31 Days of Horror 2021 Day 30 Eyes of Laura Mars

 

TITLE-Eyes of Laura Mars

SOURCE-Mill Creek Blu ray

So yea I've been hearing about this late 70s film for what feels like all my life. Never saw it airing on tv,never saw it for rent in the VHS days. Then I found the Blu Ray,brand new,for 3 bucks so took a chance and bought it.And like most movies I buy it sat on the shelf for close to a year before I watched it tonight.

Faye Dunaway is a fashion photographer in NYC. She keeps having spells where she is seeing murders through the killer's eyes. And ends up recreating these kills in her various photo shoots. Tommy Lee Jones,looking so much like he does now but with more hair,is the cop assigned to protect Faye,who is the Laura Mars of the title.

Brad Dourif is pretty good as the ex con driver that Laura has. And of course he is one of the many red herrings in the film. And there is Rene Auberjonois as Laura's assistant. The hair and the clothes he is wearing makes he look like my elderly Aunt Dean. Finally we got Raul Julia as Laura's (ex)husband. He has a tiny part and still stands out.

The story feels like an Americanized Giallo film. Looked and turns out the original script,titled Eyes,was written by John Carpenter. And this of course came out the same year as Carpenter's Halloween. David Zelag Goodman took the short script Carpenter wrote and made it into the film. ANd Irvin Kershner directed it.

The film looks nice,the blu ray appears to have been given a great transfer of the film. The sound is decent,and the only extra is a commentary I haven't listened to yet.

But even with this being one of hte earliest US giallo inspired movies...it is just slow as fuck. Almost 2 hours long and there are scenes and one really bad earworm disco song that go on for WAY TO FUCKING LONG!!!

The kills are kinda bloodless. Not graphic in anyway. And seen thru the killers smeary blurry vision. Really the main reason the film got an R rating is the nudity,lots of the photoshoots are fashion shoots with topless models,and some foul language. Maybe if say 20 minutes was cut I wouldn't have checked the timer to see how much more the film had at the 1 hour 30 minute mark. 

I like the cast of just odd stars. Appears someone bought this script to have Barbara Streisand as the lead. She thought hte film was too sleazy so Faye Dunaway ,fresh off Network,got the lead. Dourif and Rene do a lot with what could be throwaway roles. Raul Julia I wish had a bigger part in the film,but of course he is another of the many red herrings in this film.

So yea the killer. I will admit I didn;t figure out who it was until 2 minutes before the reveal near the end. But honestly by that time I was just ready for this to end. 

SPOILERS KILLER REVEALED

Yea Tommy Lee Jones the cop is the killer. He slips up in front of Faye. Tries to kill her then has his multiple personalities fighting for control. Shoots a mirror,forgot to mention Faye's bedroom has mirrors over most of the walls in this oddly oval shaped room. And while Tommy Lee is distracted looking at the bullet hole in the mirror Faye kills him. And thankfully this slow slow slow burn of a film is over.

SPOILERS OVER

Yea for 3 bucks I'm glad I saw it. Looks and sounds good. Just way slower than what I was in the mood for today.

Eyes of Laura Mars gets a C.

2016 Comic Challenge 232 Escape from New York Volume #01

TITLE-Escape from New York volume 01
PUBLISHER-Boom Studios

Set right after the end of the first film,this 4 issue trade ignores the horrible sequel and gives us a worthwhile follow up to one of John Carpenter's greatest films.

Snake gets away. And makes it down to the Free State of Florida. Once down there he gets taken prisoner by the two teen age boys that somehow are in charge of Florida.

We also learn that thanks to Snake's actions in the first film the President is being impeached. So of course the Prez wants to get Snake.

The art is pretty good. With the artist making Snake look like Kurt Russell. The story feels like a true follow up to the first film. Which is something Escape from LA was lacking.

Of course with this being an ongoing series the trade ends on a cliffhanger. But I am pretty sure Snake will find a way out of this situation.

Escape from New York volume 01 gets a buy.

31 days of Horror year 2 day 1

Christine-Encore Drama airing

I actually had planned on watching either Frankenhooker or Header today. But about 30 minutes after I woke up I noticed that Christine was airing on Encore Drama. I realized I haven't seen this movie in over 20 years. Arnie and Dennis have been friends for many many years. Then Arnie buys a beat up Plymouth Fury. Pretty quickly Arnie goes from being a nerdy little guy to being a cooler version of John Travolta in Grease. A couple of guys from the high school don't like Arnie and sneak in one night and totally destroy the car. Arnie sees this is and is devastated ,but we see the car repairing itself. A few minutes later Christine,Arnie's car,is hunting down the guys that damaged "her" and kills them all off. I had read the novel this is based on about a year or so ago. So that version of the story was fresher in my mind. And really the book is much better. In the film there really isn't a reason for Christine being able to repair "herself" or all the other supernatural abilities the car has. But in the novel you find out that the car is possessed by the spirit of it's former owner. But the film is still a fun way to pass some time and gets a B.