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Reviews

"The finale is an unexpected jolt to the system with some terrific body horror bringing the curtain down brilliantly on a razor-sharp shot across the bows of Tinseltown."

The Daily Record

''What price fame?'' is not an original question. But writer-directors Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer break new ground with the horrific answer they deliver. Alex Essoe plays an L.A. actress whose desperate quest for success leads her to a sinister organization. You'll have to watch this skillful combination of occult thriller and Cronenbergian gruesome-fest to find out what happens next. Horror fans should keep their eyes on the filmmakers — and Essoe, who gives a star-making performance."

Entertainment Weekly

"Starry Eyes was one of the smartest, creepiest, disturbing, surreal, and also entertaining movies to come out of SXSW."

The Wolfman Cometh

"Much will be said about Starry Eyes' final act, a barrage of murder, bloodshed, and ritualistic cultism."

Complex Magazine

"Alexandra Essoe shines in the lead role as Sarah Walker, a young actress who sacrifices her mind, body and soul in a paranoia-fueled effort to break into the Hollywood spotlight."

The Examiner

"I really can’t recommend this flick enough; it’s mean, gory, and a great homage to genre’s past while still being its own thang; and I haven’t enjoyed a fright flick this much in a longassed time."

Famous Monsters of Filmland

"The destination is only valuable if you haven’t given up every part of your humanity to get there. Starry Eyes gets right to the heart of that question in a most scary and satisfying way."

Horror-Movies.ca

"Starry Eyes presents a fresh take on a recycled Hollywood journey, one that oozes passionate horror love and dramatic, psychologically-charged storytelling. You’ve seen it before, but you haven’t seen it like this"

We Got This Covered

"Starry Eyes is a finely crafted horror movie and study of one woman's quest to obtain stardom at any cost or opportunity. Here, becoming a movie star is depicted as a literal transformative and transcending process."

Horror Flickers

"This is slow burn horror at its best- slowly revealing itself to the audience before exploding into a torrent of carnage and mayhem."

Film Pulse

"Starry Eyes is the best horror film of 2014 thus far – a movie so fresh and inspired that it makes me believe there’s still some life (or death) left in this genre after all."

Geeks Of Doom

"Starry Eyes is a nightmarish and nightmare logic-fueled portrait of actor life."

Fangoria

"This is about as far removed from run-of-the-mill horror fare as you can imagine – and is all the better for it."

Movie Ramblings

"[Starry Eyes] becomes a smart and sly indictment against Hollywood for the murder of independent cinema that’s masked in a Rosemary’s Baby-esque tale."

Shock Till You Drop

"This is a technically clever, often funny and human horror movie."

Film School Rejects

"This is an exciting and brilliant work of originality, a possession movie that examines our society’s obsession with fame."

Next Projection

"Starry Eyes is quite easily the horror film of the year, possibly even the next 5 to 10. It is truly a must see."

The HDRoom

"Starry Eyes is a most welcome addition to the Hollywood nightmare genre that dates as far back as Sunset Boulevard."

Twitch Film

"Starry Eyes" is consistently focused on its heroine and her all-consuming insecurities. Widmyer and Kolsch are smart enough to know that, after a point, Sarah is responsible for her actions since she let her insecurity cloud her judgment. She is, in that sense, always presented as a monster since she's always trying to refashion herself in a way that make an asset of her poor body image. "Starry Eyes" may leave you feeling hopeless, but its bleak vision of masochistic perfectionism is clear-eyed, cogent, and devastatingly unsettling." - Simon Abrams

RogerEbert.com

"An increasingly gruesome depiction of the lengths people will go in the name of success"

Film Comment

"Alex Essoe is a revelation and Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer look to be upcoming masters of this genre."

Flickering Myth

"Alex Essoe gives a star-making performance with the character, running the gamut of emotions from timid actress, to empowered film star to psychotic killer to something else… All in the space of 90 minutes!"

Nerdly

"If David Lynch and David Cronenberg came together to craft a gory, psychological mindbender, it might be Starry Eyes."

TIME.com

"The oft-told tale of a struggling actress seeking her first big break gets a juicy new spin in the psychodrama/body-horror hybrid Starry Eyes, featuring a knockout performance by Alex Essoe."

Variety

"Starry Eyes is such a horrifying victory for [Kolsch and Widmyer] because of how far they're willing to take us."

Silver Screen Riot

"This could very well be the best horror film of the year."

Sound On Sight

"Starry Eyes' story is not uncommon, but its execution is grand. The film is harrowing and insightful, unafraid to go to places both dark and deep."

Badass Digest

"Think Melrose Place: The Cronenberg years."

The Hollywood News

"It’s somewhat ironic that Dennis Widmyer and Kevin Kölsch’s Starry Eyes, a film that literally singles out ambition as the blackest of human qualities, is the most ambitious film I have seen thus far at SXSW this year."

Bloody Disgusting

"Starry Eyes is sort of a kick-straight-to-the nuts of the film industry."

FEARnet

"Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer collectively bring forth a surprisingly effective, unnerving, fantastically gory and thematically intelligent movie about the soul-sucking motion pictures industry in the City of Angels."

Sound On Sight

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