With its spooky first-person rendering of Mun's experience -- blurred, tentative, disoriented -- The Eye creates a world of constant and imminent upheaval.
The Eye (2003)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:29
Fresh:21
Rotten:8
Average Rating:6.4/10
Consensus: Conventional ghost tale with a few genuine scares.
Theatrical Release:Jun 6, 2003 Limited
Box Office: $339,607
Synopsis: THE EYE, directed by twin brothers Danny and Oxide Pang, is a Chinese/Thai horror film that focuses on Mun (Sin-je Lee), a cornea-transplant recipient who has been blind most of her life. As Mun... THE EYE, directed by twin brothers Danny and Oxide Pang, is a Chinese/Thai horror film that focuses on Mun (Sin-je Lee), a cornea-transplant recipient who has been blind most of her life. As Mun adjusts to her newfound sight, she begins to see haunting visions of dead people. As these terrifying visions become more frequent, Mun turns to a young psychiatrist, Dr. Wah (Lawrence Chou), for help. Eventually the two track the identity of the deceased eye donor to Thailand, and there the mystery is finally brought to light. With THE EYE, the Pang brothers enter the increasingly populated subgenre of contemporary Asian horror. Drawing on the visual language of recent Japanese films such as RING and PULSE, as well as Hollywood films THE SIXTH SENSE and STIR OF ECHOES, this chilling tale implies more than it reveals, building a deep sense of dread, even from the opening credits. Although the "I-see-dead-people" plotline has been investigated numerous times, THE EYE manages to put a different lens on the idea through subtleties in the story and the charismatic performance of the radiant Sin-je Lee. Featuring scenes that will make all viewers wary of elevators, hospital recovery wards, and calligraphy, this film offers truly startling moments that will linger in the mind's eye for a long time. [More]
Starring: Sin-je Lee, Laurence Chou, Chutcha Rujinanon, Candy Lo
Starring: Sin-je Lee, Laurence Chou, Chutcha Rujinanon, Candy Lo, Edmund Chen, Pierre Png
Director: Danny Pang, Oxide Pang
Director: Danny Pang, Oxide Pang
Screenwriter: Jo Jo Hui Yuet Chun, Danny Pang, Oxide Pang
Producer: Lawrence Cheng
Composer: Orange Music
Studio: Palm Pictures
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Reviews for The Eye
Though perhaps not the greatest thing since sliced eyeballs, The Eye is definitely worth a look, or even a double-take.
Seeing dead people? A jarring journey from darkness into light? Granted, it's been done. But there are sweet, difficult pleasures here just the same.
It's a definite display of talent, but without enough thematic richness to get deeply under our skins.
To put all the pieces in place, the Pangs have to cut a few corners in logic, but the story is generally effective if not exactly original.
It is occasionally unnerving, but slack pacing keeps the tension from mounting too high.
The Pang brothers have a gift for evoking dread and shock-tactic creepiness.
This is the kind of movie you happen across on TV, and linger to watch out of curiosity, but its inspired moments serve only to point out how routine, and occasionally how slow and wordy, the rest of it is.
A feast to behold, but it lacks substance and will leave most viewers wholly unsatisfied.
Although I have mixed feelings about The Eye, there's no question the Pangs have a natural talent for cinema.
It is hard to believe this plodding, predictable snoozer will raise anyone's pulse rate.
Like the horror-flick hacks who infest Hollywood like termites, the Pangs don't build suspense, they assault the senses with twitchy photography and Danny's editing.
Directors Oxide and Danny Pang build the film's tension incrementally in these scenes, never amping it up with special effects or orchestral accents.
It's more concerned with images and clashing electronic music than challenging the imagination or brutalizing the senses.
It's unabashedly derivative and spooky enough to keep you up at night.
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