Mirada de cristal

Think Susperia on a low budget but as Ru Paul runway challenge and you have this movie.

This one is all about its style, even our serial killer is voguing whilist they stalk. For the most part they pull this off. The outfits are great. The set design although low budget, completely ooozes 80's Italian horror and they really did a good job on the use of colour.

The kills and the acting are a bit of a let down. Kind of a stand there and scream whilst you are stabbed. However they do the set up each one really stylish, it's just the final executions that are a bit lame. (Death by wings is excluded from this - that was a goody).

I did find it hard to remember which character was which and I cared more about their wardrobe than their safety.

I loved the aesthetics, the America's Next Top Serial Killer look and turning walking down the street into a runway experience.

Not so keen on the over all story or script - it's worth a watch just to play spot the Suspiria references, but visually it impressively holds it own as well.

If I was an influencer I'd copy its look for my Halloween story, but as a movie watcher and horror fan, I'm glad I saw it but I wouldn't go out of my way to watch it again.

Crystal Eyes is a homage/pastiche of the giallo -- not so much the classic '70s movies of Argento, Bava and Martino, but rather the glossy, somewhat tacky '80s music-video-inspired efforts that went straight to video: films such as Too Beautiful To Die, Nothing Underneath, and Fulci's Murder Rock, which were set in the world of high fashion, populated by semi-clad women sporting big hair and bad make-up, swathed in neon and smoke, the action accompanied by a pop/rock synth soundtrack.

Directors Ezequiel Endelman and Leandro Montejano get the aesthetic spot on, and add knowing nods to the classics of the genre to please avid fans. The killer is particularly impressive, dressed as a mannequin and striking model poses whilst pursuing the staff and models working at fashion magazine Atilla. If I have one complaint, it's that the murders aren't very elaborate: they're staged well enough, with plenty of blood (the throat slashings are juicy), but they lack imagination -- at least until the ending, where a woman is impaled by a large crystal bird ornament (geddit?). More of that would have been good.

Definitely one of the better neo gialli. There were a few details that took me out of the time period but overall this felt very true to the 80s, more than most big budget throwbacks, and did a great job recapturing that giallo vibe and style. It's also very interesting that they opted to look back at 80s gialli rather than 70s (although they took cues from several of the latter as well) seeing as how 80s films of that type were usually less highly regarded and the trend was over, meaning less of them were being made. Most neo gialli are set in the 70s so this is definitely something new. It has a very obvious low budget which was a bit disappointing as one of the main keys of the subgenre is lavish and opulent set design but they did a good job nonetheless, going for the art noveau style of argento's most popular period. That last building was the real thing though, and gorgeous.

"Mirada de Cristal" perfectly captures the essence of Italian horror productions from the late 70s and 80s and this is something that I personally loved to see. It features all the elements that made those movies from that particular era so fun to watch: an uncomplicated plot with the right amount of mystery, fun characters, creative death scenes, a killer wearing a very distinctive mask, a bright color palette and great music.

While watching "Mirada de Cristal", I couldn't help but thinking of one of my favorite Italian horror flicks from the 80s, like Michele Soavi's "Deliria" (aka "Stage Fright"), especially with all those colorful lights, the flamboyant characters with diva attitudes and the creative death scenes. The characters are one of the many things I love about this flick: they are clearly supposed to be over the top and somewhat campy, so I also give credit to the actors for delivering their lines in a way that was very evocative of those flicks from the 80s. I especially enjoyed seeing the late Silvia Montanari and veteran actress Claudia Lapacó in a small role towards the very end. To be fair, though, most of the cast members were up to the task, not only the most famous ones.

Though the budget was modest (and it shows from time to time), directors Ezequiel Endelman and Leandro Montejano used it wisely enough for the most part. They tried to recreate the aesthetics of the dance academy from "Suspiria" (1977), which is not exactly easy to do with moderate budget, but somehow, they managed to get the job done (hell, we even get a brief glimpse of ornamental glass peacock!). I regret to say that, at times, the scenery looked perhaps a little bit too stiff and cartoonish. I don't know if this was intentional or not, but I personally didn't care for it that much. That being said, I'll take artificial scenery over lousy CGI any day! For the most part, the scenery was great. The photography and the strident color scheme was very well done and it reminded me of Dario Argento's "Inferno" (1980), for the most part.

Throughout the entire film, the killer wears a patent leather trench coat, high heels and a creepy mask of a woman with heavy makeup and dead eyes. When chasing his/her victims, the killer walks as if he/she were on a catwalk, even going so far as to strike glamorous poses (how can anyone not enjoy the deliberate campiness of this?). The chase scenes are very well done, providing just the right amount of tension and without being unnecessarily prolonged. As for the kills, they are really creative and intentionally over the top (the one with the crystal bird was just perfect). As for the killer's identity reveal, well, it really wasn't very surprising, but, who cares? Most "old-school" slashers were predictable to a certain extent too, so I don't consider this a flaw.

I really enjoyed this movie and I think those who have watched more than a couple of Italian/American horror productions from the 80s will be able to acknowledge that both directors really have a tremendous passion for horror flicks and they put a lot of effort into this. They evidently cared about their film, nothing felt rushed, they took a lot of time and dedication to take care of even the tiniest details and it shows. When something is done with such devotion, it most likely ends up getting the recognition it deserves.