October 18, 2018
Written by: Kevin Kölsch, Dennis Widmyer
Starring: Alex Essoe, Amanda Fuller, Noah Segan
Budget: Partly funded through a $50,000 kickstarter.
Quote: "Ambition - the blackest of human desires. Everyone has it, but how many act on it'
Trivia: The film started as a Kickstarter project and was aided by the support of author Chuck Palahniuk's ('Fight Club') fans. 100 donors to the project had their names thanked in Chuck's 2014 novel 'Beautiful You.' Co-writer/co-director Dennis Widmyer runs Chuck's official website and manages his social media.
Starry Eyes is one of those films that I loved but will probably never watch again because it is just too hard to stomach. It is a body horror movie about the transformation one girl must endure to become the starlet she dreams of being. Alex Essoe, as Sarah, does an absolutely incredible job turning her timid character into first a horrible monster and then into something beyond herself, an icon. Whether this movie is a metaphor for the Hollywood system or a look at the darkness beneath the glitter and glamour of Tinseltown, the film industry has never seemed more terrifying. As Sarah's transformation continues, the viewer is taken though the long revolting process. Both disgusting and intriguing, this movie is not for those who are easily queasy. One viewing was enough for me.
Sarah is a struggling actress, living and hanging out with other struggling movie people (wannabe directors, actors, and writers), and working a crummy job as a waitress. One day Sarah gets a call for an audition with Astraeus Pictures for a horror movie called The Silver Scream. Her audition goes less than great and frustrated Sarah rips out some of her hair while crying in the bathroom. This is overheard by one of the casting directors and she is brought back in to show them one of her "fits." Afterwards, Sarah is unsure if showing them her fit was a good idea or if they were just making fun of her. Surprisingly, she gets another audition where she's asked to strip naked as she's photographed in the pitch black, which she's at first nervous about but later seems to get some sexual joy out of it. For the third audition, she meets the producer at his house and when he tries to make a sexual advance towards her, she runs home. Feeling like a failure she takes ecstasy, argues with her roommate before realizing that sex with the producer is a small price to pay for fame, going back to his house. As she performs oral sex on the man a group of robbed people surround her.
It is at this point that Sarah's transformation really begins to take place. She becomes combative to her roommate and friends while her body begins to deteriorate. After vomiting, Sarah notices that her teeth and much of her nails have fallen out and that her face is now covered in sores. Also, what started as regular vomit becomes bloody and maggots. Meanwhile, the casting agent comes by and allows her to see a vision of herself as a starlet and the other casting agent mocks her on the phone telling her, she can either die or let the transformation continue. After which she confronts her roommate's friend, cutting her up with a kitchen knife. She then kills the other two people in the house by stabbing one and smashing the other one's head to bits before finally killing a fourth person. This causes the producer and others to emerge, announcing they are part of a cult after which they perform a ritual allowing Sarah to be reborn flawlessly with perfect skin and new eyes. She kills her roommate before trying on a gown thereby fully becoming the Hollywood Icon was knew she was destined to be.
I love the cult imagery in the film. I have for a long time been fascinated by this darker side of Hollywood since watching Mysteries and Scandals hosted by A. J. Benza on E! in high school and later while reading Kenneth Anger's book Hollywood Babylon. The idea that there are some bizarre secret societies that Hollywood's riches and most powerful belong to has been a theory long investigated by conspiracy theorists, particularly those related to Satanism. Currently, I'm reading a biography on famed rocket scientist Jack Parsons (who helped create Jet Propulsion Laboratories and rocket science) and his interests in the occult led him into Hollywood circles. From one perspective, therefore, this film could be seen as an expose at the dark satanism that permeates the Hollywood system. The pentagram cross the producer and casting directors wear, the robbed men during Sarah's public sex act, the rebirth ritual performed in the middle of a pentagram all highlight the Satanic underpinnings of the film industry. However, I don't think this should be taken literally.
The movie also works as a metaphor for what it takes to make it in the film industry. Sarah needed to completely expose herself (both her physical body and the emotional parts of herself that she hoped no one would ever see), give herself up complete, and be willing to destroy everything around her before she could actualize herself as the star she felt she was meant to be. In the film, the producer states that ambition is the darkest human desire but rarely does anyone fully act on it. Sarah's murder/destruction of those around her are a metaphor for what it takes to make it to the top. Often this includes screwing over those closest to you. Often times it means being willing to hurt anyone at any time. "Do whatever it takes" is the motto of Hollywood, and Sarah's act of murdering others is the final act of fulfilling her ambition. From there, Sarah is able to become a star, at a price, but a price it is obvious Sarah doesn't doubt for a second is worth it.
The story and visual elements make the movie very difficult to watch. First and foremost, the gore is intense in this film. While the first part of the movie is a slow build up, by the time it really gets going her transformation and the violence she commits to complete the transformation make it extremely painful to watch. Several times I got the feeling that I was watching someone die as I watched her transformation. As her eyes cloud over, he skin begins to rot, her hair, teeth, and nails fall out it is uncomfortable to say the least. Then the brutal killings make it all the most horrific. What begins as an impulsive act of cutting a girls face leads to a house covered in blood with the smashed in skulls of at least two people. Although, lots of horror movies do it nowadays, skull crushing scenes are still difficult to get through. Next, Alex Essoe's incredible acting makes the raw exposure of her character painful to see. Sarah's hair ripping fits and vulnerability during her auditions give the viewer an uncomfortable voyeuristic feeling.
Certainly not for everyone, but if you can stomach it, the film is a must see. Even if just one time.
...what's your thoughts?
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