The Eye (2002) User Reviews

Excellent horror film with a weak ending

[bensonmum2 · 7/10 · 17 December 2005]

Mun (Angelica Lee) is a young woman who has been blind since she was two years old. A cornea replacement surgery offers hope of being able to see. But once Mun's vision is restored, she gets more than she bargained for. She is bombarded with images of places and people that don't quite seem right. Mun sees ghosts. But that's not the worst of it. When presented with a picture of herself, Mun realizes that the image in the picture is not the same woman she sees when she looks in the mirror.

The first half or so of The Eye is an incredibly creepy little film. There are moments like the elevator scene or the first time we see what Mun sees in the mirror that had me sitting on the edge of my seat. It's all very nicely handled. But the film switches its narrative tone about half way through much to its detriment. The Eye goes from being a subtle, effective horror film to being a special effects extravaganza. The Pang Brothers appear to have the same problem ending a movie that a lot of Hollywood filmmakers seem to have – if you can't come up with an ending, blow something up. Had the movie ended when Mun discovered the secret of her new eyes, it would have been a better movie and worthy of a higher rating.

The acting in The Eye is as good as I've seen in a modern Asian horror film. I've only seen Angelica Lee in one other film (Koma), but she's quickly become a real favorite of mine. The two roles I've seen her play are vastly different yet Lee handles each in a believable, very enjoyable way.

While The Eye may not be the best Asian horror film I've seen, the first half makes it more than a worthwhile watch. I'm looking forward to getting a chance to see The Eye 2.

A Corneal Transplant from the Twilight Zone.

[nycritic · 8/10 · 14 March 2005]

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.

One of the year's best horror movies, though the subtitles will sadly put many people off

[Chris_Docker · 8/10 · 3 November 2002]

Even the website of this movie gave me the creeps. And it turned out to be one of the scariest movies I've seen in a while.

We follow the touching story of a young Hong Kong girl, blind from her earliest years, who undergoes a cornea transplant. After softening us up with lots of nice sentiment, the horror kicks her new found sight brings its own macabre rewards. Snappy editing and a well-timed score heighten the horrors that pack nanchuka punches to the guts. About a third of the audience was cowering behind their hands for the last half. In an age when American horror flicks are starting to look weary from over-use of CGI special effects or are toned down by self-censorship to reach a wider audience, The Eye comes in as a deftly woven real cardiac-stimulation shocker.

Sadly, the fact that it is subtitled limits the potential audience as many people simply refuse to go and see foreign language films until they have been genuinely moved or terrified by one. If you like horror movies and want to experiment, this is a good chance, and one of the best in the genre since the little shown Audition earlier this year.

a wonderful film with flaws

[teth · 4 December 2003]

For the most part, "The Eye" is a competent effort from HK cinema. While most HK films nowadays involve big pop stars in pointless romantic comedies, this film (and also Infernal Affairs) show that there are still talented filmmakers in HK.

The story is about a blind girl named Mun getting a cornea transplant. When she gets her vision back, she begins seeing supernatural beings (ghosts, to be precise). For the first half of the story, we see her experiencing all these haunting encounters. One notable scene is in an elevator. The mystery and creepiness in this first half is incredibly effective and well-made.

The same cannot be said about the second half though. Like "The Ring" (or "Ringu"), Mun travels to Thailand to figure out the origin of the owner of her cornea. What starts out as a supernatural thriller turns into a mystery.

The film seems to be a mix of "The Sixth Sense", "Ringu", and a touch of "Final Destination." The switch of style in the middle and toward the end is somewhat annoying. The ending is an effort of the directors to show that they can do big CGI action sequences too. But, this film would have been good enough to stand on its own without that.

The acting is pretty good. Angelica Lee as Mun is very believable. The same cannot be said about the doctor though. I think this is mostly because his character's motivations are not convincing enough. Why does he give up his whole career to travel all the way to Thailand to help her after meeting her for a few times only? For love? Probably...but I don't buy it at all.

Overall, this film is pretty good. It is a nice effort from promising directors.

