Starry Eyes is a lot of things.

It’s timely story about sexual abuse within Hollywood’s casting process prolifically predates the Weinstein revelations by only a few years. 

It’s an interesting example of an intelligent Polanski-esque psychological thriller that seamlessly morphs into a more traditional slasher for its final act. 

It’s an incredible showcase of the incredible talent of modern scream queen Alexandra Essoe.

And it contains wonderful subtext about the psychological effects of female objectification that doesn’t come across as forced or heavy-handed.

Starry Eyes is a fantastic horror- and though it may have taken a backseat to other 2014 horror releases like It Follows, The Babadook or Under the Skin, it remains one of my favourites. (Surely, we can call this period the Golden Age in modern horror.) It is an excellent example of how a film can be elevated by some really good ideas and a committed cast. 

Funded in part by a kick-starter fund by the writer/ director team of Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer, Starry Eyes follows the story of Sarah Walker (Alexandra Essoe), a young actress trying to catch her big break in Tinseltown. But Sarah’s life is hardly ideal. She works at a Hooters-inspired fast-food restaurant, has slacker acquaintances that she doesn’t fully gel with, and…oh yeah…she rips out her hair when she faces rejection after an audition.   

And I’ll just say it now- the hair pulling is one of those really good ideas. The sound is the stuff of nightmares.

Sarah dreams of stardom, but finds it is hard to stand out in a town where girls like her are a dime a dozen. But the film makes it pretty clear that Sarah has some things the other girls don’t, like a delusional sense of confidence- though she would call it talent- dangerous ambition and a questionable moral compass. This is a character full of hubris that comes out in a self-harming rage when an audition doesn’t go her way.

Of course, it’s this tantrum, witnessed by a casting director in a washroom, that lands her a lot of extra attention after she failed to impress during an audition for a big studio horror called The Silver Scream. But when Sarah’s asked to come back into the audition room, things take a weird turn that might be a huge red flag for a less ambitious aspiring actress. 

But not Sarah. Nope. Turns out she’s the kind of girl who will get down and dirty with a sleazy producer if it leads to a starring role.

Not to say that Sarah’s character is all bad. Essoe plays her like a fish out of water hopefulness and naivety that make us want to root for her. Her female acquaintances all have a close friendship, often leaving her the odd girl out. One of these so-called acquaintances is even usually just flat out rude to her. The boys they hang out with, who want to be making movies, only pay extra attention to her after she has caught the eye of a major studio. Her boss objectifies her, yet can’t appreciate why she acts like the job is beneath her. There is no mention of family. She really is alone in this world.

And to her credit, she does leave the room after our Weinstein-ish fill-in makes his first advance.

Back then, fearing she just missed out on her big break, Sarah comes back and Starry Eyes starts to transform into a more conventional horror- full of body horror, gore and a rapidly escalating body count.

Those hoping Starry Eyes would commit to the psychological thriller aspects of the story might find themselves a bit disappointed by the third act. Others might feel that the film feels outdated because those same aspects place blame on Sarah for her own demise. (I concede that in a world where we are learning not to blame the victim of sexual assault, Starry Eyes could be seen as a step backwards.) However, I personally found the third act of this film to be a blast. Sure, social commentary takes a bit of a back seat at the expense of carnage…but hey, I’m impressed this film is packed with the intelligent commentary that it has. It is pretty clear that the men in Sarah’s world are all trying to exploit her in some way, but the degree they are successful is dependant on the amount of power Sarah perceives they have in her reaching her dream. There are some really intelligently written exchanges, particularly between Sarah and her fast-food boss, that you’re unlikely to find in a run-of-the-mill horror. (Pat Healy is absolutely tremendous in this supporting role)

And despite not getting a long single-take monologue or bonkers end credit sequence, it is hard not to view Essoe’s Sarah as a bit of a precursor for Mia Goth in Pearl. (Perhaps another essay idea for some aspiring film school student.) There is no doubt Essoe, like Goth, gave this role everything she’s got and there are some interesting comparisons that can be made between these two isolated female anti-heroes with stardom in their eyes and a murderous rage bellowing within their subconscious. 

I imagine that Kölsch and Widmyer projected some of themselves into the characters of the slacker filmmakers. But unlike them, they actually got off their asses and made something pretty special. Starry Eyes is an ambitious horror that is not overly pretentious. It’s grim, but still remains fun. It is an excellent example of a low budget modern horror that punches well above its weight class. And the fact that the years following gave the film additional social relevance is just icing on the cake.