[Original Title: Los ojos de Julia]
Director: Guillem Morales
Writers: Guillem Morales, Oriol Paulo
Running time: 118 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15
Genre: Horror/Mystery/Thriller
UK Release date: 20th May 2011
Watched on Sky+ Sunday 28th April 2013.
PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE UNINTENTIONAL SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.
This is a film I’ve wanted to see for some time now and I was pleased when it turned up in the listings last week. Of course time being at a premium, it’s not been until now that I’ve had the chance to sit down and watch it. Guillermo del Toro is one of the producers, which is why his name is very prominent on the posters; not that it’s a bad thing of course. I found it quite an intense drama with plenty for the slasher/horror fans to get their teeth into. I’ll give you more of my thoughts after this very brief summary.
When Julia Levin’s twin sister, Sara, commits suicide Julia decides there is something suspicious about it (both sisters played by Belén Rueda). Sara had been suffering from a degenerative condition that was slowly making her blind. Julia had the same condition, but not as advanced. And so, with her eyesight slowly fading, she begins to investigate with the help of her husband, Isaac (Lluís Homar). She discovers that Sara had been seeing a man and that they had gone to a country hotel together. They go to the same hotel but nobody seems to know who the mysterious man was. But there are clues and they point to Isaac; who commits suicide, again, in mysterious circumstances soon after. Julia finds her eyes are deteriorating fast now and goes into hospital to have an operation to fix the problem. She now has to keep them bandaged for two weeks. She persuades Dr. Román (Daniel Grao) to let her stay at her sister’s place but he insists that a health worker visits her every day. She agrees and her helper, Ivan (Pablo Derqui) arrives the next day; but there’s something odd about Ivan and Julia can’t take her bandages off to see what it is.
Really well shot with some very creepy lighting effects used in places; I liked the look of this one very much. A very intense drama that builds very nicely towards the end and the final showdown. There are plenty of plot twists to keep the audience guessing; a little old lady that lives around the corner and a creepy neighbour and his daughter. Great performances all round with Belén Rueda getting the nod from me as the most notable. I did find it a little overcomplicated in places, but it did all pan out in the end. Over all, a nicely put together tense drama with elements that the Slasher and Horror genre fans will lap up; worth a look.
SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED
My score: 6.7/10.
IMDb Score: 6.5/10 (based on 12,184 votes when this review was written).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1512685/
MetaScore: No Data: (Based on 0 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 94/100 (based on 34 reviews counted at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 66/100 (based on 4,120 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/los_ojos_de_julia/
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Official Site (es): http://www.losojosdejulia.es/
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