Not so much a Scare Fest than a decent thriller

[FilmOtaku · 6/10 · 8 February 2005]

About three months ago, I was paging through cable and found a film that looked intriguing. After watching for about five minutes I had the pants scared off of me, so, being the complete wuss I am, I turned it off. Curiosity made me want to go back to it, of course, so about twenty minutes later I got up the guts to turn it back on. After about two minutes, I was full on terrified, and turned it off for good. I told some friends about this film, and all seemed intrigued, mainly because of the scare factor, so this weekend we got around to finally watching it. That movie of course, was the Pang Brothers' "The Eye", a film that ended up being something completely different than what I was expecting.

In "The Eye", Wong Kar Mun (Lee) is a young blind woman who gets a corneal transplant. Soon after her operation, as her eyes are adjusting, she begins to see some pretty scary images; shadowy black figures hanging around people who later die, dead people themselves, and her room keeps doing a pesky trick where it changes on her as she's looking at it, furniture and all. Her doctor, Dr. Lo (a really young looking Edmund Chen) doesn't believe her at first, but then realizes that there may be some merit to her claims, so they go in search of the donor in order to find out what history her eyes' previous owner had, and what kind of baggage Wong Kar Mun has to deal with now.

Based on my first impressions of the film, I was actually expecting a big scare fest like "The Grudge"; short on story, big on scares. What I actually realized is that the two parts that I briefly watched were actually two out of the three genuinely scary parts of the film. (The elevator scene was enough to make me take the stairs today at work, seriously.) The rest of the film is certifiably creepy, but there is actually a decent story to support those creepy parts. "The Eye" has no doubt been compared to "The Sixth Sense" in terms of theme, but it is also similar in substance as well. Even without the scares, the film would be able to stand on its other merits. Some of the special effects in "The Eye" were kind of cheesy (basically Sci-Fi channel made-for-cable television caliber) and in typical Chinese film fashion, the music was horrible, but all told, it is a decent film.

After doing a little reading on the film, I saw that Tom Cruise's production company bought the rights to the film and are planning a remake. I'm not very educated on Asian horror films and their American remakes, (yet) but I think I would see it just out of mere curiosity, because I would imagine that they would take this relatively small film and mess with it to make it "bigger". "The Eye" is definitely worth checking out because while it definitely scared the pants off of me a couple of times, the rest of the film was really was worth sticking around to see how it all would end. 6/10 --Shelly

Not something you'd want to pass up

[Monica4937 · 7/10 · 7 February 2005]

I remember a while back someone suggesting to me to go see this film, and although it took me a while, I'm glad I finally saw it. Overall I kinda liked the general look of the film. It didn't really have that creepy, "somethings going to jump out at you any second during the entire film" vibe that The Ring, Ringu and The Grudge had, which was actually a nice change because when those "fright" scenes happened the creepiness was actually increased quite a bit. I love the actors chosen too, especially the lead. She did a terrific job and didn't annoy me at all in the film. I have to admit to a few "cheesy" spots throughout it, but for what was lacking in the script was made up for in the direction. 7/10

I like it as an idea

[jack_o_hasanov_imdb · 6/10 · 28 August 2021]

It has an original plot. I like it as an idea. As a movie, it was a bit boring. It will be a different experience for horror movie lovers.

Looking good... yes... what the... why'd you change course?

[TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews · 7/10 · 6 June 2010]

The main issue with this is its ending. Its last third makes it into a mystery rather than a thriller, and though the backstory is great and "works", the resolve feels awkward... and it is. Maybe they didn't have any solid ideas for how to close it. Once it does reach its conclusion, it uncomfortably transforms into Final Destination and tries to wow us, becoming bombastic and out of touch with everything that precedes this portion. Still interested? I'm relieved to hear that. You see, that's really the only outright negative thing I can say about this. It's immensely creepy, beginning so right from the start(seriously, that credits sequence... if I'd watched this at the cinema, it would have sent severe chills down my spine). Lee portrays a blind person extremely convincingly, and this puts us inside her head some, through the editing and cinematography(which is all really well-done and fits, with carefully chosen angles, selective distortion, etc.). I have not caught a lot of Asian horror, because I'm not big on ghosts(and they are; their films about them are, thankfully, sophisticated and not crude, the way the mainstream Western ones tend to be), and, well, there are cultural differences, and I find that it distracts me from taking in the picture. Subtitles don't bother me(I vastly prefer them to dubbing). Anyway, they are growing on me, and what I have noted is the strong focus on the senses, and on the ability to "see" the other side, where spirits and demons are believed(in Japan) to live. The approach to terrifying us is subtle(as are most of the FX, and those are excellent, other than the handful that are somewhat crappy), building up gradually, using atmosphere and mood, seldom going for jump-scares. The sound-side is quite important, and it is skillfully done. There are a few clichés(and brief shameless product placement), but on the whole, the writing is good. The characters are credible, and the main one is affable, and her relationship with Ying Ying sweet. This also fits in what too many in the genre neglect... genuine emotion, impact that does not have to do with the monsters. It is actually partially a drama, and it provides food for thought(as well as cheese and corn). This was on sale with its direct sequel and the American remake. I'll be reviewing those two, in that order, the next two days. This one sets the bar fairly high. There is a bit of disturbing content and brief violence in this. I recommend this to any fan of this type of movie. 7/10

