SMALLS FRIGHT FEST: EYES OF LAURA MARS

"Death is a sacred thing."

Fashion photographer Laura Mars is famous for her faux tableaus of violence and murder. She aims to force people to confront violence of all kinds. When she unexpectedly develops the ability to voyeuristically watch murders through the eyes of a killer, it will be she who is forced to confront violence and death. 

Many view Eyes of Laura Mars as an American Giallo film, and they aren't wrong. This film has a surprisingly stacked cast including Raúl Juliá, Faye Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones, Brad Dourif, and René Auberjonois (the film’s secret MVP). It’s also got one of the best uses of the POV shot in film. Between this and Halloween, 1978 was a damn good year for the POV shot. 

The Eyes of Laura Mars has more on its mind than just death. It’s a film about violence, voyeurism, and the spectator’s role in art. It isn’t afraid to interrogate its subject matter and it forces the audience to confront its part in viewing horror films. It’s definitely a different kind of horror flick. Think of it as horror by way of high art. 

The killer’s reveal is a bit last-minute, feels rushed, and doesn’t fully satisfy. That said, everything that comes before is of quality. The cinematography by Victor J. Kemper (Dog Day Afternoon, Xanadu, Slap Shot, The Jerk, Beethoven, National Lampoon’s Vacation, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, Clue, Cohen and Tate, Tommy Boy, Jingle All the Way) is impressive at moments. 

The editing is handled by Michael Kahn (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1941, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Poltergeist, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Goonies, The Color Purple, Fatal Attraction, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Arachnophobia, Hook, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, Casper, Twister, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, The Terminal, The BFG, The Post, Bridge of Spies, Minority Report, Catch Me if You Can, War of the Worlds 2005, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Munich, Ready Player One, The Adventures of Tintin, War Horse, Lincoln, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, West Side Story 2021, The Fabelmans) and he does a great job. 

The screenplay by John Carpenter and David Zelag Goodman (Straw Dogs, Logan’s Run) is strong. The same goes for the directing by Empire Strikes Back’s Irvin Kershner (He also directed Robocop 2). The Eyes of Laura Mars is an under-appreciated horror movie that is absolutely worth a watch or several. Don’t look away.