Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)

A famous fashion photographer develops a disturbing ability to see through the eyes of a killer.

Director:

Irvin Kershner

Writers:

John Carpenter (screenplay), David Zelag Goodman (screenplay)

Stars:

Faye Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones, Brad Dourif

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Faye Dunaway	...	Laura Mars
Tommy Lee Jones	...	John Neville
Brad Dourif	...	Tommy Ludlow
Rene Auberjonois	...	Donald Phelps
Raul Julia	...	Michael Reisler (as R.J.)
Frank Adonis	...	Sal Volpe
Lisa Taylor	...	Michele
Darlanne Fluegel	...	Lulu
Rose Gregorio	...	Elaine Cassell
Bill Boggs	...	Himself
Steve Marachuk	...	Robert
Meg Mundy	...	Doris Spenser
Marilyn Meyers	...	Sheila Weissman
Gary Bayer	...	Reporter
Mitchell Edmonds	...	Reporter

Storyline

Suddenly Laura Mars can see through the eyes of a serial killer as he commits his crimes. She contacts the police and with the aid of a police detective, tries to stop the killer. But first, they have to figure out who it is.

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Plot Keywords:

giallo | psychopath | serial killer | vision | fashion photographer | 

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 August 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

Eyes

Filming Locations:

Columbus Circle, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$20,000,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$20,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Major Studio Partners

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The production shoot for this movie went for 56 days.

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Goofs

When Laura sees an especially frightening vision the camera cuts to her eyes in close-up. Her pupils are not maximally dilated as they would normally be by extreme emotion, but are pinpoints. This would likely have been a technical difficulty as the bright lights in the C/U would shrink her pupils.

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Quotes

Donald Phelps: [complaining to a detective who offended him] Son of a bitch. I'm sick of all this name calling crap!

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Crazy Credits

Raul Julia is billed simply as R.J. in the opening credits, but by his full name in the cast crawl at the end.

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Connections

Referenced in The Girl in the Photographs (2015)

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Soundtracks

Burn
Written and Performed by Georg Michalski (as Michalski) & Nicky Oosterveen (as Oosterveen)
Produced by Ken Scott
Courtesy of CBS Records

User Reviews

Better Than It Had To Be

Jon Peters' first production as he transformed himself (with girlfriend Barbra Streisand's help) from hairdresser to movie producer, the movie is a gem of Seventies style at it's finest. The clothes, the hair, makeup, music, attitude, interiors and locations ride the crest of the high-style wave that flooded the world through the Eighties. Combining the improbable worlds of violence and fashion, with a story that centers on a famous photographer (Dunaway) and her ability to *see* her friends and colleagues being stalked and murdered, *Eyes* has moments of serious suspense, but that's hardly the reason to see this movie. Utilizing the actual photography of fashion god Helmut Newton, the film maker has exquisitely captured the 1978 New York fashion and disco scene in a way that none of the recent looks at the Seventies has been able to, but then, again, this movie was *made* in 1978, not 27 years later. The scenes of photo shoots are particularly fun to watch, with one scene portraying a burning car crash in Columbus Circle in which the models, clad in garter belts and fur coats cat-fight before the camera. The ingenuous use of *real* models add the precise amount of vacuity necessary to make the surreal shot work. Another photo shoot involves a model dead from a gunshot to his heart lying in a pool surrounded by exotically dressed disco-dancing models and a throbbing disco beat. The plot is secondary to style in this movie, and style is the only reason this movie should be remembered. Favorite moment: Darlanne Fluegel as the model Lulu haplessly trying to explain to the press *why* violence is important in fashion photos.