Roy
Garrett's Initial Flirtation with Flying Saucer SciFi Cinema
Original Italian Title: OCCHI
DALLE STELLE [Eyes Behind Stars]
director: Mario Gariazzo (as Roy Garrett)
starring: Robert Hoffman · Nathalie Delon · Martin Balsam
· Sherry Buchanan · George Ardisson
A photographer
and his model are on a shoot in a forest when they get the feeling they
are being watched. The sensation becomes so strong that they decide
to cut their session short and leave. Later, when the photographer develops
the pictures, he discovers what looks like alien creatures in the background.
A short while later, he is abducted by these outer space creatures.
His friend, a newspaper journalist, investigates but runs into trouble
with both the authorities and the aliens.
Director
Mario Gariazzo had a varied career, drifting from genre to genre without
ever settling into a particular style or technique. He did seem to have
an obsession with lurid photographer stories (PLAY
MOTEL, INTRIGUE
OF LOVE, THE
ATTRACTION, et al) and - to a lesser degree - SciFi.
According to the credit sequence in this film (see pic above), Mr Garrett
[Gariazzo] was a "member of the National Investigation Committee
on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) and field investigator of the Aerial Phenomena
Research Organization (APRO)." Perhaps his involvement in NICAP
provided the research for his second Flying Saucer film, the
sleazy VERY
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE FOURTH KIND. Mr Gariazzo died from cancer,
March 2002 at age 71.
An Italian film
in English language; fullscreen format (4:5), uncut (98 minutes), DVD
encoded for ALL REGION NTSC WORLD FORMAT. Extras include theatrical
trailers.
