Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

Borserie it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

tomgillespie2002 A tour bus carrying a handful of archetypal American tourists is making its way around Barcelona, hosted by an eccentric and sleazy tour guide. Mark Burton (John Richardson) has taken his mistress along with him who he is telling everyone is his secretary. Amongst the others in the group, there's a hip lesbian couple, a fun-seeking young daughter, a couple with a bit of an age difference, and a priest. They are all handed red raincoats to protect them from the torrential Spanish rain, when one of them is murdered by being repeatedly stabbed and having their eye removed. Burton suspects his ex-wife, who is apparently in Barcelona. Soon the tour group are being picked off by this mysterious, red-raincoat wearing psychopath.My experience with Italian giallo director Umberto Lenzi is only limited at current. The only other work I've seen of his is the rather bad Video Nasty, Cannibal Ferox (1981). From what I've read, his work seems to be up and down, as is the case with the majority of the prolific Italian horror directors of his era. Eyeball, surprisingly, is not bad. It is, of course, unoriginal, cheesy, unsurprising, and rips-off horror master Dario Argento something rotten. Lenzi also makes the strange decision to have the murders take place in broad daylight, in public view. But it's also quite fun, and has a premise that is enjoyably ridiculous and a climatic revelation that blows it out of the water.Giallos often don't make sense. Even some of the best works in the sub- genre, for example Argento's excellent Tenebrae (1982) is so mind- f*****g and far-fetched that it just makes the whole experience that much better. I wouldn't go that far in the case of Eyeball, but Lenzi's sheer audacity come the climax made me chuckle, and gave the film that all-important charm. The murder scenes are filmed rather badly with no effort made for set-piece or tension, but there's plenty of enjoyment to be had here. Lenzi clearly knows this as he even throws a bonus lesbian scene in the middle, seemingly just for the hell of it, and there's plenty of humour that comes from the mismatched band of characters. Nothing to give Argento and Fulci sleepless nights then, but for fans of giallo and Grindhouse, definitely worth a watch.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

andrabem A group of American tourists is visiting Spain. A red-cloaked killer is with them (or following them). The killings are nasty and the victims always have one of their eye balls removed. Right in the beginning of the film there's a very sudden and brutal murder. The fateful knife flashes out, the unlucky victim screams and screams again and the knife goes down and down. From this moment on I was hooked to the film.Slasher film fans should like "Gatti rossi in un labirinto di vetro" (Eyeball). The action never lets down and the film is incredibly light and humorous. There are of course pretty girls and the mandatory lesbian couple (with rights to jealousy, fight and reconciliation scenes). The viewer is given a lot of red herrings and this enhances the fun still more. The Spanish locations are delightful (Barcelona and Sitges) and Umberto Lenzi displays his usual cinematic ability with swift and precise camera movements and editing. There are good killing scenes, particularly one in a funhouse.I guess you won't be able to find out who the killer is. Anyway the story does make sense but is of secondary importance for those who want to enjoy the film."Gatti Rossi in un labirinto di vetro" (Eyeball) could be defined as a summer movie for grown-ups. It has it all – it's violent, sexy, funny, colourful and it has a cool soundtrack. So just let your critical brain at the door and enter this giallo funhouse. You may enjoy the ride.

The_Void All I wanted from this film was a fun Giallo, and that's pretty much what I got. Despite the fact that he's directed a lot of rubbish, I'm actually quite a big fan of Umberto Lenzi, and Seven Bloodstained Orchids in particular shows that he certainly knows his way around a Giallo. This film doesn't come close to that one in terms of quality, and even by Giallo standards; Eyeball is rather silly. It's obvious that Lenzi didn't care too much about making the plot coherent, as barely any attempt is made build characters, and the dialogue between the members of the coach party at the centre of the film is as redundant as the ineffective police investigation. The plot sees a coach full of tourists, which includes adulterers, lesbians and a priest, parading around Spain. They're not the only ones on tour, however, as a blade wielding psychopath is following them round and slicing out certain members' eyeballs before brutally knifing them to death. The police are baffled, and the coach party is sure that the killer isn't one of their number...The main reason why this film doesn't carry much weight in terms of credibility is because the murders aren't taken seriously by anyone in the film. The police concern themselves with minor details, while the coach party continue their holiday and don't spare much of a thought for the murderer's victims! There is some attempt to build a story up amongst the passengers, which includes a lesbian relationship and a man on holiday with his mistress; but none of it really convinces - a fact that isn't helped by the poor dubbing and overplayed soundtrack courtesy of the usually competent Bruno Nicolai. All that being said, this film somehow works because it doesn't take itself seriously, and comfortably fits into the 'fun' side of the Giallo sub-genre. The plot is a bit too wayward, but Lenzi keeps it together by throwing in another nasty murder sequence every time the film looks like it's about to get boring. It all boils down to a suitably silly conclusion, but again it somehow works and makes a lot more sense than the Giallo is famous for making. Overall, I don't recommend going into this film with high hopes; but if you liked Strip Nude for Your Killer and The New York Ripper, Eyeball should suffice.

Jonny_Numb "Eyeball" is better than Umberto Lenzi's later cannibal and zombie epics, but it still gets bogged down in banality and a LOT of excess talk (though I did get a kick out of trying to decipher the German subtitles on my bootleg copy). He whips up a few suspenseful scenes (don't expect anything on the Argento level, though) as a killer in a red poncho stalks a tour group in Barcelona, removing the victims' left eyes. The violence itself is rather poorly rendered (love that instantly-dried blood!), but the story keeps the viewer guessing (even if it's largely due to sloppy writing) up until the silly conclusion. As far as Italian time wasters are concerned, "Eyeball" isn't bad, but there are much better giallos out there.5/10