Genuinely spooky spanish psycho thriller from the guy who brought you The Orphanage, again midwifed by the obesely talented Guileermo Del Toro. Julia's Eyes...qué es acerca de? Well, like "My Left Foot", "The Man with Two Brains" or "Hung" It's exactly what it says on the tin. A bit like ronseal. Except in this case its not a tin of petroleum-based varnish, but instead a tin full of...eyes. Eyes going....bad. Julia has a degenerative disease which is slowly eroding her eyesight. Her twin sister had the same malady and came to a unfortunate end, but something about this seems wrong to our optically challenged heroine, who starts to delve into matters suspicious.
Beautifully shot, superb performances and just a little overlong, but well worth a look. It's gripping and mostly bloodless BUT - much like The Orphanage and its grim van vs old woman scene - when its decides to get graphic, well there's some rather unsavoury kitchen knife stabbery followed by a bit of eyeball violence that had even me, a man with ice in his blood and fire in his pants, grimacing, turning away and examining the backs of my hands for few seconds (quite hairy) The premise of gradual blindness is creepy enough, and fused with a mysterious, almost supernatural malevolent character lurking in the shadows...brrr. The ending is strange...bleak, downbeat but oddly uplifting. The main performance by Belen Rueda (who also starred in The Orphanage), is quite stunning, and that's high praise indeed coming from someone who doesnt normally see actors as much more than mobile set dressing.
So if you fancy a trip to your local fleapit this week....Check out Los Ojos De Julia. So much more worthy of your time and hard earned moolah than some mong-pleasing tat like The Hangover 2. You'll probably see that instead, and that's why I'm writing this while you're sitting at home in your pants with a uneasy sense of self loathing.
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