Don't dare blink as you may miss something.

[hitchcockthelegend · 9/10 · 28 October 2009]

Wong Kar Mun went blind at the age of two, 18 years later she undergoes a cornea transplant that appears to be a success. Unfortunately that success comes with a terrifying side-effect; the ability to see unhappy ghosts.

Gin Gwai (The Eye) is directed by the Pang brothers Oxide and Danny and stars Angelica Lee (Mun) and Lawrence Chou (Dr.Wah) as the two main principals.

No matter what source of reference you use for film reviews, one thing that can be guaranteed as regards Gin Gwai is how divided people are on it. One of the few things that most tend to agree on though is that it's visual flourishes are nothing short of fantastic. And they are. Blended with the editing, music, sound, camera-work and the effects, it therefore fuels the fire of those calling it style over substance. It's also fair to drop onside with those folk decrying the over familiarity with its central themes. If you have seen Irvin Kershner's The Eyes Of Laura Mars, Michael Apted's Blink and M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense, well you wont be watching anything thematically new here. But the Pang brothers have crafted a thoroughly engrossing, menacing and nerve gnawer of a film, one that delivers chills and scares for the discerning horror sub-genre fan.

Here's the crux of the matter with Gin Gwai, it is the opposite side of the Asian horror coin to the likes of the blood letting Audition. This is pure and simply for those not in need of murder death kill to fulfil their horror needs. I was creeped out immensely by this film because the ghost and supernatural side of horror is what really works for me, as long as it is done effectively. To which Gin Gwai most assuredly is. The various scenes shift from ethereal unease to hold your breath terror, from classrooms to lifts, to hospital wards, the brothers Pang, with beautiful technical expertise, held me over a precipice of dread. Even the opening credits are inventive and have the ability to send a cautionary shiver down ones spine. There's a barely formed, and pointless, romantic angle that marks it down a point, but as the blistering (literally) last quarter assaults the senses and so does the time for reflection arrive. Gin Gwai ends up being one of this decades best horror pictures. Well to me at least. 9/10

Genuinely Creepy!

[Darkside-Reviewer · 6/10 · 24 May 2021]

The Eye (2002) is a Hong Kong-Singaporean horror film which was released around the same time as some other more well known Asian horror films such as Dark Water, Ju-On and Ringu.

The Eye tells the story of a young blind woman named Wong Kar Mun (Angelica Lee) who undergoes a cornea transplant, but gets more than she bargained for when she discovers that in addition to getting her sight back she can now see the spirits of the dead.

The Eye is a very different kind of horror film when compared to others of it's kind, while other Asian horror movies like Ju-On and Ringu focused more on violent, malevolent spirits The Eye focuses more on trapped spirits with unfinished business. I wouldn't call The Eye a particularly scary or violent movie however it does contain some genuinely creepy and atmospheric moments that will send a shiver down your spine. There are a few scenes that show several burnt and disfigured spirit's who have died violent or painful death but they never actually harm or latch onto anyone they just wander about looking horrifying but sometimes that's scary enough.

The Eye is definitely worth a watch especially if you enjoy Asian horror films that focus more on atmosphere and clever storytelling than on cheap jump scares and over the top violence.

