The Eye (2008)

5/10

bertbert25 May 2008

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.

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6/10

Mediocre film, great for if you don't question anything.

brokensilent7 June 2008

This was one of those movies that wasn't great but it wasn't bad either. It's just not one I'll remember in a week or so or one that will make it's way to my library. I was waiting for some shocking twist, something that you didn't see coming... I'm still waiting. You knew how it was going to end from the beginning and that was such a disappointment. There were many holes in the story that bothered me to the point of where it disturbed my capability to just sit back and enjoy the story. The characters weren't very well developed though the actors themselves did a great job. And on top of all of that, they had a preview for the sequel on the rental... I've never seen that before and I have to say, I was unimpressed. After seeing the first one, I'm content with not seeing the second. Like I said, this wasn't bad but it wasn't really necessarily good either, it's just there.

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6/10

Descent thriller

amparosupelano17 May 2008

First am going to admit I didn't watch the original. Am not a guy that likes to watch foreign films, so I will spare you with any comparison. The movie at the beginning moves sort of slow. They do put some parts that are meant to scare the viewer, but they did seem contrived and really didn't scare me. But as the movie plot thickens, the movie starts having a real story, and it does entertain the viewer, not just a gimmick of spooky special effects, with absolutely no plot. I would give this movie a 6.5. It turns very solid towards the end.

I do agree it could be a little bit tedious at the beginning, but if you are a guy that has the patience, towards the end, it picks up well. Not the scariest movie ever though, but in the end, it did deliver. I've seen way worse, and I think some are being somewhat to harsh.

Solid move, a 6.5.

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3/10

It Could Have Been So Much More...

applesauce91-22 February 2008

I really wanted this movie to be good. Really. I think Jessica Alba is an extremely talented actress, and I had high hopes for this movie. J horror remake, interesting premise, Jessica Alba...sounds good so far.

But this movie left me disappointed in when I saw it last night. The movie relies on cheap thrills that aren't frightening to the mature moviegoer. I should have expected this, as it was rated PG-13, but the theatre full of screaming 11 year olds at every jump was quite irritating.

When it was all over, The Eye left me wanting more. The only thinking and mystery in the movie is done for you and the "science-talk" from Alba seems unrealistic. It relies on loud noises and horror movie clichés at every turn. The Eye is a definite popcorn movie. It may be entertaining for younger viewers, but if you want a deeper and more engaging story, look elsewhere.

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7/10

Good movie but NOT for horror fans

rooprect7 December 2014

If you're looking for a pulse-pounding horror thriller, you won't find that here. If you're looking for a spooky ghost story, you might want to move on. If you're looking for blood & guts & body parts, don't even waste a minute of your time.

"The Eye" isn't so much a horror flick as it is a supernatural drama.

This film is a remake of the 2002 Chinese "The Eye" which I haven't seen, so I can't (and probably shouldn't) compare the two. I thought this was a nicely done film, more of an intimate character study than a scary "gotcha" flick. In that respect it's similar to "The Sixth Sense", and not just the story. Like "The Sixth Sense" which was a slow moving psychological drama that just happened to have dead people in it, "The Eye" takes a personal approach as well. And while that may bore the audience members who are expecting some screams, it ultimately results in a film with a little bit more to say than your average screamer.

Jessica Alba ("Sydney") does a great job of playing a woman who has been blind since age 5, a loner, someone who doesn't seem to have many connections with people and she likes it that way. The underlying theme is that her blindness makes her feel unique, exempt from the real world. When she regains her sight after 15 years by a corneal transplant, it's not necessarily the wonderful experience you'd expect. There's a scene when she comes back from the hospital to a surprise party, and the scene is filmed with unsettling, distorted closeups of strange faces. It perfectly expresses the confusion and claustrophobia of not just a blind person gaining her sight, but that of an introvert being forced into society. That enough could've been enough for a feature length film: how a woman deals with the "gift" of sight which she doesn't really want. But it doesn't end there. She starts seeing dead people, too.

