Sometimes boils and ghouls, I ask myself the question ‘Am I a glutton for punishment’? Subjecting myself to the mediocrity of below average horror films. But then I remember why I am doing this. If I can save at least one person from wasting their time on a horse shit movie, my job is done. Because, it could be worse! I can say I don’t have it as bad as our lovable Baron Craze has it, with his D.O.A. reviews. He is truly taking one of the Horror Syndicate team.
Last week’s gamble was a dried turd of a film called Cabin Fever: Patient Zero. It did have some nice juicy and gory bits, but that wasn’t quite enough to salvage it. So, I’m hoping to get back on the winning track. What does the Bloody Streaming Roulette wheel hold for me this week?
SPIN THAT SHIT!
Another round shall we?
Starry Eyes (2014)
We follow a young and socially awkward girl with huge dreams of stardom in Tinsel-Town. But, she has emotional issues making it very difficult for her to land any roles. She has a close-knit group of friends, that don’t really take her seriously as an actress. Then one day, she comes across a subtle want-ad calling for young females to do casting auditions for a film called ‘The Silver Scream’. But this is no ordinary audition or film. What did you Sarah get herself into? How far is willing to go for stardom, fame and fortune? To her, is it something worth killing for?
You bet your sweet ass!
Starry Eyes stars Alex Essoe (Tales of Halloween, The Neighbor) as the young and troubled starlet. Her performance was phenomenal, as we see her on-screen transformation come to life. Becoming more confident, demented and down-right scary. We get the feeling she may have sold her soul for this role. I think she was wonderfully cast for the film.
Directed by Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer. I think they really captured an almost Argento-style look with this flick. Pretty cool and creative visuals. Both would go on to direct Holidays (2016). Jonathan Snipes took care of composing an eerie and broody synthwave score. Very innovative using the uber popular style of music on this flick. Made the atmosphere and overall feeling of the film more chilling.
The special and visual effects were superbly achieved by Matt Falletta and Shaina Holmes respectively. The make-up team also did a wonderful job making Essoe look horrific. The death scenes were creative and inspiring to any young filmmakers. The one scene that stands out is a ‘smashing’ scene, there’s some lovely acting (Ni!), that involves a five-pound dumbbell!
After gloating all over this film, let’s bring it down a notch. It’s dreadfully slow at parts. The acting was pretty sub-par save for Essoe and Fabianne Therese (John Dies at the End, Southbound). 15 minutes could have easily been cut from the film. But, that would have given it a pretty thin runtime. All negatives aside, I thought the ending was really intriguing and unexpected. Overall I really dug this film, it was a voyeuristic approach to someone’s demented transformation. Where the audience sees first hand, the lead character effectively killing the person they were, only to be reborn into something… Sinister.
I’m feeling pretty good about this one!
IMDB: 6.0/10
ZombiSurvivor: 7.2/10
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STAY SCARED!
-ZS
