Starry Eyes (2014) - Kevin Kolsch & Dennis Widmyer

Even since an early age, Sarah has always dreamed of being a famous actress.  Living in Los Angeles, things haven't gone exactly gone as she planned.  In order to pay the bills, Sarah works at a trashy fast-food establishment, going from audition to audtion in her spare time, with little success.  During a recent audition, for a lead role in a prominent studio project, Sara's luck begins to change.  Sarah is told she is exactly what they are looking for, but Sarah's dreams come at a cost, with the studio's contract leading to sinister implications. Kevin Kolsch & Dennis Widmyer's Starry Eyes is a well-crafted, inventive horror film that is a seething commentary on the dark nature of the Hollywood dream.  Starry Eyes is intent on looking at the darker-side of following your dreams, capturing how ambition can be a destructive force.  Sarah is a woman whose intoxicated by the romanticism of Hollywood, going to extreme lengths that compromise her moral standards in order to reach her dream.   Her muderous plight and the way she is exploited in this film are without a doubt an allegory for the treatment of people in Hollywood, but for those not interested in the underlying satire, Starry Eyes is still a violent, visceral experience.  Considering the film's low-budget, Starry Eyes is exceptionally well-made, using lighting, editing, and cinematography to effectively explore the shattered psyche of a woman desperate for success. The film captures the darker side of Los Angeles like few films are capable of, showing the competitiveness, pettyness, and difficulty in making strong friendships in a town where everyone seems to only do what's best for themselves.  Starry Eyes works as both a horror film and hollywood satire, being one of the better horror films I've seen this year.  

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