While we never really feel like Sydney is in any deadly peril, there are a few very effective surprises which, I gotta admit, quickened my pulse a few notches. Also the "shadow men" were very creepy, and if you want to see a real shocker, check out the bonus features where we learn that the shadow men are not cgi graphics, but it's an actual dude... a sort of living skeleton who looks just as bizarre in real life than on screen.

The 2nd half of the film becomes a mystery as Sydney tries to figure out why she's getting these disturbing visions and what she's supposed to do about it. Again, no hair raising car chases or shootouts here, just a thick atmosphere of the unknown.

Like I said, I haven't seen the original Chinese film, but I can tell that the American filmmakers were trying to add a degree of backstory. In the bonus features they talk about the science of "cellular memory" (the idea that donated organs possess characteristics that are imparted to the new recipient). So I can assume that this is less of a visceral shocker (like the original?) as it is an intellectual approach. There's also the psychology bit I mentioned above. And it also touches on the idea that artists, musicians & creative thinkers are more sensitive to supernatural events (Sydney is a concert violinist). In short, "The Eye" sacrifices the raw approach of a typical action-horror flick, and instead replaces it with more of a slow-moving, scientific or "rational" approach to the supernatural.

Depending on your preference, that's a good or bad thing. I can go either way depending on my mood; once in a while I like to think, whereas other times I just want to see Freddy slice some people to ribbons. "The Eye" definitely falls on the thinking side of that scale. Other thinking horror flicks I recommend are "Exorcist III" (one of the BEST), "The Others" with Nicole Kidman, and of course "The Sixth Sense".

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3/10

Cookie cutter rip-off with unneeded changes

esnow12 February 2008

If you watch this movie, be aware that Gin-Gwai (The Eye)came first. There have even been two sequels. The third one was called The Eye 10 as a marketing ploy by the US director. It is truly awful, so avoid it like the plague.

That being said, the thing that both US influenced versions have are a total lack of creativity, suspense, or originality. It is a pity that Ms. Alba chose this role, as it was merely a shell of the original film. Every scene was reproduced in a typical US-dumbed down format, with typical cheap Friday the 13th scares thrown in. This version ironically lost sight of the original vision of the Pang Brother's classic. Instead, they change key plot elements to "add to" the suspense, IE: American audiences can't think, so we have to hold up a sign that says "SCREAM".

Do yourself and others a favor and rent, or even better buy a copy of the original. You will not be disappointed. Sadly, the same cannot be said for yet another cheap, unimaginative, 80's camp pile of garbage rip-off in the mold of The Grudge, Hide and Seek, and Dark Water. Don't even waste your time downloading this tripe.

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7/10

Blurry around the edges, but still a fine sight

dfranzen703 February 2008

The Eye (2008) I knew going into the theater that this would be a bit scary. OK, maybe traumatizing. I had a LASIK procedure done a couple of years ago, and although I wasn't blind beforehand, I did have pretty bad eyesight. I know a bit about the trepidation - perhaps even outright terror - one feels before undergoing an operation on one's eyeballs. I still get a little skeeved when I see a closeup of eyes, come to think of it.

Jessica Alba plays Sydney, a blind concert violinist who has a double corneal transplant, and of course things go wrong. Not with the surgery itself, but with the psychological aftermath - she sees dead people. And dead things. And undead. And so on; it looks like she's tapped into a spiritual world, or something. No one else can see what she's seeing, which is par for the course in movieland, but all of the demons and smoke and fire and other sfx seem extremely, utterly, real to Sydney.

Alba is excellent, showing that she has more than just two (or three) talents to show the world. Her Sydney is appealing in her vulnerability; Alba, a beautiful young woman, manages to make you feel as if her character could, indeed, live in your world: less glitzy starlet, more three-dimensional person. Of course, she's still a knockout, and she IS a supremely talented musician, and she DOES live in a super-posh apartment in a high rise, but still. Alba shows wonderful range, from tender to fragile, without giving up any sincerity. The movie hinges on her ability to sell the audience on her character's Everywoman (to a point) status, and I think she delivers.