Doesn't hold up

[linpinopiao · 4/10 · 11 October 2007]

I'm very interested in the overwhelmingly positive reviews here. While it had some good features, for the most part I found this movie to be heavy handed, predictable, and, worst of all, not in the least bit scary. The first 30 minutes of the movie were promising, the actress did a nice job in her portrayal, and the world around her was well thought out and meaningful. Unfortunately, from there, the movie entered into a downward spiral. I went into this movie with no clue as to what it would be about-- didn't know anything about the actors, directors, genre, etc. At a certain point, my wife made the comment "is this supposed to be a scary movie?". Well I suppose so, as the boiler-plate "horror movie" score full of squeaking violins and extended vibrato could mean nothing else. There didn't seem to be a whole lot of originality in the movie, the romantic interest was painfully obvious from the first moment, and the second half of the movie descended deep into the realm of the ridiculous. A movie like this walks a dangerously narrow path, and unfortunately there comes a point where the viewer must decide whether to continue walking along that path, or to jump off and simply laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. For the final 30 minutes, I chose the latter.

Good and scary!!!

[Gafke · 10/10 · 23 July 2004]

Of all the horror movie genres in existence, ghost stories have always been my personal favorites. The Haunting, Ju-On, The Innocents, Ringu, The Shining...all nice, moody, creepy ghost tales. The Eye now finds itself at the top of my list along with the aforementioned as one of the best and creepiest ghost stories of all time.

Mun, blind since the age of 2, receives the gift of a cornea transplant at the age of twenty. Her restored vision comes with a price, however. She can no longer play with the all blind symphony that she once found solace within, she cannot read or write, having had no reason to learn, and she has no words for visible objects, having always identified them by touch. She's also seeing things that nobody else can see...terrifying things. A little boy looking for his lost report card plagues her daily. An old woman wanders the hospital corridors, complaining of the cold. Shadowy forms come to escort the recently deceased away to parts unknown, and Mun's own bedroom flickers in the darkness, changing into another room that once belonged to another girl, in another country. Mun knows that the things she sees are not normal, but no one seems to believe her, not even, at first, the cute doctor who is trying to help her. Mun finds herself alone in a frightening world filled with things she never wanted to see. When Mun and the cute doctor finally learn the identity of the donor whose corneas Mun has received, they also learn of her frightening abilities, her sad death and a terrible tragedy which is destined to repeat itself.

The Eye is an original and innovative film and yet it is also a perfect mixture of plot points and elements drawn from such previous films as The Sixth Sense, The Mothman Prophecies and Blink, all of which are very good films in their own right. The Eye knows exactly how to scare you, and does so without a drop of blood or a hint of gore. A scene in a calligraphy class provides a truly frightening shock, while a scene in an elevator is an exercise in slow, building dread which grows more excruciating by the second. The performances are all wonderful, and the feelings of loss, alienation, fear and determination are genuine and powerful. Fans of the aforementioned films would do well to seek this one out, as would ghost enthusiasts and Asian Horror aficionados. It's rare these days that a film will actually make me jump, gasp and check the corners of my bedroom for boogeymen, but this one spooked me very well indeed - and I watched it in the middle of a bright, sunny day. The Eye tells a good story and tells it well, with strong characters and genuine scares. It is never dull or cheap or overly dramatic.

Highly HIGHLY recommended!!!

maybe overrated, but only a tad

[movieman_kev · 7/10 · 17 October 2005]

A blind woman gets an eye transplants with some very undesired side effects in this creepy little Ping Thai film. What it lacks in originality, it more than makes up with a taunt suspenseful and downbeat atmosphere. Angelica Lee is superb as Mun, the blind girl who now sees dead people (Renée Zellweger will simply pale in comparison when the inevitable Hollywood remake arrives), the tale moves at a brisk pace, and it makes for very good viewing on one of the late nights in October. And while it may be overrated, it is so by only a tad.

My Grade: B-

Lion's Gate DVD Extras: A 15 minute Making of; U.S. TV spot & Theatrical Trailer; and Trailers for "the Housekeeper", the Director's Label & "Morvern Callar"

More overrated Asian rubbish, in my opinion anyway...

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 27 May 2007]

Gin Gwai, or The Eye as it's more commonly know amongst English speaking audiences, is set in Hong Kong & tells the story of a young woman named Wong Kar Mun (Angelica Lee) who has been blind since she was 2 years old. She has a cornea transplant & for the first time in years she is able to see, however her new eye's become a curse as she sees more than she should. She is able to see the souls of the dead all around her & shadowy figures which lead them away, after waiting all these years to be able to see again Wong Kar Mun is haunted by what she sees. Was the operation really worth it & whose cornea's does she have exactly?

