Eyes of Laura Mars

Dir: Irvin Kershner

1978

***

Eyes of Laura Mars is a strange little thriller full of red herrings, lavish theatrics and a completely nonsensical story but there is something ever so irresistible about it. John Carpenter wrote the original script but has said since that David Zelag Goodman took his idea and completely rewrote it even though he still gets credit, thanks mainly due to the success he had just had with Halloween. How or why Faye Dunaway's Laura Mars can see through the eyes of a serial killer is never made clear, it's not really important either, as this film doesn't ask technical questions, its sole purpose is to invoke suspense upon the viewer in the most lavish way possible. The actors were kept in the dark during filming and the identity of the killer was kept a secret until the film's release. It's clearly effective but I do wonder whether this was detrimental to the overall production as it does seem like they chose the killer five minutes before they filmed the scene whereby the killer is revealed. I may be wrong, it may just be down to shoddy writing. Again though, it doesn't really matter, what matters is the mood. This is one of the very few examples of American Giallo done well. Irvin Kershner was a strange choice of director, it is stranger still that George Lucas chose him to direct The Emipre Strikes Back after seeing an early cut of it, and I would have thought a director such as a young David Cronenburg would have been better suited. Kershner made a good job of it though and I would argue that it is better than some of Dario Argento's early work. Faye Dunaway's performance was good also, although I can think of many other actors who I think would have suited the role better, I think casting her instead of Barbra Streisand as was first decided was a good move. The best thing about it is the over the top photo-shoots organised by the Laura Mars character. Watching three semi-dressed Amazonian supermodels fight next to a couple of burning cars in the middle of New York is as ridiculous as it is brilliant. It's very of the time and it is a time that I adore when it comes to art, music and film, not to mention horror. Weird and wonderful, an unsung classic perhaps.