Death Has Blue Eyes

Summary

“Science has accepted the fact that some people can communicate with mental telepathy.”

Years ago, one of the first films that I reviewed from Arrow Video was an action film by Nico Mastorakis named Hired to Kill. It was not only the first film I had seen by the eccentric writer/director/producer, but also a perfect introduction to the wild and ridiculous world of cult film that the Arrow Video label was trying to introduce to cinephiles stateside. I loved Hired to Kill, while also recognizing that Nico’s talent for entertaining is not necessarily of a highbrow nature and thus is limited in its appeal.

People can scoff at Nico Mastorakis all they want, but the filmmaker gave the world films like The Zero Boys, Nightmare at Noon, and Blind Date. I personally am always excited to check out any of his films that make their way to Blu-ray. My interest was piqued when I saw that Arrow Video would be releasing the earliest film made by the director – Death Has Blue Eyes. The film is an absolutely ridiculous mashup of genres ranging from spy film, paranormal thriller, and soft core sex comedy. It also happens to be very Greek, which is a trademark of many of Nico’s films. I watched Death Has Blue Eyes the other night.

As the film begins, a blonde British con man named Robert Kowalski (Peter Winter) arrives at the airport in Athens. His friend Ches Gilford (Hristos Nomikos) waits for him. They walk outside and there is a car and driver waiting for a Mr. Keeling. The two men hop into the car and assume the identity of Mr. Keeling. The driver takes them to the suave Apollon Hotel. Along the way, Robert asks if he can borrow some cash from the driver and just add it back on the tip. The driver agrees. The two con men walk into the hotel and order a meal and drinks. They attempt to charge the food to room 506, but it turns out that the table next to them holds the guests of room 506. The two guests from room 506 – Christine and Geraldine Steinwets (Maria Aliferi and Jessica Dublin) – agree to cover the meal. Christine also seems to be able to read the mind of the two men. The two women ask that the two men return later that evening. When the men get home to Ches’s place, they are greeted by a nude woman wearing an apron. It’s Ches’s girlfriend, Maria. After a ménage a trios sex scene, the three lovers are kicked out of their place by Ches’s sugar mama who unexpectedly returns. Geraldine meets up with Robert and Ches and she explains to them that she needs their help. Her daughter is a psychic who accidentally witnessed a murder a few weeks earlier in Warsaw. The people involved are powerful and have killers after them both. If the two men don’t help Christine, she will expose them for their crimes as con men. The men begrudgingly agree to help.

Death Has Blue Eyes is as nuts as it sounds. The story behind the film helps to make sense of some of its unique quirks. Wanting to make a paranormal thriller, Nico needed to find independent funding to make the film. He was able to receive that funding from the “porn king” of Greece. The only stipulation was that the film needed to feature a decent amount of “sensual” scenes. In the film, these scenes are typically completely superfluous to the plot and feel strangely out of place. Unless you understand that these scenes were needed to meet the obligations to the producer, they make almost no sense. They do enhance the strangeness of the film and deliver some laughs for an audience willing to chuckle at the proceedings. Nico did not necessarily have a strong idea for how to approach these sequences, so there is a sex scene that occurs that only serves a purpose of making an oral sex joke.

This film has a lot of action: an exploding teepee, helicopter sequences, car sequences, motorcycle sequences, even an appearance from a Formula-1 race car – all done incredibly inexpensively. How many movies have you seen this year that feature extended plate breaking sequences inside restaurants? I can name exactly one, so it has that going for it.

Tonally, this film is absolutely all over the place. It has moments where it is a Greek sex comedy, then it is a 007 ripoff, then it is a paranormal thriller. It is all of these things, and yet not any one thing completely effectively. Therein will lie the charm of the film to some viewers, and also serves as the warning to viewers that think this whole exercise sounds like a waste of an hour and a half.

This is basically a C grade film. It is ranked horribly on IMDB where reviewers were quick to point out its numerous deficiencies and somewhat inept nature. I don’t know exactly what those reviewers were expecting of the film. I personally had a good time allowing Death Has Blue Eyes to entertain and befuddle me with its numerous strange choices. Fans of Nico Mastorakis will certainly find a lot to celebrate here, whereas other viewers will likely shrug or possibly even turn the film off due to the sex scenes. I hope that this review helps your decision on whether or not this movie is up your alley!

Video

Presented in both 1.85:1 aspect ratio and 1.33:1 aspect ratio with an MPEG-4 AVC Encoded image, the presentation is sourced from a new 2K scan done by Arrow Video of the original camera negative. As fans of the label have come to expect, the film has been restored to the best it has ever looked. The film itself has a fairly faded look, and the restoration’s cleanup (with some DNR) has given the film a look that some online reviews have classified as waxy. I personally thought that their efforts here were pretty remarkable, but even the best efforts can’t make an aged low-budget picture outshine other films on the format. I appreciate that Arrow gave the option of both 1.85:1 and 1.33:1 aspect ratios. Overall, the Arrow team continues to show why they are such incredible curators for cult films.

Audio

The audio presentation on Death Has Blue Eyes sounds okay. Like the video, this is a well cleaned up track, but it still sounds tinny and muffled at times due to the original quality of the recording. The restoration of the track by Arrow is up to their usual high standards and should not dismay any fans of the film, but expectations for this track should be kept fairly low. I really enjoyed the soundtrack of the film by Nikos Lavranos.

Supplements:

• Two versions of the film: the widescreen 1.85:1 version and the full-frame 1.33:1 version
• Nico Mastorakis – in this new interview, the writer and director of the film discusses in depth the trials and tribulations of making the film. This is an excellent interview that was held by the director while still dealing with the Covid-19 crisis. Nico is always an entertaining showman, and his personality shines through in this piece. Note: This piece begins with a birthday message from Arrow with a fairly loud noise from some kazoos, so you may not want to have your speakers too loud!
• Maria Aliferi – the Greek actress who played Christine reminisces about her  experiences working on the film and how she was attracted to the paranormal aspects of the script. She also discusses how she agreed to the film with a firm proviso that her clothes stay on for the duration of the film.
• Dancing with Death – numerous tracks from the Death Has Blue Eyes original soundtrack presented by themselves. This is pretty great.
• Original theatrical trailers
• Image gallery

Overall Scores:

Video – 4/5

Audio – 3.5/5

Supplements – 3.5/5

Overall – 3.5/5

Death has Blue Eyes is a truly off-the-wall C-grade film from director and writer Nico Mastorakis. For fans of the Greek director, there is a good time to be had watching the poorly conceived escapades of the plot unfold. The film is almost incomprehensible at times due to the sudden tonal changes of the film that happen frequently as the film swings from spy film, to “sensual” sex comedy, to paranormal thriller. It brought a smile to my lips, even when my jaw dropped open at moments that caught me off guard. Arrow Video’s release features a well done 2K scan from the original elements. The special features are fairly light, but they are enjoyable. While the film is only going to please fans of cult cinema and Nico Mastorakis, I am thankful that Arrow Video brought the film to Blu-ray.