Some of you may be thinking you've already seen this movie before, when it was called Blink. In Blink, Madeline Stowe played a young woman who lost her sight as a child (as did Sydney) and then grew up to be a talented violinist; after a new eye operation temporarily restores some sight, she sees things. Just like Sydney. Huh. Still, this isn't a redo of Blink, it's a remake of a Chinese film called Gin gwai. Asian films have made the rounds of Hollywood in recent years (The Ring, The Grudge, Dark Water), and although the remakes usually don't have the subversive bite of their original counterparts, some of them hold up rather well when inundated with high-tech CGI. The Eye does use special effects, but it uses them - pardon me - to great effect; you're not overwhelmed with attention-grabbing CGI.

The biggest debit in the movie is the love interest, Sydney's doctor, Paul (Alessandro Nivola), who seems dull and unimportant, although his believing in and trusting Sydney is a linchpin for moving the plot. He just seems vacant and stiff, hardly a commendation of Nivola's acting abilities. (Think of a younger Dylan McDermott.) On the other hand, a good counterbalance to Nivola is Parker Posey as Sydney's concerned sister, who, although she doesn't immediately buy into Sydney's rantings, does empathize and attempt to understand a bit better than the hunky doctor.

Overall, The Eye is a tense, shudder-filled movie that manages to dress up a recycled plot with dead-on performances and evocative cinematography.

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4/10

Another blinking remake!

BA_Harrison25 March 2008

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 unexceptionalmy 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.

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7/10

A Monkey Theorum Movie

Simon_Says_Movies26 May 2009

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

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2/10

The Eye of Boredom

Carrigon3 February 2008

Warning: Spoilers

Spoilers in post:

I was so bored. Nothing happens in this movie until the last ten minutes. You get a few random ghost sightings, but nothing happens with them at all. Most of the movie is made up of really boring scenes where nothing happens. You keep waiting for something real to happen, and it just never does. Too many nightmare shots.

This movie is a lot like Sixth Sense, only nowhere near as well done. It also feels like it was trying to copy some elements from Ghost.

I really couldn't wait for it to be over. It felt like just another bad remake of a Japanese film where they lost too much in the translation.

Wait for it to show up on cable. You're not missing much.

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10/10

Why does everyone hate this movie?

Juliusus11 February 2008

Warning: Spoilers

The Eye starring the beautiful Jessica Alba is a great film. It was directed perfectly. I thought the ghost looked fake but they were still scary, I just read a comment saying that the movie is just ghosts jumping out at you but it is almost the opposite in the scenes Jessica Alba seems to see something but it disappears, that's when you think it's gone, then something pops out, it is not the sound that scares you, it is the fear of thinking it is gone or not.

This is a beautiful movie about Sidney Wells a major violist that gets a corneal transplant. It seems great at first but then Sidney (Jessica Alba) starts seeing deaths that either happened before or will happen in the future, sometimes in her dreams she gets visions about something, a fire etc. In the end she finally realizes what those visions are and tries to save everyone. But blinding herself in the process when a window shattered in front of her. In the end you see her, her eyelids closed playing the violin magnificently, she was at the concert. When the music stops Sidney opens her eyes to show that she was blind and she will always be blind forever...

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7/10

Better than I expected it to be. Alba's acting was quite good

rlange-35 July 2008

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.

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2/10

Jessica Alba Kills Another Movie Dead

matthewmatcalfe2 February 2008

Jessica Alba's complete lack of acting skills is pretty obvious to everyone, except apparently movie producers.

Maybe it's because they're blinded by the countless photographs she takes in various conditions of undress.

