MasterChugs Theater: 'The Eye'

Ever since Simone Mareuil had a nasty experience with a razor blade in the surrealist classic Un Chien Andalou, horror movies have always had a special relationship with eyes. Sliced, poked, gouged and occasionally popped out of its socket, the eyeball has become the most vulnerable, and most traumatized, organ in film history. The second film from the Pang brothers cultivates horror by taking eyeball horror to new heights, with a story about a cornea transplant that goes horribly wrong. The Eye recalls the hours of terror of a blind young woman, Mun, who, after recovering her sight thanks to a successful transplant, sees her world turned upside down by the presence of ghosts.

By reading that synopsis, you might be telling yourself "Not another 'I see dead people' movie again!" Stop right there. Aside from that very general premise, that's all that The Eye has in common with that line. The story is very well built, maybe a bit slow paced in the middle but always keeps a good nervous rhythm that will keep you tense during the entire movie. If anything, I'd say that the structure of the movie is very similar to not The Sixth Sense, but Ringu, mainly in a sense that there's not too many frightening moments during the whole movie until the final ending which just explodes right in your face.

The cast is also very surprising; the presence and acting quality has really given a deeper feeling to the movie. Angelica Lee plays the lead role of Mann and her acting is just perfect for the role. We don't see much of the other characters since the story really evolves around Mann and her new psychic ability but none of the characters really felt out of place and the acting quality is always excellent during the entire movie; however, another interesting character was the therapist trying to help Mann who is played by Lawrence Chou. There's a great complicity that will develop between these two characters, but fortunately for us the movie doesn't fall into stupid cliché love story and always keep that part of the movie well connected to the movie without taking over the scary feeling of the movie.

On the frightening side, the movie is surprisingly very effective. Hong Kong's attempts at the horror genre tend to come out pretty lame and stupid when they try something serious, but The Eye is really one of a kind. The special effects, by Centro Digital, are flawless. You won't find any stupid makeup ghost trying to scare you with a flash light on his face here, but great and frightening realistic visual effects. I didn't find that there was a lot of scary moments during the movie but the atmosphere was always very tense and mystical which really keep you on your nerves all along the movie. Particularly noteworthy is the elevator sequence, where by use of editing, performance and dread, the Pangs arguably create the most memorable scene in the genre since ever. There's also a lot of emotion and panic at the end of the movie, something that will make you remember this movie for a long time for sure.

Premiering in 2002 and in the wake of The Sixth Sense and its many imitators, Mun's visions of dead people are so conventional that it's hard to find any of this particularly frightening, and as the film reaches its inevitable conclusion in which vision, precognition and tragedy merge, the plot developments might as well have been written out in Braille. Strange metaphor aside, that's a good thing. Hollywood has successfully remade Ringu, and such a successful item as the Pangs' film is inevitably following. Tom Cruise has his own version in pre-production. Whatever the final merits of a project that will inevitably be more star driven and glossier, for the time being horror addicts can be recommended the original, which, like Ring, has a unique sensibility that is hard to beat. As a frightener, The Eye rarely blinks, and is best watched with the lights on. Don't say I didn't warn you.