Growing up in the United States in the 90's, I was never really exposed to foreign film as a child. Foreign films were more a niche market at that time... something you had to actively be aware of and seek out for yourself in cramped back-sections of video-stores or through special orders in magazines. It wasn't really until my mid-teens in the early 2000's that I became a fan, when a rash of Americanized remakes and reboots started to popularize foreign film- particularly Asian cinema- to increasing numbers of western audiences. Soon enough, by the time I was 16, I was ordering Region-Free imports of films and series online, scouring the shelves of the local Video King for the latest translated releases and borrowing whatever I could from friends and relatives.
One of my favorite finds around that time was the Pang Brother's wonderfully eerie and thrilling 2002 release "The Eye"- a fun but somewhat flawed ghost-story about a woman who goes through a cornea transplant and gains the ability to see spirits and ghouls. It was a very fun little tale of terror, and even to this day, I give it a watch now and then. However, I wasn't immediately aware that the film was only the first of a series, with several sequels of inconsistent quality having followed. So you could imagine my surprise a few years later when I stumbled onto "The Eye 2" on a store-shelf one Summer day.
"The Eye 2" is most certainly a peculiar follow-up. Not a direct sequel by any means, the film tells a unique tale regarding a depressed woman named Joey (Shu Qi) who tries to commit suicide after a failed relationship, but survives and learns that she is pregnant with the child of her former lover. Soon though, she begins to see vile spectral figures that follow her, and she learns that they are trying to take ahold of her unborn baby so that they may be reborn into the human world. And so, she goes on a journey to try and discover just what's happening and if there is any way to save her baby from being taken over by these seemingly vengeful spirits.
The film does falter quite a bit in the fear department which is why it loses some crucial points for me, and a big part of the issues at hand is the lack of fear and panic in comparison with the first film. While it does have a few select moments of genuine creeps and jumps, the film is far too focused on story and character to really get under your skin, and the genuine scares often come few and far in between. I also found that Joey, while a compelling enough protagonist, is saddled far too often in the first half into being little more than a sort-of sad-eyed puppy-dog of a woman. Yes, the film is about an emotionally damaged woman... but it can be a bit overbearing at times.
However, the film excels and is still a worthy watch due to the shockingly warm heart it contains beneath the surface. It really sets the film apart of not only the other entries in the series, but also the other contemporary horror films as a whole. The film is genuinely an emotional roller-coaster and many of its twists and turns are actually quite sweet and good-natured. It may seem counter-intuitive for a horror film to have a good moral center, but it actually works quite well here. The film's themes tend to center on ideas like seeking forgiveness from both oneself and the others around us, the concept of motherhood as a whole and just doing the right thing no matter what, and it gives the film a very fulfilling arc for not only Joey as a character, but everyone around her. Qi is quite good as our protagonist even if it takes some time to accept her depressive personality. And supporting roles by the likes of Eugenia Yuan and Jesdaporn Pholdee are exceptionally well-played and add a lot to the proceedings.
While it's never quite as startling as I'd have wished, I still find "The Eye 2" a very fun and engaging feature, and I'd definitely highly recommend it to fans of foreign horror. For me, it's a pretty solid 7 out of 10. If you liked the original, give it a shot. I'd just also recommend steering clear of the third film... Oh, boy.
One of my favorite finds around that time was the Pang Brother's wonderfully eerie and thrilling 2002 release "The Eye"- a fun but somewhat flawed ghost-story about a woman who goes through a cornea transplant and gains the ability to see spirits and ghouls. It was a very fun little tale of terror, and even to this day, I give it a watch now and then. However, I wasn't immediately aware that the film was only the first of a series, with several sequels of inconsistent quality having followed. So you could imagine my surprise a few years later when I stumbled onto "The Eye 2" on a store-shelf one Summer day.
"The Eye 2" is most certainly a peculiar follow-up. Not a direct sequel by any means, the film tells a unique tale regarding a depressed woman named Joey (Shu Qi) who tries to commit suicide after a failed relationship, but survives and learns that she is pregnant with the child of her former lover. Soon though, she begins to see vile spectral figures that follow her, and she learns that they are trying to take ahold of her unborn baby so that they may be reborn into the human world. And so, she goes on a journey to try and discover just what's happening and if there is any way to save her baby from being taken over by these seemingly vengeful spirits.
The film does falter quite a bit in the fear department which is why it loses some crucial points for me, and a big part of the issues at hand is the lack of fear and panic in comparison with the first film. While it does have a few select moments of genuine creeps and jumps, the film is far too focused on story and character to really get under your skin, and the genuine scares often come few and far in between. I also found that Joey, while a compelling enough protagonist, is saddled far too often in the first half into being little more than a sort-of sad-eyed puppy-dog of a woman. Yes, the film is about an emotionally damaged woman... but it can be a bit overbearing at times.
However, the film excels and is still a worthy watch due to the shockingly warm heart it contains beneath the surface. It really sets the film apart of not only the other entries in the series, but also the other contemporary horror films as a whole. The film is genuinely an emotional roller-coaster and many of its twists and turns are actually quite sweet and good-natured. It may seem counter-intuitive for a horror film to have a good moral center, but it actually works quite well here. The film's themes tend to center on ideas like seeking forgiveness from both oneself and the others around us, the concept of motherhood as a whole and just doing the right thing no matter what, and it gives the film a very fulfilling arc for not only Joey as a character, but everyone around her. Qi is quite good as our protagonist even if it takes some time to accept her depressive personality. And supporting roles by the likes of Eugenia Yuan and Jesdaporn Pholdee are exceptionally well-played and add a lot to the proceedings.
While it's never quite as startling as I'd have wished, I still find "The Eye 2" a very fun and engaging feature, and I'd definitely highly recommend it to fans of foreign horror. For me, it's a pretty solid 7 out of 10. If you liked the original, give it a shot. I'd just also recommend steering clear of the third film... Oh, boy.