Regardless, here again she gives yet another frightfully bad performance. So bad that you can't really even call it a performance.

Jessica Alba was born to be a bikini model and that's exactly what she should do. She shouldn't act, but if she really feels she must, she could at least take some acting lessons.

The Eye will die, like all Alba movies, because of her complete lack of talent and skill.

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5/10

Alba reminds us that you may want to check where that donated organ came from.

grangers-113 March 2008

Jessica Alba plays a woman who undergoes cornea transplants in a remake of a Chinese film of the same name.

The moment she opens her eyes she starts to see things that aren't there. These include (a) a number of grim reapers, (b) recently dead people, (c) vivid images of someone else's past premonitions, and (d) a director and editor who aren't sure whether their making a horror film, thriller or a 'who dunnit?'.

There is a faint oriental air to the film with does add a bit of mystery. This is essentially a relatively cheaply made Alba-vehicle. There is no-one else in it other than a periodically appearing sister and a doctor who you never quite get interested in as he has nothing of worth to say.

You do jump from minor shock every now and then (but then an unexpected rapid orchestral crescendo does that to most people).

The film is similar in feel to Sarah Michelle-Gellar's The Grudge. You are left with a similar feeling when you leave the cinema; a resigned "it was okay".

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7/10

Effective scares and an excellent dramatic lead performance from Jessica Alba

maxmillion9930 January 2008

Warning: Spoilers

In this era of stem cell research, where genetic re-programming results in human heart cells beating in a Petrie dish, perhaps The Eye's premise of cellular memory is not so far-fetched. Blinded during a childhood accident, gorgeous and gifted first violinist Sydney Wells (Jessica Alba) undergoes a corneal transplant. Previously confident in the dark, sweet Sydney's secure world becomes terrifying when she finds she can see not only dead people, but the prophetic visions of the former owner of her newly restored vision.

Everyone around her thinks she's going mad, from her unsympathetic maestro to her concerned sister Helen (played poorly by an underused and under directed Parker Posey) to her conflicted doctor in an underwritten and choppy character arc. (Is Alessandro Nivola playing an eye doctor or a psychoanalyst? Is he a staunch professional or driven by love to cross the line?) Sydney feels compelled to decipher her visions, sensing that if she does, the troubled spirit of the original donor may finally find peace.

Directorial flaws aside, The Eye's strengths lie in its superb visuals, effective scares and, above all, the impressive and convincing performance of its leading lady. Appearing in virtually every scene, Alba has you blinking tears when her eyes sting and second-guessing your own eyes when you see what she sees.

A remake of the Pang Brothers 2002 Hong Kong hit Gin gwai, The Eye is actually a Hollywood rip-off, traversing the familiar territory of recent thriller Blink, 1978's Eyes of Laura Mars and even Roger Corman's 1963 horror pic X: The Man With X-Ray Eyes.

The Eye has satisfying echoes of J horror plus ghost stories such as The Sixth Sense and The Others.

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1/10

I see boring people

DrBlood20064 February 2008

Warning: Spoilers

The biggest problem with "The Eye" is not that it is a remake of one of the most insipid and dull Hong Kong supernatural thrillers ever made, "Gin Gwai", but that it isn't any improvement over the original either.

The consensus appears to be that this film is just boring. Boring isn't a strong enough word to describe it though. It's tedious, dragged out, and makes you want to stab yourself with a fork to stay awake for the 97 minutes running time just in case anything happens at all.

I watched the original a few years ago and didn't really like it so I was hoping that there was going to be some new angle to this. Unfortunately, apart from changing the locations, the names of the characters and a few subtle plot differences, it was actually worse.

