Blu-ray Review: JULIA'S EYES - Excellent, Taut Spanish Thriller
Certainly one of the greatest films of Spanish descent to be released in the new millennium, Julia’s Eyes is a powerful film that uses an almost Hitchcockian approach to suspense and surprise to keep viewers literally ion the edge of their seats.
Once in a while, a truly sensational piece of world cinema is released that audiences should seek out. Julias Eyes is a prime example of such a film, but having Guillermo Del Toro for a producer doesnt make this surprising. Released today on Blu-ray and DVD, take a look at our review below. When Sara (Belen Rueda), a young woman with a degenerative sight condition finally goes blind, her inability to accept her fate seems to lead her to commit suicide in the basement of her house. When her twin sister Julia (also Rueda) discovers her sisters actions, she cannot believe that suicide was the case instead convinced that she was murdered. Determined to prove that the case is not a simple open and shut verdict of suicide, Julia begins to investigate. With the assistance of her seemingly devoted husband, Isaac (Lluís Homar), she begins to track down and question various people who knew her sister. As her questioning deepens, a series of encounters with an obscure, voyeuristic stranger that she can never catch or subsequently trace causes her suspicions to intensify. After piecing together scraps of information from various people, Julia determines that Sara had a boyfriend, something that is confirmed when one of her sisters friends discloses that the two escaped on a romantic getaway shortly before her death. Travelling to the same hotel where the couple stayed, Julia is warned by a kindly old man that she should be careful, as a dangerous man who has managed to slip into invisibility is following her. With the warning confirming her previous experiences Julia takes the old mans advice seriously, but despite this and the insistence of Isaac to stop, she cannot. As the stress of her investigations and the subsequent disappearance of Isaac take their tolls on her, Julias own sight condition worsens and it becomes clear that like her sister, she too will become blind. Agreeing to undergo a complex and extremely risky eye transplant, Julia may finally find out the truth about her sisters death... 
Guillermo Del Toro has directed and produced some excellent films and Julia's Eyes is another success he can add to his filmography! Generating more suspense in its opening sequence than most thrillers mange to muster up in an entire runtime, the film is edge of your seat cinema from beginning to end. Blending elements of horror and romance with the taut narrative, writers Guillem Morales and Oriol Paulo have managed to create a film that suggests to audiences that it is going to follow one path, only to rip the comfort of this from under their feet by shifting in a different direction. The suspense of the narrative is heightened by Moraless direction, predominantly through his use of expressive camera work and special effects. When the camera captures a point of view shot from Julia a shifting black haze distorts the image on screen and transports the audience directly into the character's world. Later in the narrative the suspense surrounding the identity of the killer and also of Sara's neighbour's daughter is made more intense by the fact that their faces remain obscured from view whilst Julia's vision has not returned. Again audiences are directly placed in the centre of the action and can immediately relate to Julia more intensely, whilst the horror of her situation is also heightened. Morales makes the film appear multisensory, in that by restricting Julia and the audiences' vision, reliance upon sound and atmosphere becomes increased. A huge amount of tension is generated through these processes and the just shy of 2 hours runtime slips by extremely quickly. Exhibiting a Hitchcockian technique for placing suspense over surprise, but also the ability to genuinely shock, Julia's Eyes is an extremely complex, accomplished and stylised thriller. 
