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The
Eye
(2008)
 
Dear Hollywood, please stop with the inferior remakes of Asian horror
films already. Dear American filmgoers, please stop being afraid of
good films because they have subtitles and just see the originals.
Violinist Sydney Wells (Jessica Alba) has been blind since a
childhood accident. Now an adult, she undergoes a successful cornea
implant operation and has to learn how to use her sense of sight all
over again. She also begins to see things and people that no one else
does. Is she losing her mind or do her new corneas allow her to peer
into the world of the supernatural? With the help of sympathetic
therapist Paul (Alessandro Nivola), she begins a journey to discover
the source of her visions.
The original film, a Hong Kong-Singaporean-Thai co-production
directed by the Pang Brothers, was a highly effective chiller. I
watched it at the Seattle International Film Festival in 2003, and
it's the only screening of a horror film I remember attending where
someone in the audience bolted out of his seat, ran out of the cinema,
and never returned.
This remake, directed by the team of David Moreau and Xavier Palud
(Ils), is inferior in every way and lacks the sheer creepiness of
the original, proving once again that there's more to remaking a scary
film than having access to a larger budget and fancy CGI effects.
It's not enough to make a technically proficient film; the filmmakers
also have to remember to scare people, and scares are one thing wholly
lacking here. While the screenplay by Sebastian Gutierrez (Gothika,
Snakes on a Plane) is generally faithful to the original by Jojo Hui
and the Pangs in the details, it just doesn't work very well. The
characters are less developed and too many things are spelled out
instead of leaving some ambiguity.
I recently re-watched two of my favorite Asian horror films,
Shutter and A Tale of Two Sisters, and even though I knew
exactly when the ghosts would appear and what they would do, both films were
as terrifying to me as they were on first viewing. So it wasn't my
familiarity with the original that made The Eye a poor viewing
experience, it was how poorly executed the remake is.
The contributions of cinematographer Jeffrey Jur (Dirty Dancing,
My Big Fat Greek Wedding) are perhaps the most polished element of
the film and effectively allow the audience to experience the world the way
the protagonist does as she regains her vision. On the other hand, the score
by Marco Beltrami (Live
Free or Die Hard, 3:10 to Yuma) is dead-center-average for the
horror film genre.
The cast is uninspired at best and at times verging on awful, including
Alba as Sydney, Nivola as Paul, Parker Posey in a very disappointing
turn as Sydney's sister, Rade Serbedzija as the conductor of the
orchestra Sydney works for, Rachel Ticotin as a woman in Mexico who
may have the answers Sydney needs, Obba BabatundÈ as the eye surgeon,
Danny Mora as the doorman at the building Sydney lives in, and Tamlyn
Tomita as Sydney's neighbor. It leads one to believe that poor
direction is largely to blame for this state of affairs, because the
actors I'm familiar with have done much better before.
The Eye is further evidence that Hollywood is unable to succeed
with the kind of horror films with which Asian filmmakers in particular seem
to do so well. Other than Gore Verbinski's The Ring, they've all been hugely
disappointing. Don't bother with The Eye unless you want to be
bored by what you see.
-Danielle
Ní Dhighe
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All contents ©
2004-2007 Thoughtsonfilm.com |
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Director:
David
Moreau, Xavier Palud
Writer: Sebastian
Gutierrez
Starring: Jessica
Alba, Alessandro Nivola, Parker Posey, Rade Serbedzija, Fernanda Romero, Rachel Ticotin, Obba Babatundé
Distributor: Lionsgate
Runtime: 97
min
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: February
1, 2008
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