This Hong Kong, British & Singapore co-production was edited, co written & directed by Oxide Pang Chun & Danny Pang as the Pang Brothers & in my opinion this is yet another overrated Asain horror ghost story which didn't do much for at all. The script by the Pang Brothers & Jo Jo Yuet-chun Hui feels like The Sixth Sense (1999) & I couldn't get the scene of Haley Joel Osment saying the infamous line 'I see dead people' out of my head as that's basically the whole plot of Gin Gwai in a rather literal sense. Personally I thought it was a touch slow going at times, I thought it was repetitive & just didn't really hook or interest me much at all. I found the character's dull, the dialogue simple, I thought it was very predictable & the so-called twist parallel type ending sucked. I'm sorry but I just couldn't get into the film at all & I was glad when it finished which is never a good sign.

Director's the Pang Brothers do OK, they use a variety of annoying techniques like skipping frames, changing from colour to black and white & all the other editing & camera tricks we've all seen loads of times before. I hear how lots of people say how scary Gin Gwai is, it may be to some but I thought it was pretty lame in the scares department as the ghosts don't really do anything, there's no excitement, no tension & no atmosphere either. I certainly didn't have any problems sleeping last night after I saw it. Gin Gwai relies on storytelling to get it's point across so don't expect any gore or special effects as there aren't any.

Technically the film is OK, I only saw it a few hours ago & I can barely remember a single scene from it so that says everything really. The acting is hard to judge as everyone speaks in different languages.

Gin Gwai didn't do a thing for me to be honest, it's watchable I suppose & tells a story but I'm not a fan. Followed by Gin Gwai 2 (2004), Gin Gwai 10 (2005) & Gin Gwai 3 (2008). Remade by Bollywood as Naina (2005) & Hollywood as the soon to be released The Eye (2007).

Another Excellent Alternative to Mainstream Cinema

[SteveRaccoon · 28 August 2003]

There are already several comments left, but what the hey, I liked this movie and I'm gonna have my 10p worth.

Before I mention the movie itself, I'd better comment on modern Asian movies that reach Western shores, and the fact that they have different pacing, priorities and styles to what you would see at the cinema. The fact that a lot of people don't 'get' the parts of this film which seem to have no relevance is probably as much due to the difference in culture more than any wrongdoing on the production team's behalf. The same can be said for a lot of Hong Kong comedies, the 'humour' which would probably illicit a wry laugh back home flies miles over everybody else's head.

In that sort of circumstance, I've developed a good trick, I switch-off trying to figure out what all these little hints and gestures mean and concentrate on the character interactions and the scares. I've had a lot of practice, Western cinema in recent years has been guilty of 'rambling', and they've got no such excuse as 'cultural differences' ;)

Anyway, the movie! (good grief!), the plot's already been explained and probed, so I won't go into that. What this film has is a constant 'pressure', a claustrophobic atmosphere which persists regardless of the location. Clever camera work afoot! The palpable distance which the heroine feels from her family and the people around her (perhaps a symptom of not being able to communicate non-verbally with them so long? Perhaps not, but it's there) is always there too. You get the impression that she could be surrounded by a crowd and still walk alone from one side of a city to the other.

The smaller roles are played out very nicely, great acting considering the film concentrates almost solely on the two main characters.

The ending is a little bit of a let-down, predictable and not entirely 'working'. But, BUT, it isn't a catastrophe which ruins the film, which I'm sure you'll know what I mean. The ending of a film is what you're left with when you switch off the TV, and if it's bad, then so is the film.

This movie is the only one in recent years which actually gave me a start, and that's something. Real horror isn't about dripping guts and hooks with heads on them, it's about the unexpected, it's about being confronted with something terrifying, something which makes you wish the character was elsewhere. In order to achieve that, you need to give a damn about the character in the first place, which is where 90% of cheap horrors fall down. Not here, the characters are likable and have a little childlike innocence about them, you want to get in there and slap the more unpleasant visitors :P

All in all, I very much enjoyed watching this film, and intend to buy it when I find it for a pittance (almost all DVDs can be found for the right price at one time or another, shop around and ask people where they get their bargains). I would heartily recommend renting before buying, however. As several have mentioned already, there are several elements of this film which seem to have been deliberately copied from recent films such as Sixth Sense. If that prospect leaves a sour taste, I'd look elsewhere, but everyone else who hasn't had enough of all that yet should certainly have a look :D

Thanks for reading.

