Peter Collins (Franco Garofalo) is a photographer. He and his model, Karin Hale (Sherry Buchanan) are on a photo shoot in the country. Peter finds a small glen where he plans on taking more shots of Karin before they head back to the city. In the glen their transistor radio begins acting up. The birds stop singing and their watches have stopped. They are beginning to get the creeps. Karin wants to leave; Peter insists on finishing the shoot. When Peter develops the film, he sees something in the negatives that frightens him.
He leaves a note for Karin and returns that night to the small glen. He takes flash pictures of the glen. Suddenly something comes out of the woods at him. He tries to drive away but his car won’t start. He runs to a nearby house. The owner lets him in but whatever is outside disrupts the electricity and phone. The dog barks. Peter runs out. He is captured by aliens and taken aboard a spaceship.
Karin goes to the studio and sees Peter’s note and the pictures he took earlier. She contacts her reporter friend Tony Harris (Robert Hoffman). Tony takes some of the negatives. Later the other negatives are taken from Peter’s studio by the aliens. Karin is telepathically summoned to the glen. The next day the police are summoned to the glen. They find Karin’s and Peter’s cars there, abandoned. Karin and Peter have vanished. The police are called. Tony shows up and begins following Inspector Jim Grant (Martin Balsam) as he investigates.
Eventually Tony learns that the military is involved. He goes to see a UFO expert, Coleman Perry (Victor Valente). Coleman starts helping Tony with his investigation and gives him some information he gathered over the years on UFOs. Tony is paid a late-night visit by some mysterious men in black who are known as The Silencers. They confiscate all the information on UFOs that Tony has. Tony realizes that he is being spied on, but he doesn’t know if it is the police, the Silencers, the aliens or someone else. Whoever it is has been aware of everything he learns every step of the way, and someone has been killing anyone that knows anything about the aliens.
“Eyes Behind the Stars” AKA “Occhi dalle stele” was released in 1978 and was directed by Mario Gariazzo. It is an Italian science fiction film. The Italians are not known for making very good science fiction films, and this one isn’t that great, but… There is something about this film that kept me watching. I think what intrigued me about this movie was the concept. Part of it is standard alien movie stuff, including the intrepid reporter, but then they throw in the police, the Army and a global secret service organization known as “The Silencers”. It’s part “Close Encounters” and part “Men In Black”. Then from out of nowhere they bring in a psychic.
The aliens are not the best in the world but then Italy didn’t have the same special effects teams that American films had. They vaguely look like the drawings done of the Grays but dressed in tube sock onesies up to and over their motorcycle helmet heads. 50’s style alien couture.
There is some dullness in spots and the pace is slow in places but, to me, the good parts seemed to outweigh the bad parts. What gave the film bonus points was the unexpected and somewhat dark ending to the movie. There’s a lot going on and the plot seems to flow to unexpected places but if you can follow along, you’ll do OK and be rewarded with that little Oh! moment at the end. If not, you may find yourself bored.