I can't blame the actors for this one. Jessica Alba is alright to look at and there is no doubt that she can act and look worried really well. The story here was just so thin and the dialogue was so bad that nobody could have made any more of it. Alessando Nivola however plays such an unconvincing doctor that I would actually dread to have someone like him involved in any post-surgical recovery process in real life. Shouting at your patients and telling them that they are wrong a couple of days after they've had cornea transplants is not a good bedside manner! There were a couple of moments where I thought that things would pick up. A jump scare involving an oven fell flat though and the others disintegrated into horrible messes of CGI. There was no tension, no suspense, just no atmosphere whatsoever. It could have been a daytime TV show about boiled eggs for all the emotional impact it had.

The ending was just like a deleted scene from "Final Destination". The whole movie is supposed to build up to this final act as an explanation of why Sydney Wells is seeing things in the first place but it just felt tagged on and was very rushed. It didn't really make any difference though because I'd already written this whole film off after the first ten minutes anyway.

I'm not sure if anyone would like this film. It's not going to appeal to fans of the original and for older horror fans it's just like a very bad version of "Eye" from "John Carpenter's Body Bags" (1993). It's very dated and that's a terrible thing for a new film to be.

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7/10

Not as bad as people make it sound

robertallenandersonjr13 April 2008

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.

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3/10

Alba in Another Stinker

view_and_review23 October 2021

Warning: Spoilers

Jessica Alba is one of those actors/actresses that I know well, yet I've only seen in a few movies and they all stink. "Idle Hands," "Awake," "The Veil," "Fantastic Four," and yes, even "Sin City." So how is she so popular?

Add this movie to the rubbish pile.

In this trash heap Jessica Alba plays a blind woman named Sydney Wells who gets a cornea transplant and then guess what? She could see dead people. Her cornea donor, who was from Mexico of all places (I didn't know Americans got organs from donors in different countries), could see dead people and passed on that "gift." We find this out after Sydney did the obligatory scary movie research and found out what happened to her cornea donor. With the help of her doctor, who made their relationship all too personal, she found out the information she needed, went to Mexico, saved a little girl who'd never seen a door lock before, then lost her eyes again. Whatever little good will this movie may have had going for it, it was totally discarded in the last twenty minutes.

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6/10

More suspense than a horror movie.

mm-397 February 2008

Warning: Spoilers

I like the movie. A decent Wensdaynight date movie. 'The Eye' is a horror movie, but also more of a mystery movie. After a eye transplant Jessica Able is able to see the dead. A mystery of who Jessica'a eye donor is ensues. Well directed and acted. The story's mystery is the engine which drives the movies to its suspenseful ending. I was guessing at the ending. Is 'The Ring' a better movie? You bet. I still like 'The Eye' which is a good second feature on DVD night. A 6 or 7 out of 10. Not a Texas Chainsaw Masscaure style film. 'The Eye' is not a gore fest style horror movie. Take 'The Eye' for what it is! A mystery style horror movie.

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1/10

Predictable movie

metacracker20 December 2008

Warning: Spoilers

It was a good movie but predictable in lot of ways maybe its because I read a novel "Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz" which has almost the same story. Cool thing was that when I read that book I visualized the same things as in this movie. Visual effects were amazing , they always are in horror movies. But the movie didn't leave any sort of taste behind. Like in other horror movies , after watching them you would put yourself in the place of the character and think how well you would have handled that situation. this movie lacked this experience mainly because the story completed with a happy ending. It looks like horror only from DVD cover and movie posters but seems more like thriller.

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10/10

Loved it!

poisonedsodapop2 February 2008

I'm not a fan of horror in any way but my friend really wanted to see The Eye and I went with him to see it. I do like Japanese horror and seeing as The Eye was a remake of a Chinese film I hoped to enjoy it (if that makes any sense). I hadn't seen the original but my friend gave me a summary of the original so I knew what to expect.

So I can easily say I loved it. It was well done and kept me interested the whole way through. The film effects were very believable (I won't reveal what they were for those who don't know the plot) and the story was a good one. I think if you're looking for a horror movie with a ton of blood this is definitely not the one to see. It's not a movie with a serial killer who kills everyone off. But if you're into supernatural thrillers then this is definitely what you're looking for. A little bit of mystery with the right effects to still make you jump.

