Story:
At the age of two, Wong Kar Mann lost her vision. Since
that time she has lived with that handicap but now,
reaching the age of 20, she has the possibility to regain
her vision with a risky corneal transplant operation.
After the successfully operation, Mann's vision is starting
to get better and little by little she can almost see
perfectly.
After getting used to her new situation, Mann has
started to notice some really strange effects. It
seems that she cans see people that no one else can
notice. Are they really ghosts? And who are those
strange shadows that sometime come around the living
people. With the help of her new psychiatric guide,
she will try to solve that problem, which will lead
her to a small village in Thailand were the original
corneal owner lived before she died. Will Mann be
able to find out what happened to the previous dead
owner and finally get rid of her curse and live a
normal life again?
Review: What is going on here, I mean is
it possible? Hong Kong has finally made a good, no
an excellent horror movie and I'm not talking about
a CatIII movie or a cheese horror comedy here. Thanks
to the genius duo that made Bangkok Dangerous, the
Pang Brothers have come to the rescue of the Hong
Kong industry. Visually impressive, frightening and
original, The Eye is a kind of supernatural thriller
that we don't see very often.
By reading the synopsis you are probably telling
yourself "Not a I see dead people movie again!"
Yes it's true that the main premise is very similar
to another very popular American movie, but I can
tell you that The Eye has nothing to envy from other
movies of the same genre. 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. I would say that the structure of
the movie is very similar to the Japanese movie The
Ring, in a sense that there's not 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. I think
we are going to see her new face very often from now
on, I just hope that she will stay in high production
movies cause she really has great acting skill. 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.
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 character 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. I usually find Hong Kong attempt at
the horror genre very lame and stupid when they try
something serious, but The Eye is really one of a
kind. The special effects, by Centro Digital, were
flawless. You won't find any stupid make up 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. 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.
Another element that makes the movie a stunning
achievement is the sound and music. The Pang brothers
have probably listened to Japanese director Hideo
Nakata when he said that music and sound are a very
important part of a scary movie. The music of The
Eye fits very well with the atmosphere of the movie
and the sound effects really gives you the creep during
those really tense moments. A very well done job on
that side indeed.
If you are like me and your faith in Hong Kong movies
is leaving you, give yourself a treat and watch this
movie, especially since the Americans has bought the
rights to this movie. The American version will probably
get rid of a lot of element since there's a lot of
reference to the Chinese culture and ghost mythology
in general. A frightening piece of art, The Eye is
highly recommended for anyone who likes Asian horror.