This is not the first time that a movie where the main character gets corneal transplants which not only make her see, but give her paranormal capabilities has been done. A good reference is BLINK, where Madeleine Stowe was the receiver of the creepy transplants, suddenly able to see events from the past, and future. Here, the main character, Mun (Angelica Lee), a blind violinist, receives the transplants. Slowly, albeit a little too slowly, she becomes aware that aside from being able to see the world for the first time, she can also see the souls of the recently departed who also seem oddly attracted to her. That she eventually sees the owner of the eyes (a girl about her age) through her own reflection is an interesting, but not especially shocking twist, but her plight to Thailand to track down the mystery behind the girl and what she finds there does generate some needed tension.
With this film, the Pang brothers only add to the growing statement that Asian horror is on the rise. While this is probably not the most memorable of the lot, it does have its own style, which is deliberately slow, much like THE SIXTH SENSE. The way these ghosts appear to her echo that film in tone and dread, and there are no sudden shocks here. Angelica Lee, with a totally expressive face, conveys the horror, and then determination, of a girl caught under a remarkable circumstance without betraying her own character development. The only sequence which rings false -- or forced, as to bring some impact -- is where she runs through the streets knowing that disaster is about to strike in the form of a gasoline tank, banging at car windows. I feel that THE EYE didn't need this sequence to be a chiller -- it kept reminding me of the similar climactic sequence in THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES --, and is the one point that detracts from the films honesty.
With this film, the Pang brothers only add to the growing statement that Asian horror is on the rise. While this is probably not the most memorable of the lot, it does have its own style, which is deliberately slow, much like THE SIXTH SENSE. The way these ghosts appear to her echo that film in tone and dread, and there are no sudden shocks here. Angelica Lee, with a totally expressive face, conveys the horror, and then determination, of a girl caught under a remarkable circumstance without betraying her own character development. The only sequence which rings false -- or forced, as to bring some impact -- is where she runs through the streets knowing that disaster is about to strike in the form of a gasoline tank, banging at car windows. I feel that THE EYE didn't need this sequence to be a chiller -- it kept reminding me of the similar climactic sequence in THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES --, and is the one point that detracts from the films honesty.