Death Has Blue Eyes Blu Ray Review (Arrow Video)
Death Has Blue Eyes (aKa To koritsi vomva and The Para Psychics) is a 1976 suspense thriller written and directed by Nico Mastorakis (Island of Death, Blind Date, The Zero Boys, The Wind, Nightmare at Noon, In the Cold of the Night, Bloodtide, and Hired to Kill) in his directorial debut. It was produced by Greek porn legend Grigoris Dimitropoulos (Nude as a Trap, Inage of Love, The Lady Is a Whore, and Diamonds on Her Naked Flesh). This late 70’s feature was unreleased in the states until now!!!!
When local gigolo Chess (played by: Chris Nomikos from I epohi ton dolofonon, Erotiki teleti, Paizontas se dyo krevvatia, and Ena elefthero koritsi) greets his vacationing friend Bob Kovalski (played by: Peter Winter from Oorlogswinter and Warship) at Athens airport, the pair embark on a string of scams and erotic dalliances that eventually lead them into contact with an elegant wealthy woman, Geraldine Steinwetz (played by: Jessica Dublin from The Toxic Avenger Part II/III, Troma’s War, Savage Hunt, Voodoo Dolls, and Island of Death), and her glamorous daughter Christine (played by: Maria Aliferi from Epikindines sheseis, Theoi ston Olympo, and Orgismeni genia). Geraldine blackmails the two cheeky bachelor boys into acting as bodyguards for Christine, whom it transpires has telepathic abilities and has had her eye on them for some time. After fleeing from a series of assassination attempts, it soon becomes clear that Geraldine herself might not be quite whom she seems, as the two young men find themselves caught up in a political conspiracy of international dimensions. Who is playing who in this dangerous con artist game????
Death Has Blue Eyes has giallo vibes at times but it’s more of sleazy spy thriller. Just a warning, do not expect a full on suspense and giallo feature from Death Has Blue Eyes. It has it’s moments for that sub-genre but it’s definitely not the main focus for this. This one is very sleazy and it has all kinds of threesome action in it with the three leads here. None of them are shy in Death Has Blue Eyes, they all have decent chemistry here. Most of the cast is actually solid with their performances in this. To be honest, I think the two men are more interested in each other than the actual woman that’s included in the mix. The script is all over the place so nothing is really consistent. It does feel like a bizarre and sleazy 007 movie at times with it’s odd subplots and impressive car chases. You can’t really trust anyone in this and so yeah it has some twists here for the finale. Death Has Blue Eyes is definitely unique and stands out on it’s own. BTW, I think Maria Aliferi has green eyes in this and not blue like the title claims. I can’t confirm this because this is the first time that I’ve experience this oddity of cinema but I noticed during my research it’s listed 10 minutes longer on it’s final version compared to this brand new home video release. It doesn’t even seem edited at all and they don’t hold back when it comes to anything so it might be a misprint unless this was a little more hardcore.
Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Arrow Video! This 1080p has two different versions when it comes to aspect ratios, either (1.33:1) or (1.85:1) for this brand new 2K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative. Arrow Video gives this one the royal treatment when it comes to upgrading this one from it’s past versions overseas. The English: LPCM 2.0 Mono track is solid. It’s not that type of explosive feature but the music really shines on here and it has a nice boost to it. All of the dialogue is crystal clear. It also has English SDH subtitles.
Let’s discuss the special features from Arrow Video! “An Interview with Maria Aliferi” is an almost 18 minute chat with the lead actress. She goes over her experience on Death Has Blue Eyes. She chats about the cast and tells some interesting stories about the feature. It’s in Greek with English subtitles. “Nico Mastorakis In His Own Words” is an almost 25 minute chat with the director. He chats about his work in Television. He talks about working with his notorious producer on this and how he handled the hardcore stuff with him when it came to cinema. This kinda explains the missing 10 minutes that’s listed on other versions. Nico is always entertaining and brutally honest with his interviews, this is no different. “Dancing With Death” is a little over 42 minutes and it’s the score the production. It has two different “Trailers”. It has a little over 4 minute “Image Gallery” when it comes to the other promotional extras on the disc. It has reversible artwork and a 20 page booklet included. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!
