Transplanted
body parts having a scary supernatural effect on their recipients
is not new to the cinema. The Hands of Orlac way back
in 1935 had that as a plot, and spawned several other films. Eyes
have an important role in the cinema too, from Bunuel’s
Un Chien Andalou to Eyes of Laura Mars. Now
add a whopping dose of “seeing dead people” a la The
Sixth Sense, with just a whiff of Audrey Rose and
you’ve got the gist of The Eye, a remake of the
Hong Kong horror flick from a couple of years ago. While it covers
no new ground it, treads the old spookitis paths with a reasonable
degree of creepy if creaking efficiency.
Sydney Wells (Jessica Alba), a concert violinist
blind from the age of five is convinced by her sister Helen (Parker
Posey) to have a cornea transplant. So Sydney takes the operation
and wakes to find sight is hers again. However her vision is occasionally
obscured by catching glimpses of the dead; especially when they
dragged off on their journey to the next world by unpleasant shades
with snarling fangs, quite unlike the old pictures one sees of
Death in a cowl and carrying a scythe. Not convinced this is the
best of all worlds, Sydney enlists the help of her specialist
Dr. Paul Faulkner (Alessandro Nivola). But the visions become
more disturbing as Sydney now is able to predict the death of
people around her.
The film eventually winds up in Mexico, and all
manner of weirdness including a dose of witchcraft ensue before
a totally unconvincing tacky ending. In fact, there are a number
of weakness in the script before we even get there. However despite
its rambling pace, the ghost story offers a few genuine shocks
aided immensely by the surround sound which is used to powerful
effect right from the opening.
Two
directors on one movie fills me with unease, unless ofcourse it’s
the Coen Brothers. Rather like two jockeys riding the one horse
getting nowhere fast. You can’t imagine Hitchcock allowing
anyone to share his director’s chair - thank heavens. Here
the directing team of David Moreau and Xavier Palud manage some
dark eerie settings, fearful moments, and a few zinger shocks.
A suspenseful Chinese café sequence with dead folks tucking
into chop suey is a good case in point. The first half of the
film, including this and the hospital scenes, has the strongest
impact. It starts to seriously lose its grip after that.
Then acting lets the side down. Jessica Alba (Awake)
just manages the emotional peaks of her role, which compared to
the lethargy of her co-stars makes her Meryl Streep. At least
she’s not hard on the eyes (sorry). Alessandro Nivola (The
Girl in the Park) seems to be playing his part under water,
while Parker Posey (Superman Returns) fails to make much
impression at all.
The net result is a horror film that probably won’t
excite those fans of the slash and burn variety. Rather it’s
an example of the old style ghost picture, a gentler excursion
into the supernatural and none the worse for that. While not up
there with the greats of the genre like The Haunting
and The Innocents, it still has the breath of the dead
condensing on windows. Indeed it could give the more sedate horror-movie-goer
a chill or two. The audience seemed to enjoy it, although the
blonde young thing in front of me spent most of the time sending
SMS messages to everyone she ever knew.
Transplanted
body parts having a scary supernatural effect on their recipients
is not new to the cinema. The Hands of Orlac way back
in 1935 had that as a plot, and spawned several other films. Eyes
have an important role in the cinema too, from Bunuel’s
Un Chien Andalou to Eyes of Laura Mars. Now
add a whopping dose of “seeing dead people” a la The
Sixth Sense, with just a whiff of Audrey Rose and
you’ve got the gist of The Eye, a remake of the
Hong Kong horror flick from a couple of years ago. While it covers
no new ground it, treads the old spookitis paths with a reasonable
degree of creepy if creaking efficiency. 
Two
directors on one movie fills me with unease, unless ofcourse it’s
the Coen Brothers. Rather like two jockeys riding the one horse
getting nowhere fast. You can’t imagine Hitchcock allowing
anyone to share his director’s chair - thank heavens. Here
the directing team of David Moreau and Xavier Palud manage some
dark eerie settings, fearful moments, and a few zinger shocks.
A suspenseful Chinese café sequence with dead folks tucking
into chop suey is a good case in point. The first half of the
film, including this and the hospital scenes, has the strongest
impact. It starts to seriously lose its grip after that.