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6/10

A Nutshell Review: The Eye

DICK STEEL24 February 2008

So I haven't watched the original Eye movie by the Pang Brothers, but I guess with remakes these days, it doesn't really matter, since most of the time, the Hollywood remade version pales in comparison with the original, despite having a bigger budget, bigger stars and of course, better visual effects. And what almost always seem woeful, is the attempt to try and recreate the atmospherics for a spook fest that Asian horror had perfected, and I'm inclined to suggest that they should adapt the storyline (since there's a creative dearth of ideas), but leave the mimicking of mood at the door.

This is probably the first movie that Jessica Alba marquees, and comparisons would be abound for those who've watched the original to compare her to Angelica Lee's performance. But really, I don't think it matters, since all you need to do is to look scared. As blind violinist Sydney, Alba escapes the need to act blind given the cop out of using shades, coupled with the fact that her transplanted eyes allow for the camera to be out of focus for the most parts.

Things start to get interesting when she begins to see shadowy figures borrowed straight out of Pulse (yet another Asian horror remake), and these all get conveniently debunked by her doctor Paul (Alessandro Nivola who stars as the hopeless, formless Gavin Harris in the Goal movies), because if you're blind for so many years, your brain needs some major time out to absorb all the new sights you're constantly bombarded with. So goes as with standard horror fare, that those who can see spirits when others can't, are classified as nutcases. Alba's no scream queen as the proceedings don't allow her to exercise her lungs, and I swear there are just too many of those waking up from nightmare moments, and the clock ticking around 1:05am.

But credit is due though to the scenes which aim to frighten, and some did hit the mark even though they're the usual tools to surprise from the bag of Boo tricks. There are, to me, a major unexpected moment which I had to nod in acknowledgement of not seeing it coming (I had thought otherwise), but unfortunately, that was it. The latter half of the journey became a road trip movie which seeked answers, coupled with Hollywood's preoccupation of having to explain and show everything, leaving little to your imagination since everything was spelt out. While the story's not at fault, the way it's presented made this look like a standard mystery thriller, without the mystery, and without the thrills.

And the finale was a little lacklustre as it seemed to be styled in Final Destination fashion, making it look like it had no more rabbits to pull out of the hat. The Eye had plenty of neat visual effects, and although there are some beautiful stunts involving glass shards and the walking through of objects, special effects alone do not make a horror movie spine-chilling. Looks like there's some major sty in this eye.

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3/10

Not worth your time

gavynhelfyre3 February 2008

I had a hard time watching this movie. Everything that worked in this was directly lifted from the original, everything else... didn't.

The director tries to built tension in places where none exists. The screen writer tries to "improve" on the mystery of the original but the results don't work, giving itself away from he very first "vision". The acting was below par for most of the cast, with characters coming off as two dimensional for the sake of moving the plot along- and Jessica Alba needs to realize she gets film jobs for her looks not her talent.

Anyway, if you're thinking of watching this, don't. It's not scary. It's not suspenseful. It's not even original. It's a waste of your time and money. Rent the original or watch another film instead.

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1/10

Eye ryhmes with why and that is the question

weemonk9 April 2008

And so it is that yet again American producers and writers can not think for themselves as yet another remake goes wrong.

I liked the original Pang Bro's version. They do some good films. I had no faith that this remake would do the source material justice in any way and it didn't. I don't quite understand how all the Japanese/Chinese/Korean/Thai remakes miss the mark. Maybe it's the $$ signs that the American rip off artists see and care about most.

The Eye manages to keep the basics from the original film but looses the tension and atmosphere. It's such a disappointment. Just a bit more work by the writers and they might just have managed to translate to American audiences what the Pang Bro's original film did. Even having 2 directors on this film could not recreate the freshness of the original. What we end up with is another run of the mill, quick scary images and quick scary noises, horror remake. The characters are flat are you really don't care for them. The story is not as involving as it should be and really isn't the best . The realisations near the end of the film in the original which catch your attention and make you think are completely lost in this remake as you really don't care and haven't been given enough reason to care about the main characters.

