Slay.
CRYSTAL EYES
2017/15/81m
“Alexis Carpenter wants to be the best model of all …Even when she’s dead.”
Original title: Mirada de cristal
Directors/Writers: Ezequiel Endelman & Leandro Montejano / Cast: Anahi Politi, Silvia Montanari, Erika Boveri, Camila Pizzo, Valeria Giorcelli, Diego Benedetto, Claudio Armesto, Victoria Del Rosal, Augustina Del Rosal, Adriana Pregliasco.
Body Count: 10
In 1985, monster diva model Alexis Carpenter pisses off everybody in her orbit, tossing hot coffee into the face of a poor makeup artist and taking to the runway in a shredded bridal gown, defiantly downs booze before setting herself aflame and going up like Mary Lou Maloney.
One year later, her Buenos Aires fashion house is preparing for a tribute edition, but a mannequin rocking all the killer runway poses keeps turning up and slashing, skewering, and drowning those associated with the concept, including the young models up for the ‘role’ of Alexis.
Crystal Eyes oils itself up and rolls in a pit of giallo 80s excesses: Neon, big hair, high-end artwork, garish design, footwear that clip-clops loudly across any floor. Each and every shot is designed to wring out the sinister, every line of dialogue delivered like it has been redubbed, with characters responding to questions before the other person has even finished speaking. It’s so visually stunning, I’d defy anybody to think it’s anything other than an unearthed feature-length video from European MTV circa 1988.
The over-stylization of things actually makes for an unsettling, slightly nauseating tone, especially during the scenes as arch editor Lucia’s home, where identical twin assistants robotically clomp around in unison without cracking a smile. The kills are also savage, each dripping with the signature giallo build-ups: A creepy blind usher here, a razor glinting against the light there, eerie notes, and the killer themself; who sashays towards each victim like she’s on the Drag Race stage, her ‘face’ made-up to perfection like a drag exaggeration.
Like the 80s itself, and the fashion thereof, everything is grotesquely overwrought, bypassing a ten on the camp-o-meter at every possible moment. Expertly crafted stuff.
Not to be confused with fellow giallo throwback, Eyes of Crystal.