Actress Belen Rueda is very much the star of Julia's Eyes, playing both of the twin sisters. Managing to remain subtle and engaging within the role, she refrains from slipping into hysteria and instead gives an intense but accomplished performance. She manages to capture Julia's obsessive determination to prove that her sister did not commit suicide with a fervent quality that prevents the character from becoming irritating or irrational. Instead she manages to win viewers' sympathy, which is further achieved through her ability to exhibit Julia's ultimate vulnerability through a physically and emotionally expressive performance. Pablo Derqui as Angel is entirely unsettling, portraying the psychopath with such intense reality that when his face is first visible on screen audiences hearts literally skip a beat in fear! Derqui is similarly expressive within his role, managing to say more with a single flick of his crazy eyes than he could with a five-page monologue. Excellent support is given from actors Lluis Homar, Francesc Orella and Julia Gutiérrez Caba in their various roles. Homar as Julia's husband Isaac is particularly effective, helping to relieve the tension in brief moments of tenderness. Isaac's affection for Julia appears unquestionable and Homar manages to play him with a warmth that makes him immediately likeable. When his true character is revealed, the illusions of a loving husband that he manages to create are immediately shattered in a twist that leaves viewers shocked. QUALITY
The visual quality of Optimums Blu-ray release is exceptional, with sharp images pervading throughout the film. The majority of the plot is set within the night time hours, but even when light levels are low the smallest of details are still perfectly visible. The contrast between the deep, expansive blacks of the shadows that are so important to the narrative contrast significantly with the areas bathed in light, but even in both extremes the images are free from any distortion or noticeable grain. The colour scheme is predominantly made up of cool, icy blues and greys that perfectly capture the genuinely creepy and unsettling atmosphere. Moments of rich colour prevail at various points the hotel room in particular and these exist almost as a sanctuary from the intensely chilling aspects of the narrative. Needless to say, these moments are few and far between, but help demonstrate the power of Julias Eyes fantastic high definition transfer. The audio quality is similarly proficient and as Julias blindness sets in, there are moments when the visuals mimic her condition and the audience rely on the soundtrack alone. The ambient and special effects sounds are powerfully clear, filling the full range of speakers HD televisions are equipped with. The dialogue remains clear and intelligible throughout the film, although this will only be of any real benefit to those fluent in Spanish. For the rest of us, the subtitles which are visible over both the picture and the black bar are well translated and free from any grammatical or spelling mistakes that could potentially hinder the chilling atmosphere. EXTRAS
This excellent film is done a slight injustice on this Blu-ray release, as very few significant additional features are presented on the disc. The following are all that viewers can expect to find: Interviews A collection of short interviews were conducted with director Guillem Morales, stars Belen Rueda and Lluis Homar, plus producer Guillermo Del Toro. These brief interviews cover a range of subjects from the storys original conception to the development of characters and the tone of the film. B-Roll This collection of raw footage from behind the scenes is rather dull and would have benefitted from being combined with the aforementioned interviews to make a compelling and far more detailed making of documentary. Presented in the original Spanish dialogue, English subtitles translate any dialogue. Original Trailer this original theatrical trailer perfectly captures the tone of the film and brilliantly draws viewers into the narrative with its string of clips. Film: 5 out of 5 Certainly one of the greatest films of Spanish descent to be released in the new millennium, Julias Eyes is a powerful film that uses an almost Hitchcockian approach to suspense and surprise to keep viewers literally ion the edge of their seats. Creating a genuinely unnerving atmosphere, this chilling tale is much more about psychological horror than anything truly gory and it will undoubtedly remain with viewers for may years to come Visuals: 4.5 out of 5 The upgraded HD transfer on Optimums release is free from any major defects and there is virtually no noticeable grain or distortion of the images, unless a shot depicts what Julia sees. This means that Julias Eyes is a veritable visual delight, with crystal clear images, a communicative colour palette and a deep texture that catapults viewers directly into the centre of the unsettling atmosphere. Audio: 4.5 out of 5 The high quality of the audio track means that Julias Eyes sounds extremely impressive, with expressive ambient sound as equally audible as the dialogue. Working in collaboration to heighten both the atmosphere and tension of the narrative, the sound is another excellent feature of this release. Extras: 3 out of 5 An audio commentary or more in depth making of documentary would certainly have boosted the quality of the additional material offered on this release. Whilst the brief interviews are informative and interesting they simply leave viewers wanting more. The raw behind the scenes footage is rather dull, but would have blended well with the interviews to make a more compelling documentary on the production. Presentation: 4 out of 5 The front cover expertly captures the dark undertones of the narrative and the image of Julia with bandaged eyes and a black shadow directly behind her certainly makes a strong and compelling reference to both the horror and mystery of the plot. The static menu is simple in its repetition of the same image of Julia, as well as being easy to navigate. Overall: 4.5 out of 5 The disappointing collection of bonus material betrays this release slightly. However, the film is so exceptionally tense and engaging that this really should be on everybodys shelves despite the lack of extras! 
Julia's Eyes is released on Blu-ray from today.