A slow creeping film, mixing great Japanese horror with poor Hollywood type script direction.

[PyrolyticCarbon · 7/10 · 22 January 2003]

Being a fan of Japanese horror, as well as the foreign film scene as a whole (and by foreign I mean non-Hollywood), I was excited at the prospect of seeing this movie. I wasn't disappointed, well for the most part anyway. It opens strongly, with a narrative style, as the young blind woman receives her eye transplants. As her sight returns we are greeted with the traditional Japanese style of under stated shock and horror. Creeping dread. As we are treated to the sights of blurred, unfocused figures and images, only the music and the subtle camera movements to tell us something is wrong. Soon, however, her seeing returns and we are treated to a more tangible horror, and yet it is still treated with careful hands and controlling care. There are shocks aplenty, and a few quiet scares that are hardly noticeable, but when you do, boy do they freak you out! Unfortunately, as it is with many Hollywood films nowadays, the ending is what lets this film down. During the latter half of the film, the focus turns from the slow horror to a plot that most of us have seen before, and we are dealt a final sequence that seems unconnected and distant from the rest of the movie. With no discernable conclusion or understanding to come from the film, you're left with a feeling of a wasted movie, with such promise from the rest of the story. Still, perhaps this is a sign of a reversal of the movie syndrome to date, a foreign film that doesn't quite make it at the end, has now been bought by Hollywood, perhaps they could turn it around. Still, I would recommend seeing this version now, some of the scenes will have you totally creeped out.

The Eye

[jboothmillard · 7/10 · 25 October 2009]

It is only after seeing the trailer for the Jessica Alba remake that I found out there was an original Japanese version, and this is it. Basically, blind since the age of two, eighteen year old Wong Kar Mun (Angelica Lee, or Lee Sin-Je) in Hong Kong submits to a surgery of cornea transplantation, i.e. being given new donated eyes, allowing her to have her sight back. Recovering from the surgery, she gets more than she bargained for when she starts seeing apparitions, i.e. dead people, and some of these ghosts are pretty unfriendly. So she begins a journey, with the help of Dr. Wah (Lawrence Chou) to find out who donated her new eyes and get rid of these horrible visions. In the end however, she goes to pretty drastic lengths to get rid of seeing the ghosts, I can't remember much, I just know there is an explosive crash, and her eyes end up draining blood. Also starring Chutcha Rujinanon as Ling, Candy Lo as Yee (Mun's Sister), Pierre Ping as Dr. Eak, Yin Ping Ko as Mun's grandmother and Edmund Chen as Dr. Lo. The effects and story, as far as I remember, were quite effective, and it was a stylish psychological and visceral horror thriller. Very good!

Don't watch this if you're having eye surgery!

[pmdawn · 6/10 · 9 April 2008]

Gin Gwai is one of the most often cited examples of good recent Asian Horror, and now I know why. Starring the beautiful Angelica Lee as a blind girl - Mun - who undergoes a cornea transplant and begins to have terrifying visions while her doctor tries to help.

I didn't find this particularly scary and there are but a few jump out of your seat moments. But this film is more in the atmospheric and supernatural realm, and all the better for it. There aren't many twists here, as this movie really plays by the rules of Asian horror, with the exception of the ending, which I really liked.

This movie gets extra creepy points for a certain scene in a train and also because of recent news about people who have undergone transplants and seemingly acquiring some of the donors' personality traits. Now I've been hearing about stuff from cell memory to ectoplasmic attachments, from scientists. So this movie might not be that far-fetched after all.

My only real complaint was some very unnecessary (and obviously fake) gore near the ending. Other than that, it's a worth watching (but a bit over-hyped) effort for Horror fans.

Decent and Stylish, But Never Truly Terrifying

[notarepublican · 7/10 · 19 August 2003]

The Eye is a good film, but it drags on occasion and never really delivers on some of the frights that it suggests. Perhaps the difference is a cultural one, although the film does suggest that Asian cultures are much more adept at dealing with death than those cultures in the West.

When protagonist Mun's neighbor continually asks for his report card, or even eats the ceremonial candles that his family has burned in his memory, it comes off less haunting and more like the actions of a goofy middle schooler, as does the strange tongue flicking of a woman who comes back to haunt her husband's food stand.

