Death Has Blue Eyes
directed by Nico Mastorakis
starring Maria Aliferi, Peter Winter
Arrow Video
Nico Mastorakis’s Death Has Blue Eyes is an ambitious and messy film incorporating elements of science fiction, Italian giallo, political thriller, travelogue, and boner comedy. To say it doesn’t work wouldn’t be unfair and to say it has tone issues would be a gross understatement, but the damned thing isn’t boring. Mastorakis gets unfairly labeled as a “bad’ filmmaker. His movies aren’t bad, but due to their severe budget limitations they are missing some of the infrastructure afforded to similar types of films made in Italy and Germany, but the man knows how to shoot on a budget. He has the knack for maximizing locations and prioritizing his resources to provide some nice action set pieces including a seriously great car & motorcycle chase.
Best friends Ches (Chris Nomikos) and Bob Kowalski (Peter Winter) reunite in Athens for some wacky hijinks with good natured petty larceny and sexual perversity. While trying to run the old “charge the meal and drinks to my room” scam at a hotel they cross paths with psychic medium Christine (Maria Aliferi) and her mother, Geraldine (Jessica Dublin). After an afternoon of debauchery including a threesome the bumbling duo decide to take Geraldine up on her offer to act as bodyguards for Christine. This decision immediately launches the duo into a global conspiracy to try to harness Christine’s immense telekinetic energy. Despite being hunted and surrounded by danger at every turn, Ches and Kowalski still manage to find time to get picked up by gorgeous race car drivers and arrange a late night rendezvous with a stripper, which shockingly turns out to be a trap. In the end they somehow save the day and are handsomely rewarded for their efforts.
With a bit more discipline, Death Has Blue Eyes could have been a really terrific movie evidenced by what Brian DePalma or David Cronenberg would later do with similar subject matter in The Fury and Scanners. Death Has Blue Eyes works best when it’s playing things mostly straight. There are plenty of WTF moments without the Benny Hill level comedic gags.
Arrow Video’s new Blu-ray boasts a crisp transfer in both full frame and 1:85 aspect ratio, with a nice set of extras including interviews with director Nico Mastorakis, an interview with actress Maria Alifer and music tracks from the original soundtrack, trailers, an image gallery and a reversible sleeve with terrific artwork by Graham Humphreys. All in all Death Has Blue Eyes is a solid Blu-ray of an entertaining and interesting but flawed bit of Eurocult cinema.
