I had been desperate to check this film out since I first heard about it, but never got around to it until now (thanks JD). I was extremely let down to say the least!!
The film centres on Mun, a young woman who has been blind since the age of 2. Mun receives a cornea transplant at the beginning of the film and soon discovers that she sees way more than she expected to.
The film borrows heavily….ok….rips off….just about every recent psychological horror film, and then some, that I have ever seen!!
The Pang brothers openly admit that the idea for the story came from real news incidents, but what they were not so quick to admit was the fact that the rest of their ideas came from ‘Body Bags’, ‘The Sixth Sense’, ‘Ring’, ‘Carrie’, ‘Final Destination’, ‘Dark Water’ and even ‘The Mothman Prophecies’ to name but a few!!
Ok, so the horror genre is known for repetition, but I’m sorry, you have to have a unique trait now that will make your movie stand from the crowd, or at very least make sure that the audience knows that you are merely trying to entertain them, the movie appeared to be pretentious in my eyes.
The cast were very good, especially Angelica Lee as Mun, who did make me feel sympathetic towards her, and the film did have tense moments especially the scene in the elevator but that was about all that it had to offer. I cannot even credit the Pang Brothers for their aesthetic sensibilities, as there was nothing amazing or even standout about their technique.
The Eye takes ideas from every piece of Western folklore you have ever heard, and mixes it with the best scenes from better movies making it a so-so mildly watchable horror thriller.
OVERALL SUMMARY
In the end, I saw right through The Eye and the fact that everyone who has seen this was sucked in by it is what scares me the most. Let’s hope that if the Cruise / Wagner remake ever materialises that they will take the premise and fully capitalise on it’s potential.
