Sydney Wells is an accomplished concert violinist. She is also blind and has been so since a childhood tragedy. However, Sydney undergoes a double corneal transplant, a surgery she has waited her whole life to have. After the surgery, neural ophthalmologist Dr. Faulkner helps Sydney with the difficult adjustment, and with the support of her older sister Helen, Sydney learns to see again. Alas, Sydney's happiness is short-lived as frightening visions start to haunt her. Are they passing effects of her surgery or something horrifyingly real? As Sydney's family and friends begin to doubt her sanity, she is soon convinced that her anonymous eye donor has somehow opened the door to a terrifying world which only she can see.
Okay I know they know this is obviously a remake of the hongkong's version of The Eye but remakes definitely won't be able to get the movie anywhere. Of course we wouldn't want to spend another 10 bucks on a movie that you already know what is going to happen (basically the whole storyline of the original version if you have watched it already) throughout. I was expecting something different like perhaps the ending may be better but to my disappointment, it was the same plot. Scares were not convincing enough and usually of a short duration. As expected, another supernatural/spiritual english horror that seems bare.
The latest to ride on the unstoppable 'let's remake an Asian horror' bandwagon is this Hollywood feature with the delectable Jessica Alba replacing Angelica Lee as the blind violinist in its original back in 2002. White man fascination with Oriental hocus-pocus is raking in the big bucks!
While that isn't really a big surprise, the movie proper does offer some. Just like the Pang Brothers' original, it didn't use the sex appeal of the lead actress to drive the movie. That's a pretty big ask if you're considering it's Jessica Alba's body that's being made available for some creative display. Even family-friendly movies like "Fantastic Four" couldn't resist throwing in some skin when it comes to the exotic beauty. When you realise that Alba is always covered in "The Eye", that's when you think that this just might be a real attempt to make a scary horror movie!
You're in for a letdown then. Screenplay writer Sebastian Gutierrez has made no creative improvement or improvisation to the Pang Brother's classic, other than adjusting the cultural aspects that affect the theme. Considering this, audiences that never saw the Hong Kong original would most probably laud this as an excellent film. Why wouldn't it be? Blind girl sees ghosts after corneal transplant - that's a damned good premise for some good old-fashioned spooks! Returning viewers may beg to differ once they realise that it's the same story told this time in a different country by different people.
Who has forgotten the plot? Well in this adventure, Sidney (Alba) is an American beauty who starts seeing ghosts instead Hong Kong actress Angelica Lee. After a lot of blurry images, recurring nightmares and sleepless nights, she accepts that she is able to see the spiritual world. She thinks it's got something to do with the donor of her corneas. Trying to convince her specialist about her condition isn't a walk in the park either but even he (Alessandro Nivola) begins to believe. Just like in the original where the story leads them to Thailand for a showdown, Sidney goes to Mexico to get to the bottom of the mystery.
We follow her adventure attentively enough because it's rather interesting although you'd know what's on the cards if you'd seen the original. The acting, music and even the special effects enjoy the benefit of riding on the creep factor already present behind the concept.
"The Eye" owes everything good about it to it's original. As a movie, it doesn't really accomplish anything worth shouting about. As a movie experience, it may just please the couple-seating lovers at the ticket counter who are saying "Give us two for a scary movie, please".
Production Photos - Click thumbnail for larger photos
