Occhi dalle stelle

Photographer, Peter Collins (Franco Garofalo) is stalked, abducted, and duly probed by aliens. When his friend and model, Karin (Sherry Buchanan) goes looking for him, she winds up in the same predicament.

Unfortunately, Peter and Karin have little to do with the rest of the story, which delves into the investigation into the disappearances by a police inspector (Martin Balsam) and a reporter (Robert Hoffman).

There's also a secret government organization known as "The Silencers" (!). Peter has something that "The Silencers" desperately want.

This is supposedly an Italian sci-fi / thriller film, but those expecting any actual thrills may be disappointed. It's mostly driven by windy, UFO conspiracy theory dialogue. That is, right up to the final 15 minutes. Even the finale isn't all that interesting or exciting...

This film was not nearly as much of a chore as I expected it to be. There are a few seconds of brilliance in this somewhat idiotic hardcore UFO conspiracy paranoia-fest. Most of the acting is mediocre, but fairly typical for 1970s-style stuff replete with pregnant pauses. A photographer and a model witness some strange goings-on in the woods and soon fall victim to these same goings-on. Flying saucers are spotted, more people disappear - but is it the aliens or our own government's ultra-secret group of cover-up guys? Soon enough, a reporter and a "UFOlogist" (apparently modeled on the character of the writer-director) are drawn into this unraveling fiasco and become the target of the ultra-secret agents who are as menacing as they are improbable and witless. Then the fun really begins.

The movie, predictably, makes about as much sense as the average UFO conspiracy theory, but should be commended for taking itself so seriously. The camera work is OK for a low-budget film, the pacing is pretty good, the script is silly and absurd, and there are continuity issues which are fun to look out for. What are the few seconds of brilliance I mentioned? Honestly, I can't say much you without writing a spoiler. Suffice to say that the end of the film is, at least, worth fast-forwarding to if you can't take the middle.

First, this movie contains no excitement. None. Not an ounce. If you don't like watching B-movies, you don't need to see this. Even if you like B-movies, this one is difficult to sit through, but it has a few things going for it.

Second, it's hardly an ET rip-off. (Did the previous two commentators see the same movie? No way.)

Rather than ET, it more resembles the TV series called "UFO". Some of the characters even pronounce that abbreviation as a word, like "you-foe", which is how they always pronounced "UFO" on "UFO". Early on, the movie does a decent job of presenting a mildly creepy "the aliens are stalking us" mood, & in one or two places, characters speculate that aliens abduct humans to experiment on them. Both of those aspects reminded me of "UFO". Also, there are some scenes through an alien's eye-view. (Oh yeah, & during those scenes, one of the sound-effects is definitely from the Doctor Who story called "Robot".)

But the plot doesn't stay with the "aliens are stalking us" premise. It meanders all over the map of plots. It goes nearly everywhere a plot can go: creepiness, missing persons, journalistic story-hunting, police crime investigation, government conspiracy, international conspiracy, double-crossing double-agents, & even psychics. The plot changes so often & so thoroughly that I felt almost like I was watching different movies. I'd say this is the movie's biggest problem; it's like the writer didn't know what kind of movie he wanted to create.

There's a character who just HAS to be the inspiration for The X-Files' Cancer Man. Even the actor looks like the one who plays Cancer Man. When I saw that character, which is also about the time the plot turns to conspiracy theories, it made me suspect that this movie was some of the inspiration behind The X-Files. I'd almost bet on it. There are also some alien-abduction scenes & talk that resemble that same theme as it's expressed in The X-Files. (But if you are an X-Files fan, don't count on this movie to give you a supplementary X-Files fix. Your standards are probably way too high.)

A curiosity: The version I watched had an English dubbed sound-track. I believe the movie is Spanish (?), but every printed word I recall seeing was English. I thought that was mildly interesting.

The ending was unexpected, I'll grant. I'm not saying it was inspiring, insightful, or clever. I just didn't see it coming.

So, it's a bad movie, for sure, but there are some things about it that provide some food for thought or analysis if you're the kind of person who wants to look for it. (But it really is a pretty bad movie.)

I like movies about UFOs, which is why I recently decided to rewatch EYES BEHIND THE STARS after seeing it when I was a kid back in the late 1970s. And now I'm compelled to write a review about it because I'm afraid I'll start forgetting everything about it FAST. You see, even though EBTS ain't bad, it's VERY dull and nondescript. The story is sorta interesting but flat. The actors are good but their roles are boring and a little confusing. The FX are terribly amateurish but I can overlook something like that if the movie is compelling, which, unfortunately, this one ain't.

Also, there's very little violence and there's no nudity whatsoever, which makes this 1970s Italian sci-fi opus a TRUE oddity, because if there's one thing that distinguishes Italian genre movies made in the 1970s from genre movies of other countries made in the same decade, it's the astonishing amount of violence and sex to be found in them. Oddly enough, because of the almost complete lack of exploitive elements, EBTS stands out from the rest of the pact. I don't know if this can be seen as a compliment though. Personally, I can enjoy a movie without sex and violence but I think EBTS NEEDED more violence and some sex here and there to spice it up because it is so deadly dull and dry. And the special effects aren't that special.

The story itself is actually interesting. It's a combo of THE X-FILES and Antonioni's BLOWUP: a photographer accidentally captures aliens on film during a fashion shoot in the country. The aliens know they were captured on film and they proceed to kidnap the photographer and a model, subsequently destroying any evidence of their presence on earth. The problem starts when the model meets a man at the recently abducted photographer's apartment (this taking place just before she's to be abducted herself). The man takes some of the negatives and leaves, with the aliens having no knowledge of the missing negatives. The whole story is about this man wanting to know more about the aliens and a secret spy group who want to get a hold of the negatives. The majority of the movie centers around boring political intrigue, in the spy vs spy variety. The UFO element of the story is almost unimportant and could have easily been replaced by any cold war McGuffin. But as dull as EYES BEHIND THE STARS is, it does resemble THE X-FILES a LOT! I wonder if Chris Carter saw this movie. Anyway, the best thing in EBTS are the POV shots, which are creepy and effective. But the rest is almost completely forgettable, including the goofy looking aliens.

Even though I've been mostly negative about this film, I sorta cherish it nonetheless. I still remember the effective ad campaign which scared me when I saw it as a kid. And I own the video. The film could have been so much more if it had been done properly. Oh well...

What was this film?? It begins with the great Italian star Sherry Buchanan doing a phoot shoot in the woods, then the photographer thinks he took a photo of something odd. Then he realizes he took a photo of a UFO, then he goes back to that locaton, gets chased by something (we only see their POV) then gets abducted, then the aliens kill a local old man, and blinds his dog! Then they capture Sherry, then we finally see the aliens, who look like a bunch of guys in sji mask and goggles, then it becomes a detective movie with martin Balsam (dubbed by someone else) and the lead and Natalie Delon trying to find out what happened, as the Goverment "Silencers" are out to stop them! The ending is a real mess, and you realize that in the end, you couldn't root for anyone,and no clear explaniation on what the aliens were dong here, and why were they in cahoots with the baddies! A big bore from Italian cinema, but maybe if it gets re-released on video again, it might find an audience. Not with me though.