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Film: Eyeball
Year: 1975
Director: Umberto Lenzi
Writers: Félix Tusell and Umberto Lenzi
Starring: Martine Brochard, John Richardson and Ines Pellegrini
Review:
This is a film that I originally learned about through podcasts. It went on a list of ones to see. I decided on it as I wanted a film for Italian Horror Month that doubled as a Voyage through the FiVes. This is also one that I had been meaning to see from the Umberto Lenzi filmography.
Synopsis: a maniac killer in a red cap and hood is killing off American tourists on a tour bus by gouging out their eyeballs.
We start this film with the opening credits that have flashes of a tour bus, people outside of it with red ponchos and then shifting over to a dark room that has red light on creepy statues. We then shift over to Paulette Stone (Martine Brochard). She is at the airport and checks in at the front desk. She decides to change her flight. Instead of going to New York, she wants to go to Barcelona.
Now the tour bus we saw from the opening credits is the one that she’s on now. Their guide is Martinez (Raf Baldassarre). On the bus are Naiba Campbell (Ines Pellegrini), a model; her partner, Lisa (Mirta Miller), presumably a photographer; Rev. Bronson (Jorge Rigaud); Robby (Daniele Vargas) and his wife, Gail (Silvia Solar); Mr. Hamilton (John Bartha) and his granddaughter, Jenny (Verónica Miriel); and Mr. Randall (Richard Kolin), his wife (Olga Pehar), and their daughter, Peggy (Olga Montes).
It is on this tour that Paulette gets surprised by Mark Burton (John Richardson). These two are having an affair. Mark’s wife isn’t doing well, Alma (Marta May). She is ill and whatever the condition is sounds like it is terminal. Paulette is breaking it off with Mark until she passes away. He does assure her that he’s going to leave his wife and she doesn’t believe it.
That’s when tragedy strikes. There is a woman who wanders off at one of the stops. She finds a flower, picks it up and goes to hand it to someone. That other person is wearing a poncho that the tour group got when it started raining. They also have a knife. They attack the tourist, stabbing them in the eye. The screams bring over Rev. Bronson and others. This is just the start as others in the group aren’t safe as the murders follow them along the route. Inspector Tudela (Andrés Mejuto) is assigned the case. He’s close to retirement, but thrust into this one last time.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. The story starts with an engaging mystery: a killer is following a group of tourists and is more than likely one of them. The large number of suspects, including Mark and his wife, Alma, makes the killer's identity uncertain—especially since the murders begin when Mark arrives. I couldn't easily guess the killer and simply enjoyed the journey.
Now that I’ve set that up, let me say that when it comes to gialli, I tend to prefer a couple things. If I can guess who the killer is early on, I tend to not enjoy it as much so that’s a credit here. The other thing is that whomever is behind doing the murders, I don’t want it to be a cheat of someone that isn’t necessarily involved. This doesn’t do either. What is good is that this plays with your expectations. There are three individuals that they push hard as suspects. I figured it couldn’t be them. What it does for the reveal, I thought was a good touch.
Something else that goes into this subgenre that I want to touch on is that the police aren’t bumbling. It is interesting as it makes me wonder if this was a point of reference for the film Se7en. Inspector Tudela is on his last week of work when the murders start. He’s good at what he does. There is something fun that happens when he pushes Mark to see if he can get a confession. It involves Alma and her whereabouts, pointing as a potential reason he’s doing the killings. I also like how he factors into the ultimate reveal.
Then to briefly just touch on a few more themes. We have the idea of sexual deviance and morally questionable behavior. You can see this with Mark and his potential affair with Paulette. Lisa and Nabia are in a lesbian relationship. How this factors in is interesting. There is also the perils of tourism and the outsider. This is more with them not realizing the dangers as they continue with their itinerary. You can also consider how the killer does as light body horror and sadism.
Where I’ll go from there would be the filmmaking aspects. The film boasts good cinematography and framing. The initial identity-concealing point-of-view shots of the killer's attacks are appreciated, followed by a clever suspect-clearing reveal. A key detail is the killer using Mark's Vietnam relic dagger, marked with his initials, to implicate him. The killer targets victims' eyes for a compelling reason. The limited special effects are sufficient, and the excellent soundtrack is a personal favorite from the era.
All that is left then would be the acting performances. I thought that Brochard was good as our lead. She slowly disappears as Richardson becomes more of a suspect. Both work in their respective lead roles. Pellegrini, Miller, Vargas, Rigaud and the rest of the tour group were good, both for body count and suspects. I like Mejuto as this older inspector who wants to retire, but this huge case might jeopardize it. I’d say that the acting worked for what was needed across the board.
In conclusion, this is a compelling giallo from director Lenzi that successfully delivers on the subgenre's core elements. The film offers an engaging, unpredictable mystery with a high number of plausible suspects, preventing an easy guess at the killer's identity—a significant strength. Its narrative is enriched by themes of sexual deviance and the perils of tourism, while the capable police work, led by the retiring Inspector Tudela, adds depth often missing in similar films. Complemented by effective cinematography and an excellent soundtrack, and featuring solid performances from Brochard and Richardson, Eyeball is a satisfying and well-executed entry into Italian horror, making it a recommended viewing for fans of the giallo genre.
My Rating: 8 out of 10