Asian horror flicks are generally celebrated as original concepts that eventually get keel-hauled into American mainstream by way of sloppy dub jobs or straight American remakes. The Pang Brothers film The Eye flips this tradition around by taking clear inspiration from popular American thrillers like The Sixth Sense and Blink while still retaining enough originality to capably stand on its own. Plus it's pretty damn creepy.The idea of a blind person surgically regaining the use of their eyesight only to witness a series of decidedly unpleasant visions may not sound like a stunningly original concept (and let's face it; it's not) but the technically proficient Pang Brothers manage to make the conceit just new enough to allow The Eye to transcend its relatively familiar inspirations and deliver a moody and atmospheric thriller that should certainly unsettle audiences on both sides of the Pacific.
Mun (Lee Sin-je) is a sweet young woman who's been blind since the age of two. With the help of Hong Kong's finest surgeons (and the ongoing support of her sister and grandmother), Mun slowly begins to enjoy the gift of sight thanks to an elaborate cornea transplant. Though the patient takes some time to acclimate to her newfound vision, Mun quickly begins to suspect that her donated corneas have come with a particularly nasty side effect: she sees 'shadows'.
That these shadows mainly appear when some unfortunate soul has recently passed away fills the gal with a justifiably unpleasant sense of dread - and that Mun finds herself dealing with these visions on her own (amid much skepticism from her family and doctors) fills the beleaguered woman with a sense of bleak desperation.
But Mun's visions are not limited to gauzy shadow-folk; she often catches glimpses of 'people' that only she can see - an affliction that leads to terror on Mun's part...and a handful of creepy thrills for the viewer.
That much of the narrative reminds one of a half-dozen other thrillers doesn't prevent The Eye from staking some new ground of its own. Sure, there are a few components of The Eye that may not translate well to a North American audience (the musical score wavers between throbbingly intense and ticklishly treacly; Act II sags almost noticably in several spots) but fans of crackerjack 'beyond the grave' thrillers and Japanese flicks in general should find much to enjoy.
Though the jolts come in relatively small doses, The Eye does offer three or four sequences that should have moviegoers squirming delightedly in their seats and the pulse-pounding finalé (while a tiny bit predictable) should absolutely leave viewers leaving the theater with a nervous spring in their step.Given that the current state of American Horror is usually so watered-down and generic, even a 'pretty good' horror import is reason to rejoice. It's not likely that The Eye will spur the sort of frenzy that 'Ring' did a few years back - but a ghost story doesn't have to be revolutionary to deserve an audience. As it stands, The Eye is considerably more entertaining than what generally passes for 'scary' these days and should find itself a pleasantly enthusiastic audience.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2003 SXSW Film Festival. For more in the 2003 South By Southwest Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2003 Seattle Film Festival. For more in the 2003 Seattle Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2003 San Francisco Film Festival. For more in the 2003 San Francisco Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2003 Santa Monica Film Festival. For more in the 2003 Santa Monica Film Festival series, click here.
User Comments
1/26/10
PAUL SHORTT
STRANGE PSYCHOLOICAL HORROR STORY
10/27/09
bored mom
Cellular memory? More like Legend of the Cursed Eyeballs.
10/24/09
SouthWind45
Legacy and, worse, insists suggest that Brazilian professionals are solely responsible for
10/23/09
Gangster38
The schools I went to were out of control. ,
5/29/07
Bitchflaps
Doesn't bring anything new to the genre, but there are some effective moments.
11/01/06
William Goss
Familiar, yet still solid.
10/02/05
ravinder singh
i like this movei
9/02/05
Indrid Cold
A couple perfectly done scenes, but doesn't even come close to sustaining it.
8/11/05
Maegs
Creepy! Elevator man still scares the crap out of me.
7/25/05
Eric Rollins
Japanese Val Lewton makes visual gem out coal (story).
7/20/05
Sir Dude
Very good. Hurry and see it before Hollywood ruins a great movie... Again!
6/23/05
M
a bit silly, but skin crawling. beautifully shot.
6/11/05
whatevr
as creepy as the sixth sense
6/09/05
The Grinch
Don't believe the hype. The lamest of all overrated asian "horror". Watch Odishan instead
6/05/05
Charlene Javier
Great production values!
5/07/05
K. Sear
Nothing new but beautifully executed.
1/13/05
SAKURAZUKAMORI
Very effective, creepy movie.
1/01/05
Raven
Great drama with some horror elements. Ju-on sucked, watch this instead. It has a plot.
10/19/04
Samantha
It's a great film, I love the way it was done!
5/29/04
Cameron Slick
Thought concerned and eerie
5/18/04
taintedlunch
Creepy! Look out for elevator scene. Derivative and predictable at times, but good movie.
5/15/04
shannon saliard
excelltnt film it had me on the edge of my seat from first shot to last.
4/26/04
Lord Jiggy
Well done, owes Sixth Sense a lot, but doesn't ultimately pay off.
4/18/04
JERRY
ahh cuz i wet meself!
2/08/04
matt mathias
brilliant...it's all in the sound...turn it up loud!!
1/21/04
Mayet
quite better than inner senses... but nothing beats ring
11/08/03
Agent Sands (previously Mr. Hat)
Predictable at some points, but it's pretty scary. My 1st Pang Bros. outing.
10/29/03
othree
feltfull understated ghost story w/o the hollywood racket
10/25/03
Mickey With A C
This is an EXCELLENT movie
10/05/03
john holdsworth
top film better than usual U.S. crap
9/14/03
the Grinch
Don't believe the hype. Weak, cliched movie. Watch Audition instead...
7/01/03
Kyle
Worth checking out.
6/24/03
Eastwood
Honestly, I've never been genuinely scared like that. Leveled off nicely at the end.
6/10/03
hugh
frightening
6/08/03
JaNeT
WAY TOOO SCARY I LEFT HALFWAY THROU
6/06/03
chris
Plays it safe, but some scenes make the overall film worthwhile
5/31/03
Meyeson
I've had this on DVD for about 8 months, this is not "SCREAM" style horror it's "SUSPIRIA
5/23/03
Jonathan
Not Evil, but Bizzare-scary. A good story and cast but a little predictable at times.
5/19/03
Loyd
This movie has been copied from a book. I read the book 3 years ago.
5/16/03
joe biedron
very scary stuff
3/20/03
Andy Bronson
a great follow up to bangkok dangerous
3/18/03
Ace-of-Stars
Outstanding movie; very creepy -- right up there with Nakata's "RING" (orig. Japanese ver.)
3/13/03
Jon
Saw the east coast version 6 months ago, great with a very cool ending
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