The Eye (2002)

You won't be disappointed!

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

This film surprised me, as I've always heard mixed reviews of the Pang brothers, but all of my usual streaming services have been giving me problems lately (stupid college wifi) and I noticed that this and the 2008 remake were free on Hulu right now, so I decided: If this video ever loads, why not watch it? Turns out Hulu loads more effectively on my Wifi network than Netflix or Screambox, so I watched this late last night, and I was actually very impressed! The film does have a couple of frightening moments but it functions more as a thriller and drama, led by a nuanced and passionate performance by Angelica Lee, with a solid supporting cast at her side. This film also contains a lot of beautiful imagery, showing the Pang Brothers' eye (HA! yes, pun intended) for visual language. What I was most impressed by was the ending-- figuring out how to end a film of this kind is so difficult, but the Pangs do so with grace and style.All in all, if you're a fan of Asian cinema and haven't seen this yet, check this one out. Now, watch as I prepare to roast the American remake...

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

Of all bodily organs exploited by filmmakers, it's the eyes that come in for most punishment. It's easy to see why: not only are they wonderfully expressive, they're also vulnerable as hell, as Luis Bunuel ably demonstrated in an infamous sequence from Un Chien Andalou. Here, the Pang brothers, Danny and Oxide (Bangkok Dangerous), take the idea of an organ transplant patient who takes on the donor's characteristics and stoke the fear-factor up through a judicious mix of sight, sound, and horrendously creepy atmospherics.Lee Sin-Jie plays Mun, blind since the age of two, but now the happy owner of a pair of used corneas; until the ghastly visions of mortality come slithering into view. These include strange, black-clad figures leading the recent dead into the afterlife, levitating spirits (during a scene that may prevent you stepping into empty elevators ever again), and the disturbing fact that the face gazing back in the mirror isn't hers, but that of the donor - who, wouldn't you know it, was a tortured young woman with clairvoyant powers that drove her to suicide.Sporting much less a plot than a series of relentless, sensory-battering set pieces, each creepier than the last, The Eye's general effect - courtesy of Simon So's art direction and Oxide Pang's soundtrack - is akin to being strapped into an unstoppable, unsettling ghost train ride.Remade with Jessica Alba: "I see no audiences."

I thought that The Eye was a great film and very creepy. In Hong Kong an eighteen years old blind girl called Wong Kar Mun gets a cornea transplant so that she will be able to see again. She has been blind since she was two years old. She has to have a surgery of cornea transplantation, and while recovering from the operation, she realises that she is seeing dead people. With the help of Dr. Wah, Mun tries to find who was the donor of her eyes and resolve the mystery of her visions. So she goes on a journey to find the origins of her cornea and to reveal the history of the previous owner. This was a terrifying horror film, with some parts being the most scary i have ever seen in a horror film.