The Eye
(Jian Gui) Japanese
Directed by Oxide Pang Chun and Danny Pang
Starring Angelica Lee, Lawrence Chou
Running Time: 99 minutes
This derivative horror film from Hong Kong will inevitably,
and maybe inappropriately, be compared to the innovative
Japanese horror film Ringu, and the subsequent American
remake. In fact, there are notable similarities between
the films, enough to suggest that the filmmakers were probably
inspired by the Japanese classic.
Unfortunately, The Eye cannot live up to that comparison.
It winds up being a somewhat entertaining, yet highly flawed
mediocre film.
The plot revolves around the main character Mun (Angelica
Lee), who was formerly blind, but with corrective surgery
and a cornea donor, her sight is restored. But for some
reason she is cursed with the gift of second sight, meaning
she can see the dead. Lee does a good job with the role
and the first half of the film is quite strong.
The film falls apart towards the end, much like Ringu,
as the story takes them to Bangkok, Thailand, and an entirely
new lengthy backstory is introduced. It is also around this
time that some cheap filmmaking tricks are used in order
to build suspense, which really wasn't necessary considering
the strength of the first half of the film. I had originally
been entranced by Mun, but by the end I didn't care any
longer for the character.
Interestingly enough, I understand there is a remake in
the works. Usually I would be skeptical, but after The Ring,
which I thought was superior to its source material, I'm
eager to see how this project turns out.
Score: 6/10