And the ending seems extremely contrived, bearing more than a passing resemblance to the conclusion of "The Mothman Prophecies. Stylish and aesthetically rich, The Eye is but another in the recent trend toward visual horror at the expense of truly frightening content.

Very creepy horror film.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 9/10 · 17 September 2003]

"The Eye"(2002)has to be one of the creepiest horror movies I have seen this year.The "transplant gone awry" concept has been done before-just check out "Body Parts"(1991)or the third story in the horror anthology "Body Bags"(1993),but the Pang Brothers created extremely eerie psychological horror with plenty of genuine scares.Angelica Lee is excellent as a young girl named Mun.Her numerous and extremely creepy encounters with the spirits Mun sees are filled with excellent use of sound.The conclusion is amazing and totally unexpected.The film is very scary and uncanny-it actually reminds me a bit Japanese horror hit "Ringu"(1998).Check it out,if you dare.9 out of 10.The elevator scene blew me away!

A good ghost story..

[Aditya_Gokhale · 7/10 · 4 January 2006]

"The Eye" is a thriller about a blind girl who gets a successful cornea transplant and regains her eyesight.

But she begins to see strange things around her as she opens her eyes.

These strange things include supernatural beings, dead people. May sound like a rip off of The Sixth sense, but strictly speaking, this is the only premise that is similar to The Sixth Sense.

The rest of the story is different. I don't want to spoil any of it, but would like to state that the first half is more like a horror movie, while the second half seems like a melodramatic ghost story.

All in all, it is a pretty decent flick. Not excellent, not very bad either. The cinematography could have been better.

"The Eye" has been shamelessly copied, scene-to-scene in a Bollywood (India) movie called "Naina". Please avoid "Naina" if at all you were planning on seeing it and try and procure a copy of "The Eye".

early promise unkept

[cherold · 4/10 · 20 December 2004]

First off, to all the people putting up reviews who are talking about what a good example of Japanese horror this is, the movie is from Hong Kong. This is not to say the film isn't influenced by Japanese horror films - it certainly is, along with U.S. films like, most notably the Sixth Sense, but let's all pay attention to little details like where the movie is from.

The eye starts out really well. It starts off very low key and then introduces a very subtle sense of menace and has some scenes of suspenseful, understated horror. Even though it is much too derivative of other movies, it is very stylish and well done.

For about the first half.

After that this really becomes a mess. Much of the problem has to do with that derivative nature. It's not necessarily bad to steal, but you have to put together your stolen bits in some sort of sensible manner. The film at times feels as patched together as one of the Scary Movie series. By the end it just feels like a bunch of half-baked ideas are being tossed at the audience in hopes some of them will work. It's just a nonsensical hodge podge.

I've heard about the difficulties of blind people who regain their sight, and how traumatizing that can be. This movie just briefly touches on that, but wouldn't it be cool to see a movie that really dug into that? One that really made you feel what it was like to not know what something was even though you could see it? Where vision was disorienting and you couldn't trust your own senses? I'm not saying this movie should have done that. It would have been interesting but I would have been content with a trite, stylishly directed piece of horror fluff as long as it was coherent and cohesive. Still, as long as they were aware of the problems with regaining eyesight it's a shame they didn't take advantage of the knowledge to do something original instead of recycling other movies. I give this 4/10, although if you only watch the first half it's at least a 7/10.

Horrificly horrifying movie experience

[MADHOUND · 10/10 · 12 September 2004]

Wow. This movie completely caught me off-guard. It had been lying on my shelf for months, some friend gave it to me and since I don't usually watch much films made outside U.S. I hadn't really given much thought for it. When I finally got around watching it, man was I scared...

I'm not going into plot, you can probably read more from other comments and from the web but the effect this movie had on me - I didn't sleep last night. The Mood. I can't even remember when was the last time (or how old I was) when I wanted to close my eyes and not watch the screen. The Eye did that. This movie is SCARY and CREEPY. Lee Sin-Je does amazingly talented acting portraying the role of Mun, blind girl who has got her sight back. And now with her new vision, she starts seeing things... Let me warn you, the first scene when she sees something she shouldn't - you might just wet your pants. I was scared s***less every time she was seeing something, and I'm not that easy to scare. The Eye has much of the same with 'The Sixth Sense' and 'The Others' but goes way beyond, simply with the mood. In this movie - at least for me - everything fell for place. Directing, shooting, editing, lighting, soundtrack & sound effects (really check these out!) - just simply amazing - Hollywood pay attention !

