The Eye - Mit den Augen einer Toten

About three months ago, I was paging through cable and found a film that looked intriguing. After watching for about five minutes I had the pants scared off of me, so, being the complete wuss I am, I turned it off. Curiosity made me want to go back to it, of course, so about twenty minutes later I got up the guts to turn it back on. After about two minutes, I was full on terrified, and turned it off for good. I told some friends about this film, and all seemed intrigued, mainly because of the scare factor, so this weekend we got around to finally watching it. That movie of course, was the Pang Brothers' "The Eye", a film that ended up being something completely different than what I was expecting.

In "The Eye", Wong Kar Mun (Lee) is a young blind woman who gets a corneal transplant. Soon after her operation, as her eyes are adjusting, she begins to see some pretty scary images; shadowy black figures hanging around people who later die, dead people themselves, and her room keeps doing a pesky trick where it changes on her as she's looking at it, furniture and all. Her doctor, Dr. Lo (a really young looking Edmund Chen) doesn't believe her at first, but then realizes that there may be some merit to her claims, so they go in search of the donor in order to find out what history her eyes' previous owner had, and what kind of baggage Wong Kar Mun has to deal with now.

Based on my first impressions of the film, I was actually expecting a big scare fest like "The Grudge"; short on story, big on scares. What I actually realized is that the two parts that I briefly watched were actually two out of the three genuinely scary parts of the film. (The elevator scene was enough to make me take the stairs today at work, seriously.) The rest of the film is certifiably creepy, but there is actually a decent story to support those creepy parts. "The Eye" has no doubt been compared to "The Sixth Sense" in terms of theme, but it is also similar in substance as well. Even without the scares, the film would be able to stand on its other merits. Some of the special effects in "The Eye" were kind of cheesy (basically Sci-Fi channel made-for-cable television caliber) and in typical Chinese film fashion, the music was horrible, but all told, it is a decent film.

After doing a little reading on the film, I saw that Tom Cruise's production company bought the rights to the film and are planning a remake. I'm not very educated on Asian horror films and their American remakes, (yet) but I think I would see it just out of mere curiosity, because I would imagine that they would take this relatively small film and mess with it to make it "bigger". "The Eye" is definitely worth checking out because while it definitely scared the pants off of me a couple of times, the rest of the film was really was worth sticking around to see how it all would end. 6/10 --Shelly

There are already several comments left, but what the hey, I liked this movie and I'm gonna have my 10p worth.

Before I mention the movie itself, I'd better comment on modern Asian movies that reach Western shores, and the fact that they have different pacing, priorities and styles to what you would see at the cinema. The fact that a lot of people don't 'get' the parts of this film which seem to have no relevance is probably as much due to the difference in culture more than any wrongdoing on the production team's behalf. The same can be said for a lot of Hong Kong comedies, the 'humour' which would probably illicit a wry laugh back home flies miles over everybody else's head.

In that sort of circumstance, I've developed a good trick, I switch-off trying to figure out what all these little hints and gestures mean and concentrate on the character interactions and the scares. I've had a lot of practice, Western cinema in recent years has been guilty of 'rambling', and they've got no such excuse as 'cultural differences' ;)

Anyway, the movie! (good grief!), the plot's already been explained and probed, so I won't go into that. What this film has is a constant 'pressure', a claustrophobic atmosphere which persists regardless of the location. Clever camera work afoot! The palpable distance which the heroine feels from her family and the people around her (perhaps a symptom of not being able to communicate non-verbally with them so long? Perhaps not, but it's there) is always there too. You get the impression that she could be surrounded by a crowd and still walk alone from one side of a city to the other.

The smaller roles are played out very nicely, great acting considering the film concentrates almost solely on the two main characters.

The ending is a little bit of a let-down, predictable and not entirely 'working'. But, BUT, it isn't a catastrophe which ruins the film, which I'm sure you'll know what I mean. The ending of a film is what you're left with when you switch off the TV, and if it's bad, then so is the film.

This movie is the only one in recent years which actually gave me a start, and that's something. Real horror isn't about dripping guts and hooks with heads on them, it's about the unexpected, it's about being confronted with something terrifying, something which makes you wish the character was elsewhere. In order to achieve that, you need to give a damn about the character in the first place, which is where 90% of cheap horrors fall down. Not here, the characters are likable and have a little childlike innocence about them, you want to get in there and slap the more unpleasant visitors :P

All in all, I very much enjoyed watching this film, and intend to buy it when I find it for a pittance (almost all DVDs can be found for the right price at one time or another, shop around and ask people where they get their bargains). I would heartily recommend renting before buying, however. As several have mentioned already, there are several elements of this film which seem to have been deliberately copied from recent films such as Sixth Sense. If that prospect leaves a sour taste, I'd look elsewhere, but everyone else who hasn't had enough of all that yet should certainly have a look :D

Thanks for reading.

I remember a while back someone suggesting to me to go see this film, and although it took me a while, I'm glad I finally saw it. Overall I kinda liked the general look of the film. It didn't really have that creepy, "somethings going to jump out at you any second during the entire film" vibe that The Ring, Ringu and The Grudge had, which was actually a nice change because when those "fright" scenes happened the creepiness was actually increased quite a bit. I love the actors chosen too, especially the lead. She did a terrific job and didn't annoy me at all in the film. I have to admit to a few "cheesy" spots throughout it, but for what was lacking in the script was made up for in the direction. 7/10

Of all the horror movie genres in existence, ghost stories have always been my personal favorites. The Haunting, Ju-On, The Innocents, Ringu, The Shining...all nice, moody, creepy ghost tales. The Eye now finds itself at the top of my list along with the aforementioned as one of the best and creepiest ghost stories of all time.

Mun, blind since the age of 2, receives the gift of a cornea transplant at the age of twenty. Her restored vision comes with a price, however. She can no longer play with the all blind symphony that she once found solace within, she cannot read or write, having had no reason to learn, and she has no words for visible objects, having always identified them by touch. She's also seeing things that nobody else can see...terrifying things. A little boy looking for his lost report card plagues her daily. An old woman wanders the hospital corridors, complaining of the cold. Shadowy forms come to escort the recently deceased away to parts unknown, and Mun's own bedroom flickers in the darkness, changing into another room that once belonged to another girl, in another country. Mun knows that the things she sees are not normal, but no one seems to believe her, not even, at first, the cute doctor who is trying to help her. Mun finds herself alone in a frightening world filled with things she never wanted to see. When Mun and the cute doctor finally learn the identity of the donor whose corneas Mun has received, they also learn of her frightening abilities, her sad death and a terrible tragedy which is destined to repeat itself.

The Eye is an original and innovative film and yet it is also a perfect mixture of plot points and elements drawn from such previous films as The Sixth Sense, The Mothman Prophecies and Blink, all of which are very good films in their own right. The Eye knows exactly how to scare you, and does so without a drop of blood or a hint of gore. A scene in a calligraphy class provides a truly frightening shock, while a scene in an elevator is an exercise in slow, building dread which grows more excruciating by the second. The performances are all wonderful, and the feelings of loss, alienation, fear and determination are genuine and powerful. Fans of the aforementioned films would do well to seek this one out, as would ghost enthusiasts and Asian Horror aficionados. It's rare these days that a film will actually make me jump, gasp and check the corners of my bedroom for boogeymen, but this one spooked me very well indeed - and I watched it in the middle of a bright, sunny day. The Eye tells a good story and tells it well, with strong characters and genuine scares. It is never dull or cheap or overly dramatic.

Highly HIGHLY recommended!!!

For the most part, "The Eye" is a competent effort from HK cinema. While most HK films nowadays involve big pop stars in pointless romantic comedies, this film (and also Infernal Affairs) show that there are still talented filmmakers in HK.

The story is about a blind girl named Mun getting a cornea transplant. When she gets her vision back, she begins seeing supernatural beings (ghosts, to be precise). For the first half of the story, we see her experiencing all these haunting encounters. One notable scene is in an elevator. The mystery and creepiness in this first half is incredibly effective and well-made.

The same cannot be said about the second half though. Like "The Ring" (or "Ringu"), Mun travels to Thailand to figure out the origin of the owner of her cornea. What starts out as a supernatural thriller turns into a mystery.

The film seems to be a mix of "The Sixth Sense", "Ringu", and a touch of "Final Destination." The switch of style in the middle and toward the end is somewhat annoying. The ending is an effort of the directors to show that they can do big CGI action sequences too. But, this film would have been good enough to stand on its own without that.

The acting is pretty good. Angelica Lee as Mun is very believable. The same cannot be said about the doctor though. I think this is mostly because his character's motivations are not convincing enough. Why does he give up his whole career to travel all the way to Thailand to help her after meeting her for a few times only? For love? Probably...but I don't buy it at all.

Overall, this film is pretty good. It is a nice effort from promising directors.