Starry Eyes

Since it's still on Netflix, everyone who enjoys horror movies should take the time to watch Starry Eyes. It is a deeply unsettling exploration of ambition and just how far down a horrifyingly dark path that ambition takes the protagonist. Of course this is a god awful extreme and wholly impossible example of the dangers of ambition, with a suitably gory and violent climax; it is, after all, a horror movie. It really is a fascinating story though, complete with a cult consisting of Satanic Hollywood producers, the occult, and murder. There is a lovely meta element to the movie, wherein a movie producer talks about how disgusting and pathetic ambition makes people in the filmmaking industry...which serves as a bit of foreshadowing just before everything goes terribly sideways. I noticed that it was still available on Netflix this afternoon and decided that I should recommend it.

Alex Essoe is a really good actress and she was brilliant in this. This move delves into the sometimes morally vague and downright bad things people feel forced to do in order to achieve their dreams of fortune and fame. This movie is better than most "seedy underbelly of Hollywood" type tales. It is better than The Last Tycoon (starring a young Bobby De Niro) and infinitely superior to the superficially pretty but bland and unrewarding Neon Demon. The plot is sort of predictable, but the performances and direction is really excellent, so that doesn't matter. I really liked it. There are lot of unprofessional and immoral demands on actresses that go unsaid and there should be more films like this.

I say sort of because the film has an unnerving and tense momentum, with some truly freaky and horrifying (good horrifying) images and scenes. It's kind of obvious where the film is going though, but it has some clever direction and again, disorienting in a good way in some of its pacing and tone. The lead actress is really good, very unnerving. The problem is that the film also has these weak spots here and there, and I wish the last 15 minutes had at least tries to do a bit more than what we regularly get from horror films like this. Still, it's actually quite a nice surprise in some of the things it does. This is actually recommended.

Aspiring actress, Sarah Walker (Alexandra Essoe) auditions for a part in a horror film. Hoping not only to get her "big break", but also to escape her dismal life, including her job at a bottom-of-the-barrel restaurant, Sarah is quite desperate.

Her interactions with the movie's Producer (Louis Dezseran) and his Casting Director (Maria Olsen) grow increasingly bizarre and uncomfortable. Sarah has no idea what she must sacrifice in order for her dreams to come true. Resisting at first, her life begins to change into a nightmare world of physical and mental disintegration. Sarah finally realizes what she is being compelled to do, but can she do it?

STARRY EYES is an exceptional horror film, and a darkly satirical look at the cost of fame. Ms. Essoe is phenomenal, pretty much carrying the entire movie on the strength of her performance. If you're tired of the same old thing in horror films, then give this a shot...

Indie horror can be hit or miss, oftentimes a miss, but Starry Eyes is a surprisingly well acted story that sways toward the "hit" side.

Los Angeles, California – the land where bright eyed beautiful people go to try their hand at stardom. Some are lucky if they get a national commercial or a guest spot on a television series, most resigned to locally produced indie flicks that will only be seen by their inner circle.

Starry Eyes takes the brutally competitive and unmerciful Hollywood atmosphere and couples it with the darkest desire, the blind ambition to seize success. Alex Essoe is Sarah, an aspiring actress engaged in the LA grind: waiting tables, submitting head shots and going on casting calls. After one particularly odd audition, she earns the opportunity for a lead role in a gateway movie. Hopeful for her big break, Sarah grapples with making a deal to enter into the dark and occult world of the elite.

Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer split the dual role of screenwriter/director in Starry Eyes but produce a cohesive vision in their film. It is immediately apparent that Kolsch and Widmyer have been around the Los Angeles block more than enough times. They perfectly capture the pompous, self-serving atmosphere rife with deceptively two-faced phonies who talk more than they 'do'.

Starry Eyes is a surprisingly successful and effective film and horror. The mood is stark and matter-of-factedly vicious. As with any horror, it lulls in the middle as the characters evolve and develop so that they may transform feasibly to the climax. Also the cause for and transformation Sarah goes through is rather standard and obvious.

Alex Essoe's acting and portrayal of Sarah elevates Starry Eyes even further. Essoe subtly transforms from the hopeful ingenue to the ambitiously consumed actress hell bent for greatness. Weirdly poignant and meta, I hope Alex Essoe's performance in this role garners some attention from producers in the right place, for she has talent.

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