I guess one of the reasons this experience was so eerie was that the spoken language was Chinese, so I understood what was going on because of the subtitles, but the mumblings and other horrible voices were 'not familiar' to me, it made the movie even more scary. I know this review is a bit weird, but it's written by a guy who's still messed up from yesterday by The Eye. I'm checking the closets, looking over my shoulder. I'm still scared as hell.

If you ever have a chance - check out The Eye. Turn off the lights, put a little more volume on your speakers than usual - and prepare to be SCARED. 10+ !

Very Good, Very Creepy, Very Enjoyable

[dfa120374 · 7/10 · 6 June 2015]

I'll start off by saying that this original Hong Kong version of The Eye is MUCH better than the remake that stars the useless Jessica Alba, and is much creepier also.

I'd actually seen the remake before seeing this original version, and while I thought it was OK, I couldn't get into it because of Alba. Having now recently watched this original version, there's no doubt which one I thought was better.

Ringu was good. Ju-on was good. Dark Water was good. The Eye, however, surpasses those, and is definitely the best Asian horror film that I've seen to date. I loved everything about this film, and even the acting was really good (which is sometimes one of the things that ISN'T good about these films). The music score was excellent adding to what was already a creepy atmosphere; the story was intriguing and well written; and the cinematography was well executed, bringing us some great shots especially during the more creepier scenes.

Speaking of creepy scenes, The Eye has some of the best I've seen in a horror movie for quite a while, and I think the only recent movies to match atmosphere and true tension for me was Sinister, Insidious, and As Above, So Below. The scare scenes in this film WILL freak you out. I mean just to name two alone...the hospital corridor with the older woman and elevator scenes. I defy anyone to watch those scenes and not feel at least a little uneasy.

CGI is usually very minimal in Asian horrors, and it's no different in The Eye with the majority of the SFX coming in the last few scenes of the movie. There are the odd moments CGI used for the scarier scenes, but they're really used as "touch up" techniques, so it's not as if this is a CGI-fest, which is good as practical effects can actually be scarier if done right, which they are here.

I honestly can't speak highly enough for this film, and if you enjoy Asian horror, like the films I mentioned earlier, then you (should) enjoy The Eye.

Definitely recommended.

I'm a wimp. This was NOTHING.

[thrasher2809 · 5/10 · 19 February 2014]

Let's put aside the fact that this film has some creepy moments but zero actual scares. Sorry, I jumped all throughout The Grudge and I knew while I was jumping that it was a terrible film. This didn't scare me. Noroi? Crapped my pants. This? I was laughing two thirds of the way through. Why?

Because I just might nominate this film for most contrived ending of all time. Even disregarding the sheer amount of plot devices this film borrowed (Angel Heart and Jacob's Ladder are all over this film), the last third was absolutely dumbfounding. My jaw was on the floor from the sheer melodrama of it all. I saw this film on lists with Ju-on, Ringu, and a few other notable J-scarers, but boy, if this scared you, Ringu will literally kill you. For the record, Ringu didn't scare me either. Not like the American remake did. But that's a whole other can of worms.

The Eye suffers from a serious dollop of schmaltz. Romantic subplot? Check. Ridiculously cheery classical piano music? Check. A "things are back to normal and I've gone through a lot but learned even more and everything's fine now" ending? Check.

And hey presto, to top the whole thing off, a story with more plot holes than a cemetery after a tornado. And these aren't plot holes that film enthusiasts (not buffs, that denotes some sort of effort) will only catch and not the average viewer. You'd have to be awfully close to blind yourself to not be asking yourself some serious questions at the end of this film. Like, "What'd they use to make those fire effects, MS Paint?" or "Was the test audience for this movie a bunch of old women that said something along the lines of 'You really oughta include a series of flashback shots interleaved with shots of the present so that viewers won't get confused as to the already-obvious story arc similarities'?"

Not a good horror movie, not a good thriller. If you want to look at it as a film about a woman struggling post eye surgery that was actually insane the whole time, maybe that's a better film.