The original 2002 version of The Eye was directed by the celebrated Pang brothers; who have made quite a name for themselves in the horror and action/thriller genre.
Their original version is set in Hong Kong and Thailand and centres on a young blind woman, Mun, who after a cornea transplant, sees disturbing visions of dead people. In desperation she turns to a young psychiatrist, Dr Lo for help. Together they go on a terrifying journey to find out why this is happening to her and how they can stop it.
Edmund Chen as Dr Lo is too young to be believable but Angelica Lee who plays Mun is really lovely. She has a very expressive face and carries the film.
Relying mainly on a dense soundtrack full of creeks and bangs The Eye takes quite a while to get scary. The Pang brothers spend some time setting up Mun’s situation and the dead people she sees. The directing duo are renowned for this particular style of filmmaking; concentrating heavily on pace and editing to create the dread.
However, viewing the film some six years later I was a little under whelmed. It seemed laboured in the first half and I felt I had seen much of it before. This could be because the style and genre has proved so popular that many have copied it.
The production design is quite sparse with the use of lots of blues and greys and most scenes are devoid of too much artifice creating a sense of desolation.
The last third of The Eye really makes up for the slowness of the beginning. It really is quite scary. And the originality of the story, although far fetched, should be commended.
There were some suitably 'horrifying’ moments but I did expect a whole lot more, 3 stars. The original 2002 version of The Eye is now available on DVD.
