Blu-Ray Review: Starry Eyes

By Less Lee Moore

So much of the success of Starry Eyes rests on lead actress Alex Essoe’s able shoulders. She beautifully embodies the role of Sarah, a budding actress who pines for the role that will catapult her into the pantheon of the Old School Hollywood ladies whose photos adorn her bedroom walls. Surrounded by struggling fellow thespians, one of whom (Erin) wants to cut her down at every opportunity, Alex’s insecurity and fragility is palpable and painful to witness. Forced to pay the bills working at a Hooters-type restaurant, she is thrilled when she gets an audition from the esteemed Astraeus Pictures.

In the beginning, Starry Eyes feels like a particularly pointed indictment of the Hollywood dream, especially when one considers that the cast members are young actors and actresses who are all pursuing the same thing. No one could blame Alex for losing her shit in the bathroom after the aforementioned audition; many have succumbed to the kind of easily concealed self-harm that such intense pressure can provoke. The casting couch cliché is based in reality so its appearance in Starry Eyes seems like a tangible threat.

Visually and emotionally, writer/director duo Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer hit their marks, even inserting some levity into the film, via the wonderful Pat Healy as Carl, Alex’s boss at Big Taters. Yet as good as Essoe and the rest of the cast are (especially Louis Dezseran as The Producer), and as impressive as DP Adam Bricker’s lovely camera work is, Starry Eyes, like Alex herself, bites off a bit more than it can chew. At the first audition for the inauspiciously titled The Silver Scream, the casting director’s assistant smirks at Alex to “show, not tell.” This is an appropriate metaphor for my disappointment in the film.

Alex’s transformation is frightening yet believable; looking back after the film is over, the signs of her narcissism and single-mindedness were already there, as well as a predisposition towards a particular strain of mental health troubles. Her turn from sympathetic victim to calculating monster (and the reverse turn that her friend Erin takes) is deftly handled. Alex’s physical metamorphosis, courtesy of outstanding practical effects from Matt Falletta and Hugo Villasenor, is horrifying to witness. The murders she commits are among the most vivid and disturbing I’ve seen in a recent horror film; Starry Eyes is not a good time gorefest, by any means.

With all of these things going for it, Starry Eyes stumbles when beats are held too long, unnecessary voiceovers and exposition overwhelm various scenes, and heavy-handed attempts at metaphor induce eye rolling instead of chills. The idea that a production company could become successful through the dark arts is compelling, but a late night ritual in which the name of the company is chanted in worship is a bit much for a film that’s not a comic parody. The hooded, masked figures that appear are silly-looking instead of spooky and don’t add anything to the already established idea that foul forces are afoot. There is even a musical motif that resembles Gollum motif from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which comes across as clichéd instead of creepy.

Still, I recommend watching Starry Eyes for the things it does get right. Alex Essoe is captivating, a dead ringer for Jessica Harper in Suspiria, and nails her “role within a role” audition scene, which is not an easy task. Kolsch and Widmyer have proven that they have a lot of potential to produce something truly provocative so I’ll stay tuned for whatever they come up with next.

Starry Eyes was released through Dark Sky Pictures on February 3. The Blu-ray includes a commentary track with writers/directors Kevin Kolsh and Dennis Widmyer and producer Travis Stevens; ten deleted scenes; a music video from composer Jonathan Snipes; Alex Essoe’s audition video; a behind-the-scenes photo gallery, and the theatrical trailer.