Review of Starry Eyes (2014) by John K — 01 Dec 2014

Starry Eyes (2014) Film Thoughts... Here is another film out on the circuit that has been getting some major buzz, so I decided for once, I should get on the reviewing bandwagon on time... Starry Eyes is a film with dual directorship/writing credited to Kevin Kolsch & Dennis Widmyer and stars Alexandra Essoe as Sarah Walker, a down on her luck and sadly, not very talented "actress". She comes across a listing on a talent search site for a film called "The Silver Scream" and of course, applies for it. Her 1st audition with them (to some very strange casting folk, which I feel the directors were making a point here) doesn't go well but after being seen having a fit in a bathroom stall, Sarah gets called back "to try again"...and it goes from there.

Before I go any further with my thoughts, let get it straight...there is nothing about the story that is original here. You'll be pulling the filmmaker's influences out of your head right away. What is solid about the film is the execution of the material. All the characters play well, especially all of Sarah's friends who are young and of the type that have no real direction in life...big dreams and all that. Ms. Essoe contorts her body in my painful ways which probably left some bruises. Some nasty bits with maggots and really, really brutal violence (Ouch!)...I loved the title card that homages back to the 1970's and the music by Jonathan Snipes brings it, especially the end title, where I almost lost my mind how good the track was. They need to release the soundtrack somewhere, somehow.

Starry Eyes is a well made, well shot indie horror film that deserves your attention. I am not going to say it's in the top ten of the year or anything like that (though it might be), it is just I am so impressed with indie filmmakers these days...you can rent a good camera (shot on RED), get your actors and crew together and knock it out, in this case, 18 days. See it on VOD now and I know I'll be adding it to the DVD collection when available.