Con gli occhi dell'assassino

Los ojos de Julia (Julia's Eyes) is directed by Guillem Morales who also co-writes the screenplay with Oriol Paulo. It stars Belen Rueda, Lluis Homar and Julia Gutierrez Caba. Music is by Fernando Velazquez and cinematography by Oscar Faura.

After her blind twin sister mysteriously hangs, Julia (Rueda) refuses to accept it as suicide and begins to investigate the events herself. Unfortunately she is also becoming afflicted by the same degenerative eyesight that affected her sister. Can she solve the case before here eyesight completely fails? Can she stay alive, even, especially as dark forces appear to be closing in on her.

There has been some rather nifty horror movies come out of Spain in the last ten years or so, Julia's Eyes is another welcome addition off of the production line. The blind/eyes afflicted girl in peril formula is hardly new, with very good formula spookers already existing having come out of Asia and America, how nice to find that this Spanish entry is as good as any of them.

Guillermo Del Toro is once again on producing duty, continuing his crusade to give upcoming Spanish horror directors their chance in movie world. OK! So it's not unfair to say that many a horror fan would like to see Del Toro directing such material himself, but his presence is felt here, where much like El Orfanato (The Orphanage) the atmosphere that pervades the picture is Del Toroesque.

Julia's Eyes is very much a blending of thriller conventions, where it deals in psychological discord, slasher traits and whodunit mystery shenanigans. Mix them up with dashes of Gothic and Giallo and you are good to go for edge of your seat/breath holding entertainment. Thematic thrust comes by way of viewer voyeurism, and some scenes are macabre in construction, with one involving blind girls in a locker room really tingling the gooseflesh.

The colour scheme ranges from misty tinted coldness to tech-noir starkness, and the sound work is terrific, especially once Julia is handicapped by her bandaged eyes and we the audience need to buy into her dangerously dark world. Camera techniques, also are smart, with Morales cleverly not showing us the faces of those interacting with Julia once her eyes fail her, again this puts us in her world.

At nearly two hours in length, film is a touch too long, which when you consider there is no real great character development to speak of, is a bit annoying. However, this is about atmosphere and a genuine chill factors, a picture that gnaws away at the senses throughout and leads us to a poignant finale. Rueda, just as she was in The Orphanage, is terrific, and Julia's Eyes, much like The Orphanage, is also terrific. 8.5/10

A respectable blend of drama and horror, using strengths of both but also succumbing occasionally to the weaknesses.

Suspense is present from the very beginning, building to an exciting and unexpected climax, unfortunately falling a bit flat afterward. In fact, the last 30 seconds of the film somewhat blemish the drama of the story as a whole, mostly because the ending touches on a relationship that was hardly explored and not at all significant through the rest of the film, partly because of the focus on the very thing that makes this movie good: the constant twists and turns in the story. This also leads to some ideas that are passable but don't make nearly as much sense as they're supposed to; particularly the whole "people who aren't seen"/"There was no man with her (Sara)"/"Don't look at me!" motif. I still don't get it, but it has little impact on the story anyway.

I believe the entirety of the story could have used some fine tuning, and run time could have been trimmed by 10 to 15 minutes... But overall it's engaging, well acted, and sets an excellent and fitting mood visually. Thrillers that can't project the protagonist's experience to the viewer fail horribly... this movie does an outstanding job providing a sense of confinement that fits the title character's world, and this is where its greatest strength lies.

Although character relationships are a bit thin and suspense doesn't hit many high notes, this is a fairly exciting thrill ride and a good effort all around. One last thing, I would recommend watching it without distraction... the mood is more visual and in the flow of the story than it is intellectual or suspenseful, and it's easy to lose interest if you step away for a few minutes.

I watched this movie on the plane the other day, trying to find something to keep me awake (as sleep on an airplane never leaves you rested, but merely with a stiff body).

What I saw was, however - to my positive surprise - much more than just something to pass time, as I actually enjoyed it a lot.

I find the plot quite fascinating and very original, and it has, with its unpredictability, more than just a few surprises in store. Granted, there are a few inconsistencies with the storyline, but I didn't see them as a big problem, as the movie, as a whole, works.

All in all, a really good horror thriller, which keeps you guessing till the very end.

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 .

I watched the Julia's Eyes world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival a couple of days ago, and I have to say that although I was entertained, it did fall short of my expectations. Seeing how the film was produced by Guillermo del Toro, I was really hoping for a horror/thriller on par with Pans Labyrinth or The Orphanage.

Julia's Eyes does have an original idea at its core and that's what keeps you guessing and entertained through the duration of the film. Unfortunately the film does fall into some cliché horror jump scares and the plot does not completely come together. It feels as though the filmmaker started with a great idea but wasn't fully able to pull it all together cohesively in the end. I want to keep this review spoiler free so I'm not going to get into any plot details, but suffice to say that the antagonist's plot line does not come to a rewarding conclusion.

That said, I think there is a lot to like here, the acting is great, some wholly original ideas are explored and there is enough tense and truly scary scenes to keep most horror/thriller fans happy.

Julia's Eyes is a film I enjoyed on the whole and I think people should seek out.