woman named Julia (Belen Rueda in a double role) married a psychologist (Luis Homar) , she is slowly losing her vision by a degenerative ill whilst attempting to investigate the mysterious death of her twin sister named Sara (Belen Rueda) , also blind , who supposedly committed suicide . An old woman (Julia Gutierrez Caba) leads her to Baumann Center where Sara had relations to other blind women . Later on , finding alone in a house is terrorized by strange events . She is pursued by a psycho but can't hide in the dark . This is a highly suspenseful and cerebral mystery that tells about a woman losing his sight and being helped by his husband . It's a battle of wits between an intelligent almost blind woman and an evil villain and winds up pitting two rival, the obstinate blind woman and the brutal psycho against each other in order to save herself and destroy them both.

The film contains tension , thriller, drama , mystery , plot twists and shocks , including decent scares with tense terror sequences especially in its final part , in a creepy denouement , near of the end with a crazy killer trying to murder her . The picture is thrilling and some moment brilliant, and the actors are quite reliable as Belen Rueda , Luis Homar and special appearance by veteran Julia Gutierrez Caba . Although is sometimes slow moving and stagy , however is entertaining for continuous suspense . Belen Rueda is sensational in one of her best films along with ¨El Orfanato¨ . Sinister and mysterious atmosphere is finely photographed by cameraman Oscar Faura . Suspenseful and stirring musical score by Fernando Velazquez who previously composed for successful terror films as ¨The orphanage¨ , ¨For the God of others¨ and ¨Devil¨ . The film is well produced by the great producer/director Guillermo Del Toro . The motion picture is professionally written and directed by Guillen Morales who formerly realized ¨The uninvited guest¨ also dealing with violent confrontation among two characters . The movie will appeal to suspense enthusiasts and Belen Rueda fans. Rating : acceptable and passable . It's well worth watching and contains some really eerie scares and disturbing images .

This was actually a pleasant surprise. I liked the beginning because it could of went the supernatural way or the other. The first half kinda toys with you about the death of Julia's sister and keeps you guessing where this is going to go. The setting and the good of this film is very good because it is very scary and tense. There is this great scene where Julia was in the bathroom with the other blinds and they "sensed" something which I won't reveal. I loved that this film was not predictable like the other mindless horror/thriller films. This film has believable twists, not just something out the blue or for shock. I believe that this film works because of the actress. She carried the movie very well. I actually liked her character which is hard to do in horror films. I actually liked the chemistry between Julia and her husband..it wasn't cheesy or over the top...it was very endearing. I loved the ending....She was actually smart and very real. Go check this out and you won't regret it!

After the death of the blind Sara (Belén Rueda), who hung herself in the basement of he house, her twin sister Julia (Belén Rueda) suspects that she was actually murdered. Julia has a degenerative problem in her eyes and is losing her sight and she temporarily moves with her husband Isaac (Lluís Homar) to Sara's house to arrange her funeral. Julia goes to the Centro Baumann for blinds where Sara frequented and she learns from the others blind users that Sara had a boyfriend.

Julia is chased by a mysterious man but the police inspector Dimas (Francesc Orella) does not believe on her. Julia follows the last steps of Sara trying to find the identity of her secret lover. Julia is surrounded by deaths and weird events while she loses her sight. Is she also delusional?

"Los Ojos de Julia" is an atmospheric film but flawed and misguider. The director gives the sensation of a supernatural story and ends like a "giallo" blended with "Blind Terror". The name of Guillermo del Toro, who is the producer, is also used to mislead the viewers. Belén Rueda has a magnificent performance; the cinematography and the camera work are excellent; the plot is intriguing; but the resolution is very disappointing. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Os Olhos de Júlia" ("The Eyes of Julia")

I really can not understand how some people have written about this film: boring, long without suspension, and many more of these baseless comments. A lot of energy has been put into this film. The directing and acting were really great. The music was also very good. I remembered Hitchcock's psychological film. Both of these characters killed people due to mental problems. I just didn't like the overly romantic ending. It is very easy to write a review on a movie. We can easily say that it is a bad movie and say bad things about it. But making a movie is very hard work and it is different from writing with a mobile phone which is a bad or boring movie. We have to be a little fair.