Eyeball: Deluxe Limited Edition – 88 Films (UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy/Spain, 1975
Director: Umberto Lenzi
Writers: Umberto Lenzi, Félix Tusell
Cast: Martine Brochard, John Richardson, Ines Pellegrini, Andrés Mejuto, Mirta Miller, Daniele Vargas, Jorge Rigaud

Release Date: November 25th, 2024
Approximate Running Time: 92 Minutes 16 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / HDR10
Rating: 15 (UK)
Sound: LPCM Mono Italian, LPCM Mono English
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: £29.99 (UK)

"Umberto Lenzi delivers a completely unhinged, and totally torrid tale of terror mixing copious amounts of gore and nudity in this peeper-popping experience known as Eyeball. Part slasher part giallo, Lenzi commands a high body count and plenty of ocular destruction as this murder mystery unfolds in stunning Spanish locations where a bus load of American tourists are picked off one-by-one by a figure sporting a red cape and hood. Exploitation at its juiciest, this is prime giallo from a true master of the genre." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD, Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Brand new 4K Remaster from the Original Techniscope Negative."

Eyeball comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 82.6 GB

Feature: 67.5 GB

The source looks excellent; colors are nicely saturated, image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic.

Eyeball comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 42.3 GB

Feature: 27.7 GB

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

Audio: 5/5 (LPCM Mono Italian, LPCM Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a LPCM mono mix in Italian and a LPCM mono mix in English. Both audio tracks sound excellent; dialog always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, range-wise ambient sounds, and the score is well-represented. Included are removable English subtitles for the Italian language track and removable English SDH for the English language track.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include an Eyeball trailer reel: U.S. theatrical trailer, Italian theatrical trailer and U.S. TV spot (5 minutes 43 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), English end credits (55 seconds, Dolby Digital mono), English "The Secret Killer" title sequence (2 minutes 1 second, Dolby Digital mono), a Then and Now locations featurette (2 minutes 4 seconds, Dolby Digital mono), a video essay by Mike Foster titled The Wandering Eye[ball] (13 minutes 46 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with director Umberto Lenzi titled Genre Maestro (17 minutes 15 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with actress Martine Brochard titled An Eye For Murder (20 minutes 58 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an archival audio commentary with The Hysteria Continues, an audio commentary with film historians Troy Howarth, Nathaniel Thompson and Eugenio Ercolani, and an audio commentary with film critics Kim Newman and David Flint.

The extras are the same on both discs.

Other extras include reversible cover art, a rigid slipcase, 6 art cards, a fold-out double sided poster, and a 80-page perfect bound book with cast & crew information, an essay titled Cats and Eyeballs written by Eugenio Ercolani, an interview with Umberto Lenzi conducted by Eugenio Ercolani, an essay titled Opening the Eyeball written by Barry Forshaw, an essay titled Time of Wealth the Giallo According to Umberto Lenzi written by Pier Maria Bocchi, and an essay titled The Case of the Bloody Irises Umberto Lenzi’s Eye for the Macabre written by Daniel Burnett.

Summary:

Umberto Lenzi is most known for his contributions to the Poliziotteschi and Giallo genres. Orgasmo, So Sweet So Perverse, A Quiet Place to Kill, Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, and Spasmo are among his notable films in the latter category. When released in America, many Italian genre films will be retitled by the distributor. Other titles that Eyeball was released under include Red Cats in a Glass Labyrinth, The Secret Killer, and Wide-Eyed in the Dark.

Though, Eyeball has the core elements that are synonymous with the Giallo genre. The result is a by-the-numbers film that brings nothing new to the genre. That said, at least when it comes to the murder set pieces, they are well executed. Most notably, a scene where a character unknowingly photographs the killer, which can uncover their identity. Another area where the murder set pieces stand out is gore, making them the most gory kills from Umberto Lenzi’s Giallo.

Unfortunately, outside of muted set pieces, Eyeball has more negatives than positives. And nowhere is this clearer than when it comes to a narrative that's padded with endless shots of tourists on vacation. That said, one area where the narrative is very effective is its use of flashbacks. Another strength is Bruno Nicolai’s score, which perfectly captures the mood.

Although the Giallo genre is not known for great performances, because most of the cast are hired for their good looks, this actually works in this genre's favor since most films are style over substance. And in the case of Eyeball, it features a rogues gallery of characters who are portrayed by recognizable Euro-cult and Italian genre cinema from the 1970’s. Notable cast members include Martine Brochard (The Violent Professionals) in the role of a woman named Paulette Stone who’s having an affair with her boss, John Richardson (Black Sunday) in the role of Paulette’s boss, and George Rigaud (The Case of the Bloody Iris) in the role of the all too familiar Giallo character, a priest.

What Eyeball lacks when it comes to its narrative, it more than makes up for with nudity and bloodshed. And though Eyeball is never going to be considered Umberto Lenzi’s defining film in the Giallo genre, it is still an entertaining film that indulges in its excesses. Ultimately, Eyeball is a film that Umberto Lenzi’s completists will get the most mileage out of.

Eyeball has never looked or sounded better than this release, which also comes with a wealth of informative extras. If you are a fan of Eyeball and/or the Giallo genre, there is no excuse not to buy this release; it is region-free. Eyeball gets a definitive release from 88 Films,highly recommended. 

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer