El ojo del mal

OK, so it isn't the best horror movie ever made, but it also isn't the worst.

The premise is reasonable (for a horror) and despite a few plot holes the film manages to build the suspense. Alba's acting is not exactly award winning, but she does enough to avoid you disbelieving the character.

The biggest gripe I have is that the ending is a bit of an anticlimax. After the build up (I think there should have been a bit more with the apartment residents) it just fizzled out.

Overall I wouldn't rush out to buy the DVD, but if there isn't anything else on, you could do worse.

The Eye was not a great movie but it's not horrible either. It was about an average movie. I was not expecting a lot going into seeing this movie. If you are expecting a lot going into this movie it will not be good but if your just looking to see a movie and thinking its going to be good you might actually like it. Pretty much the whole entire beginning and almost all of the middle was boring and just had very sudden scenes that would get you to jump out of your seat. The rest of the movie was when it started to kick up and get good. Jessica Alba finally started to find out what she had to do and what was going on with her and people around her. Thats when the action started and it had you on the edge of your seat. For the most part it was pretty slow moving and boring but then it kicked up it was good. If the first hour of the movie was like the end it would have of been an excellent movie. So if your looking for a pretty scary movie with lots of things that pop out at you go see this. The story was actually pretty good as well. The fact that it made you wait to find out why she became blind was well done. The acting job Jessica Alba did was good as well. The visual effects for this movie were also awesome.

It would be hard to describe this one as scary, but it definitely had some eerie moments and scenes and overall was entertaining. While I'm pretty skeptical about the underlying concept, i.e. "cellular memory", there are clearly a number of adherents and it's worth popping the keywords into a search engine -- like Alba did in the movie -- to better understand the underpinnings of the film.

Overall I thought The Eye was well acted by both leads, as well as the supporting cast. Alba and Nivola carried the plot by encouraging us to suspend disbelief at some of the less credible incidents. The scenes of Alba playing violin featured superb talent on the part of the orchestra, both musically and visually and helped anchor the film at both ends.

The one real drawback was that it was slow at times, and a little boring. But it was too intriguing to abandon before the end, where the pieces were neatly tied together.

Overall worth watching and mildly thought provoking.

The infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter for an infinite amount of time will eventually produce the works of Shakespeare. Coincidently, this same theory applies to the onslaught of Asian horror remakes that is stomping Hollywood into submission. If enough of these films are remade, then eventually one will be acceptable, and alas it has happened.

The Eye, starring Jessica Alba is directed by two relative first timers by the names of David Moreau and Xavier Palud, and they can certainly create a film that boasts certain elements of stylish direction. Unfortunately, along with the good, it seems that all of this style of remake fear deviation from a backbone template. Not to give anything away to those who are not familiar with Asian horror remakes, but one element that is consistent is that the basis of all the evil happenings is from a spirit looking for salvation of some sort. While The Eye, does choose to spin this cliché slightly, it is afraid to go all the way.

Suffering from total blindness after a childhood accident, young beauty Sydney Wells (Alba) is given a chance at an eye transplant that will allow her to see for the first time in decades. Not surprisingly, she begins to see things that ought not to be. Aided by an appointed shrink, played by Alessandro Nivola, they confront the visions and try to track the donor eyes back to their sinister source. This journey is bounds more intelligent then the average horror story, and the standard for dumb decisions is cleverly hidden by the fact that Sydney is fully or partially blind for most of the film. This presents a cushion of forgives per se, as her lack of sight can lead her into frightening situations, without appearing ignorant.

And there are certainly some frightening "boo" moments; uniquely accentuated by a well used pallet of sound. There are also exactly three expertly executed scenes, worthy of recognition. The first is a scene in which a blurry eyed Sydney looks into the mirror for the first time with creepy consequences; the second features a member of the un-dead accompanying her in an elevator and the third takes the form of an intervention between a mother who has recently lost her son. If The Eye had presented more scenes of this Claiborne, it certainly could have been something special. Instead, the ending descends into the mediocrity, which at first seemed more then acceptable, but took off into a sixth sense meets final destination action spin off; which although still thrilling, did not fit the tone and atmosphere of the former acts. The "blurry vision" that is used early on with some skill, is overused by the end, the flashbacks replace the more effective quick cutbacks and it simply does not hold onto its success.

This is however Alba's best performance, and although not saying much, this shows there is hope for her future acting career. While more films like The Eye would be welcome, I think it better to forfeit the Asian remakes all together, then to wait for the monkey's second draft.

Read all my reviews at: http://www.simonsaysmovies.blogspot.com

With virtually every successful Asian horror movie of the last few years having already been remade by Hollywood, it was only a matter of time before Gin gwai (AKA The Eye) got the treatment, despite the original not really being all that great (I found it fairly entertaining, but unexceptional—my rating: 6/10).

Jessica Alba plays Sydney Wells, a blind violinist who receives a cornea transplant only to discover that her new set of peepers allow her to see much more than she had originally bargained for: Sydney can see dead people!! Aided by her doctor, she attempts to unravel the terrible secret behind her scary supernatural power.

Directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud, The Eye is a totally unnecessary and dreary remake that copies parts of original verbatim, alters scenes that should have been left well alone (the creepy cafe meat-licking scene has gone, and the downbeat ending has been swapped for a typical Hollywood crowd pleaser), and totally botches what should be the scariest bit of the whole film (the lift scene is VERY disappointing).

Take my advice: If you've already seen Gin gwai, then stay away from The Eye.