There's no point in commenting on the actors or such as the generalisation now for these remakes is that Hollywood and the big shots care only for money and have not got the foggiest idea of how to be original or to take a concept and pay homage to it's source material and ideas. It's a shame the lamen out there don't culturalise themselves with world cinema - if they did, we wouldn't suffer crappy remakes. Shame people are too lazy to read subtitles.

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7/10

"These Are Not My Eyes." -- Slightly Better Than Most Would Expect.

drownsoda901 February 2008

Warning: Spoilers

"The Eye" is a supernatural horror/thriller about Sydney Wells (Jessica Alba), an accomplished violinist who lost her sight at the age of five. But with advanced medical technology, Sydney is able to undergo a corneal transplant procedure, which would restore her vision. After the surgery though, the fact that Syndey can see the world around her doesn't matter to her anymore, because along with it she is seeing ghostly visions and witnessing horrific events from the past and the future. It begins to seem that Sydney is taking on the traits of the donor of the eyes, and she must uncover her identity to stop the visions and put the donor's spirit to rest.

While I haven't seen the original Chinese version, I can say this was a decent horror flick. It's a PG-13 horror flick, yes, but it's rather sophisticated for being so. Most films in this type of league have reputations for being not-so-great (a couple of examples that I can agree with would be last year's "The Messengers", and this year's "One Missed Call", both being films that completely missed the mark). But this was better than a lot of the PG-13 thrillers that are out there, and it is easy to see there was some solid thought and work put into it. The story, while it is a remake, is intriguing. The entire idea of an eye transplant is a scary thing to begin with, and the supernatural element carried along with it is clever. I really thought the pacing in the film was great, it evened itself out when handling the suspense and scares with the dramatic elements and was gradual up until the end.

There is some really great creepy imagery as well and some neat cinematography, and that's where most of this movie's strength is. There are some genuinely eerie visuals in this movie, most of them unlike any I've seen before, and there are some clever shocks and scares as well. I even have to admit that I jumped a couple of times and was slightly spooked, so I have to applaud the direction because they did a good job with that. I also immensely enjoyed the sequences where we get to see through the lead character's eyes, blurry vision and all, which was a neat way to put the audience in her shoes as her life spirals out of control after the procedure. I'm really squeamish when it comes to anything involving someone's eyes too, as many people are I'm sure, so a few moments did get my skin crawling.

I'm not going to lie, this movie does have some standard clichés but manages to be at least halfway original in some aspects. The acting is decent, nothing remarkable but Jessica Alba makes a likable lead here. Parker Posey is good too as her older sister, although her part is pretty small. Alessandro Nivola plays the role of the doctor who initially doesn't believe anything the Alba character is saying, a role we know too well, but does what he can with it. Also notable is Chloe Moretz of "The Amityville Horror" remake, playing a young cancer patient. The action-laced ending was a little flat if you ask me, and the revelation of the ghost's discontentment was well-thought out but also a little flat. I'm not going to harp on it though, because I felt there was sufficient effort put into this, and I for the most part enjoyed most of the movie.

Overall, in my eyes (pun intended), "The Eye" is a decent horror movie. It's not perfect by any means, but I can say it's better than most of the PG-13 horror flicks that have hit theaters in recent years. All in all it's a bit above average, and worth seeing if you like this sort of thing. It serves a few good scares and some interesting ideas, managing to be halfway refreshing compared to most horror films lately. I'd also like to add that this was far better than the atrocious remake of the Japanese horror movie, "One Missed Call", which was released about a month before this. So, if you were put off by that mess of a movie, I'd say give this one a chance, it might surprise you. It did me, anyway. 7/10.

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