Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)

Good concept, poorly executed.

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Absolutely Fantastic

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Laura Mars is a very successful fashion and advertising photographer. Whilst at one her art launches, Detective John Neville notes striking similarities between her art photos and those of actual crime scenes. Although suspicious of her, he soon realises that she hasn't been involved in any of the crimes but can see what is happening through the eyes of the killer. After her friends and some of her models are killed, she joins forces with the future U.S. Marshal to identify the killer before she is next.......It's a silly movie for sure, the majority of the film from a characters point of view is seeing Dunaway/Mars taking lots of photos of scantily clad ladies before standing there silently for a few minutes and then running off without explanation. Ironically, if we saw the film form someone else's point of view, it would have made for a more tense thriller.But this is high concept for you, and knowing that De Palma was doing good things homaging Hitchcock, Kershner must have wanted a taste before hitting the heady heights of Star Wars, Bond, Robotic Police, and..................Seaquest DSV.And for the most part, it's pretty entertaining, having the plethora of red herrings thrown at the screen is always a camp treat, but I'm sure it would have been more fun back on its initial release, as I'm sure Dourif wouldn't have been a suspect as soon as we saw him, because Child's Play was ten years away.Sub characters are the archetypes you would expect when the film focuses on the upper class, all la dee dar, and abhorrent toward one another, Laura aside, you couldn't really care less who out of her group is next.Jones is good, he's just a younger Gerrard in this, and he steals the film from anyone, thanks to his intense performance.If your a fan of this type of sub genre, you can see the ending coming quite soon into the films second act, but the outcome is quite entertaining.And it has a soundtrack that could rival Saturday Night Fever.Not brilliant by any means, but it's a lot of fun.

A renowned photographer can suddenly see through the eyes of a serial killerStarring Faye Dunaway and Tommy Lee Jones.Written by John Carpenter (Screenplay) and David Zelag (Screenplay).Directed by Irvine Kershner.Everything about this movie is average. From the acting performances to the story itself.It just about kept my interest and it does build up to a good climatic ending. On a historical note it was interesting to see all the old cars and landmarks and it captures well the feel and atmosphere of the disco scene in the late seventies,However Faye Dunaway's performance throughout was about as hammy as a tin of spam. This movie really needed a better leading actress or at least a better performance. I wasn't too keen on all the photography and modelling stuff either but maybe that's just personal preference. I'm not interested in that world whatsoever.An average but easily forgettable film.6/10

I understand that this was filmed and set in the 70s in New York and I think it's meant to mirror some of the avant garde style of that time and locale, but I couldn't stand Faye's acting style in this film. Her character is supposed to be a strong, successful, visionary/controversial photographer. She seemed to start many scenes playing just that, but would then quickly fall to pieces and appear to not know where she was, what she was doing, or how to answer a simple question. This happens over and over. I felt like I was watching over- acting from the 40s.The rest of the cast saved it for me. Especially Brad Dourif and Tommy Lee Jones.I liked the general story and premise, but even at only 104 minutes, it felt drawn-out. A lot of people seem to think the ending was predictable. It caught me pleasantly by surprise!I doubt as many people will be as put off as I was by Faye's acting in this particular film, so I would recommend this with my own reservations. I love supernatural movies and whodunits, and this was an interesting combination of both. It is definitely dated, though. Good luck.

In this violent, sado-masochistic thriller, then recent Oscar Winner Faye Dunaway ("Network") began her descent into decline with a role that, in spite of its juiciness, is defeated by a rather absurd premise and an even more ridiculous conclusion. Faye does an outstanding job as the Mahogany of photography who can see murders in her mind's eye as they happen, but is helpless to stop them. She plays a totally sympathetic character practically unlike any role she played during this era ("Voyage of the Damned" being possibly the only other role), extremely as far away from her neurotic character in "Chinatown" and the power-hungry executive in "Network". She is as far from her infamous role of "Mommie Dearest" as she can get, although she reminds me a lot of Miss Joan Crawford in a 1952 thriller called "Sudden Fear".Top billed leading male Tommy Lee Jones plays a cop who decides to protect her and eventually falls in love with her. The supporting cast is filled with interesting performances, particularly Rene Auberjonois as a stereotypical gay assistant, obviously modeled on Clifton Webb in "Laura". Raul Julia and Brad Dourif add some creepy performances as well. Stage and soap actress Meg Mundy has a nice brief role as one of the victims. Views of New York City in the late '70s are quite well filmed, and you won't soon forget the shot of Columbus Circle with two women clad only in their scanties and mink coats going at it after a faked car accident while Dunaway snaps away. Add on a spicy Barbra Streisand song ("Prisoner") as well as some disco hits of the day. But a lack of cohesion and the final revelation both dates and destroys the credibility that earlier parts of the film had developed earlier. Try not to compare this to some of Hitchcock's later films and sexual thrillers of the 1980's and 90's like "Fatal Attraction", "Sea of Love", and especially "Basic Instinct".