Eyes of Crystal (2004)

While hunting a cultured, intelligent and vicious psychopath, Inspector Amaldi comes face to face with the physical and moral decay of his city as well as the ghosts of his own past.

Director:

Eros Puglielli

Writers:

Luca Di Fulvio (novel), Franco Ferrini (story)

Stars:

Luigi Lo Cascio, Lucía Jiménez, José Ángel Egido

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Luigi Lo Cascio	...	Inspector Amaldi
Lucía Jiménez	...	Giuditta
José Ángel Egido	...	Frese
Simón Andreu	...	Detective Ajaccio
Carmelo Gómez	...	Professor Avildsen
Eusebio Poncela	...	Dr. Civita
Branimir Miladinov	...	Avildsen as a Child (as Branimir Petev Miladinov)
Tzvetan Philipov	...	Ajaccio as a Child (as Tzvetan Orlinov Filipov)
Ernestina Chinova	...	Dr. Cerusico (as Ernestina Chavdarova Shinova)
Christo Jivkov	...	Detective Di Fusco (as Hristo Jivkov)
Dessy Tenekedjieva	...	Lucia (as Desislava Tenekedjieva)
Plamen Peev	...	Parodi
Federico Di Pofi	...	Max Peschiera
Plamena Getova	...	Senora Cascarino
Elisabeth Radeva	...	Nurse (as Elizabet Radeva)

Storyline

When a young couple and a peeper are killed in the field with sadism, Inspector Amaldi and his partner Freese unsuccessfully follow the leads trying to track the criminal. Meanwhile, the college student Giuditta is being stalked and goes to the precinct, where she is attended by Amaldi, and immediately they feel a great attraction for each other. When another woman is murdered, Amaldi and Freese realize that they are chasing a serial killer. Amaldi visits Professor Civita, trying to find the meaning of three leaves found in the crime scene. Amaldi, who battles with his violent temper, tries to put the clues together and to avoid the next murder of the unknown psychopath.

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Plot Keywords:

sex scene | gore | mutilation | amputation | severed head | 

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Italy Spain Bulgaria UK

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

26 November 2004 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Eyes of Crystal

Box Office

Budget:

€2,600,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

€165,511 (Italy), 28 November 2004, Limited Release

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rai Cinema, Cattleya, Alquimia Cinema

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

Pretty decent Se7en like Italian movie

If I would rate the movie compared to other Italian movies I have seen, I would rate it higher, but compared with international horror, it is average. However, it is not the same type of average, as the acting is good, the plot a lot more complex than US movies and the feel is a good old fashioned slow tension increase. The production values are not so good though and I couldn't help wonder: if they dubbed the voices over anyway, and done it poorly, why not do it in English? :)

I compared it with Se7en more because it is an icon of movies about personally involved policemen trying to catch a megalomaniac psychopath, other than that it is not too similar. In fact, it is based on a book, which probably explains the depth of the plot. I thought that the darkness in the main character (that's the policeman :) ) was a very nice touch and the movie could have done better without him explaining why he was so driven with his work. Also, having every single character involved with the criminal was a bit of a stretch.

Bottom line: very decent horror movie, a bit slow sometimes, other times predictable, but nice enough. Probably with an English translation I would have liked it better still.