We’ve seen so many movies that try and tell the story behind the birth of a serial killer, and most, if not all, fall flat on their face.

You’re about to have your minds blown when Magnet Releasing unleashes Nicolas Pesce‘s hauntingly beautiful and shockingly The Eyes of My Mother on VOD platforms December 2nd. Our own Fred Topel raved about the film, calling it “disturbed and twisted.”

The film, which features a breakout performance from newcomer Kika Magalhaes, fuses classic horror ingredients with gothic black-and-white imagery.

“I wanted the audience to understand what sort of horror film was in store right away,”  Pesce tells us about his decision to go black and white. “I wanted to put the audience immediately into a particular mindset. My favorite horror films tend to also be in black and white, so the choice was in part homage to 1950’s and 60’s American Gothic.“

Kika Magalhaes stars as a young, lonely woman who is consumed by her deepest and darkest desires after tragedy strikes her quiet country life.

“I was interested in exploring a dark character but peaking into the more banal sides of their life,” Pesce explains of his inspiration behind ‘The Eyes of My Mother’. “The ordinary qualities of a person’s life become all the more terrifying when you know what they’re capable of. But it’s really a film about loneliness. It’s about a woman who can’t cope with the loss of her mother. And I used horror mechanics to heighten the drama. I wanted to start from the films I love and do my own take on the genre, bringing in all the things that really terrify me.”

As stated above, The Eyes of My Mother is the birth of a serial killer in a way we’ve never seen before. Pesce explains to us what makes his different from films in the same vein.

“Most serial killer stories are either mysteries about the hunt to find the killer or these overdone origin stories. In real life, the origin of a killer seems more complicated and nuanced, not as easily tracked. In this film we tried to find the quiet moments of life that lead one down the path into darkness as well as the loud traumatic ones. Life is a spectrum, and I don’t think anyone thing in particular makes someone who they are. I think this is often the case in most films. They reduce a killer’s motive to one single, neat and tidy event that explains it all. I think the impulse may start there, but this film explores all the other things that could take one’s hand and lead them down the darkest road.“

Speaking of the birth of a serial killer, Pesce talked to us about creating a sympathetic killer, a hard task but one that’s the heart of The Eyes of My Mother.

“I feel like the more you know someone, the harder it is to find them a monster…in real life and in movies,” Pesce told us. “In this film, we spend so much time with Francisca, that we really get to understand the full breadth of her emotions. We see why she does all the things she does, and while they may be horrifying, we understand why she feels like she has to act this way, and its really quite sad. We had to constantly tread this line between sympathy and fear in all the aspects of the film, and its a very delicate line.

If you’re a fan of classic horror cinema, you’re in for a treat with The Eyes of My Mother. Pesce tells us he wears his love of the genre on his sleeve:

For this film, I was particularly inspired by the American Gothic films of the 50’s and 60’s. ‘Night of the Hunter’, ‘Strait-Jacket’, ‘Psycho’. Give me Vincent Price, Val Lewton, Bill Castle, or Hitchcock and I’m a happy man. I think I wear my influences on my sleeve. I also really love David Lynch. I think you can tell from this film how much I love movies. I have such a passion for genre films. I like all the stylistic tools you get to play with.”

As for what’s next, Pesce tell us that it “will be a surprise but I have some irons in the fire and they’re all dark and weird.”

Seriously, guys., don’t miss out on The Eyes of My Mother, a ridiculously good horror film that’s easily making my top 10 of the year.