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The Eye (2002)
What You Can’t See…
Directed By: The Pang Brothers
Starring: Angelica Lee & Lawrence Chou
MPAA Rating: “R” (for some disturbing images)
Here is a sinister little film that gets under your skin, squirms around, and then takes a thick bite out of your flesh. The Eye is a superior ghost story, one that sets a new standard for modern horror. The film is never gory and never cheap with its thrills; instead, it takes the high road. Here is an intelligent film, one that scares its audience with genuine suspense and scares. Sporting solid performances, insane ghost effects (you could see me squirming in my chair from frame one and I never stopped), and an explosive ending that is perfectly bleak, The Eye is a fulfilling, wonderful, and truly horrifying film. Its progression into terror seems natural, unlike most films that seem to progress about as casually as a bull in a china store. People looking for an example of a good ghost story should look no farther than The Eye. Unfortunately for us, so many looked no farther than just creating more insipid remakes. Don’t be fooled; The Eye is a true original.
Mun Mun (Lee) is a beautiful young woman who has blind since birth. When doctors perform a cornea transplant in hopes of reversing her blindness, she can finally see for the first time in her life. However, she can see more than just the world around her...she can see ghostly apparitions that seem to haunt her every move. As she races to uncover the secrets behind the original owner of her eyes, she discovers that a terrible tragedy is about to occur and only she can stop it...but can she uncover the mystery before it is too late? What begins as a quiet, reserved film that relishes long moments of eerie silence quickly explodes into a horrific scene of carnage that is unexpected and very effective due to its stark contrast with the rest of the film. Of course, much of the film is carried by the beautiful and very talented Angelica Lee who never strays away from the camera for more than a minute. She is very expressive and handles the part differently than most actresses who would, no doubt, slap on as many fake tears as possible and scream madly with arms flailing. She, like the film, is reserved and introspective, making her journey all the more compelling.
The Eye (2002) is what you may consider to be a hidden gem...not because it hasn’t gotten enough publicity, but because it never begs to be the next great genre offering. It exists and, through this existence, it achieves greatness. The booming musical score, the grisly ghosts that snarl and grasp at hapless victims, and the big-breasted girl who is always screaming madly are all precariously missing. Instead, we have a thoroughly mellow film, one that is amazing because of what it is not, rather than what it is. This is not the kind of horror film we have come to expect. This is not your typical ghost story. This is not just a series of cheap scare tactics. If someone had told me their plans to create a film like The Eye beforehand, I would have chuckled slightly and then quietly, yet mournfully informed them that it would never work...at least, not with audiences. Critics may praise its artistry, but audiences would storm out feeling like they had just been sucker-punched. I would have been wrong. The Eye is a film that works well with both critics and audiences. This is what horror looks like when it is used as an art, not as a gimmick.
Mun Mun (Lee) is a beautiful young woman who has blind since birth. When doctors perform a cornea transplant in hopes of reversing her blindness, she can finally see for the first time in her life. However, she can see more than just the world around her...she can see ghostly apparitions that seem to haunt her every move. As she races to uncover the secrets behind the original owner of her eyes, she discovers that a terrible tragedy is about to occur and only she can stop it...but can she uncover the mystery before it is too late? What begins as a quiet, reserved film that relishes long moments of eerie silence quickly explodes into a horrific scene of carnage that is unexpected and very effective due to its stark contrast with the rest of the film. Of course, much of the film is carried by the beautiful and very talented Angelica Lee who never strays away from the camera for more than a minute. She is very expressive and handles the part differently than most actresses who would, no doubt, slap on as many fake tears as possible and scream madly with arms flailing. She, like the film, is reserved and introspective, making her journey all the more compelling.
The Eye (2002) is what you may consider to be a hidden gem...not because it hasn’t gotten enough publicity, but because it never begs to be the next great genre offering. It exists and, through this existence, it achieves greatness. The booming musical score, the grisly ghosts that snarl and grasp at hapless victims, and the big-breasted girl who is always screaming madly are all precariously missing. Instead, we have a thoroughly mellow film, one that is amazing because of what it is not, rather than what it is. This is not the kind of horror film we have come to expect. This is not your typical ghost story. This is not just a series of cheap scare tactics. If someone had told me their plans to create a film like The Eye beforehand, I would have chuckled slightly and then quietly, yet mournfully informed them that it would never work...at least, not with audiences. Critics may praise its artistry, but audiences would storm out feeling like they had just been sucker-punched. I would have been wrong. The Eye is a film that works well with both critics and audiences. This is what horror looks like when it is used as an art, not as a gimmick.
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