♏︎’s review published on Letterboxd:
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crystal eyes is a modern giallo film released in 2017 that has no right being as authentically '80s as it is. jam-packed with tasteful homages and set in 1985, everything feels of the era: the intense fashion, catchy soundtrack, bright sets, experimental cinematography, and the campy dialogue all work together in making it clear that this is a genuine love letter to that time in pop culture, while still being its own unique entity.
a lot of horror movies of the past have used the supermodel shtick, but this arthouse slasher goes full out in utilising it to the extreme — our fierce mannequin killer spends their screen-time robotically striking a pose and strutting as if they're on a couture runway while racking up a fashionable body count. it's never truly clear if they're actually human or a plastic doll, making the viewer just as clueless as the victims. it's perfection.
the set of characters are all equally unique and strange, and the film as a whole feels like a stylised nightmare, thanks to the attractive lighting and angles in almost every single shot. '80s top model alexis carpenter is a haunting mean girl presence that would give '50s diva mary lou maloney from hello mary lou: prom night ii a run for her money.
there's a scene where an assistant named nadia does a very specific routine and is then brutally murdered. afterwards, her twin sister nidia does the exact same routine, shot by shot, and it's so bizarre and hilarious that it sums up the movie's aura flawlessly: a fabulous, self-aware slasher full of melodramatic acting and flashy kills straight out of the genre's most beloved decade. a true hidden gem.
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