The Eye

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

This is a good little Asian horror film that I would definitely recommend renting or even buying, if you like foreign films. A young blind woman receives a cornea transplant and soon finds out that she got way more than she bargained for when she starts being visited by some very unhappy dead souls. It's not very original, true, but the acting is good, the lead character (played by Angelica Lee, is that her name?) is adorable, as is the little girl who plays Ying Ying; there is some serious tension and dread here, especially in the first half hour. The scene in the hospital hallway had my skin trying to crawl off my body, as well as the "Why are you sitting in my chair?" scene. We're talking serious chills. Some of the music IS a bit cheesy and over the top, but hey, you can't have everything, right? The scenes where we see through Mun's eyes in the first few minutes are very effective; we know someone is standing there, we just don't know who it is, and we feel her fear and uncertainty. Not the best movie ever made, but it's definitely worth seeing.

Before I close, I would like to respond to the attitude expressed here by some people that American films are all stupid, and that American filmgoers are all drooling idiots who have to see a throat slashed every few minutes in order to be engaged by a movie. When you make comments like that, you really show how ignorant you are when it comes to American cinema, as some of the finest movies ever made came right out of Hollywood, and no they aren't all slasher films or mindless teen comedies. But then I'm sure you folks already know that, you just want to feel intellectually superior to others. I enjoy a good foreign film, and so do many Americans, but just because they're foreign doesn't mean they're perfect. They have flaws just like any other human effort, so please get over yourselves and try to watch movies with an open mind, because you'll enjoy them much more that way. That's just my two cents.

Watch this movie, it's good.

The main issue with this is its ending. Its last third makes it into a mystery rather than a thriller, and though the backstory is great and "works", the resolve feels awkward... and it is. Maybe they didn't have any solid ideas for how to close it. Once it does reach its conclusion, it uncomfortably transforms into Final Destination and tries to wow us, becoming bombastic and out of touch with everything that precedes this portion. Still interested? I'm relieved to hear that. You see, that's really the only outright negative thing I can say about this. It's immensely creepy, beginning so right from the start(seriously, that credits sequence... if I'd watched this at the cinema, it would have sent severe chills down my spine). Lee portrays a blind person extremely convincingly, and this puts us inside her head some, through the editing and cinematography(which is all really well-done and fits, with carefully chosen angles, selective distortion, etc.). I have not caught a lot of Asian horror, because I'm not big on ghosts(and they are; their films about them are, thankfully, sophisticated and not crude, the way the mainstream Western ones tend to be), and, well, there are cultural differences, and I find that it distracts me from taking in the picture. Subtitles don't bother me(I vastly prefer them to dubbing). Anyway, they are growing on me, and what I have noted is the strong focus on the senses, and on the ability to "see" the other side, where spirits and demons are believed(in Japan) to live. The approach to terrifying us is subtle(as are most of the FX, and those are excellent, other than the handful that are somewhat crappy), building up gradually, using atmosphere and mood, seldom going for jump-scares. The sound-side is quite important, and it is skillfully done. There are a few clichés(and brief shameless product placement), but on the whole, the writing is good. The characters are credible, and the main one is affable, and her relationship with Ying Ying sweet. This also fits in what too many in the genre neglect... genuine emotion, impact that does not have to do with the monsters. It is actually partially a drama, and it provides food for thought(as well as cheese and corn). This was on sale with its direct sequel and the American remake. I'll be reviewing those two, in that order, the next two days. This one sets the bar fairly high. There is a bit of disturbing content and brief violence in this. I recommend this to any fan of this type of movie. 7/10

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

Even the website of this movie gave me the creeps. And it turned out to be one of the scariest movies I've seen in a while.

We follow the touching story of a young Hong Kong girl, blind from her earliest years, who undergoes a cornea transplant. After softening us up with lots of nice sentiment, the horror kicks her new found sight brings its own macabre rewards. Snappy editing and a well-timed score heighten the horrors that pack nanchuka punches to the guts. About a third of the audience was cowering behind their hands for the last half. In an age when American horror flicks are starting to look weary from over-use of CGI special effects or are toned down by self-censorship to reach a wider audience, The Eye comes in as a deftly woven real cardiac-stimulation shocker.

Sadly, the fact that it is subtitled limits the potential audience as many people simply refuse to go and see foreign language films until they have been genuinely moved or terrified by one. If you like horror movies and want to experiment, this is a good chance, and one of the best in the genre since the little shown Audition earlier this year.