Jeepers creepers, where'd you get those peepers? That's the central creepy question in The Eye, a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong horror film of the same name.
Jessica Alba is Sidney, a young woman who has been blind since the age of five. But she gets more than she hoped for when she receives a corneal transplant. Yep, you guessed it, she now sees dead people. And if poor Sidney's ever going to have peace of mind again, she needs to find the truth about her eye donor.
The words “Jessica Alba” and “Asian horror remake” are enough to fill anyone with dread. While some supermodels aspire to be actresses, Jessica Alba's CV has so far suggested she's probably better off just as a pin-up girl. Which makes it surprising that she's actually credible in this quietly desperate role.
What's also a surprise is that in transplanting the action from Hong Kong and Thailand to the United States and Mexico the involving story of The Eye has been kept intact. But it'd be silly to mess too much with such an interesting idea: that transplanted organs can retain memories.
What's really bizarre is it's a premise is rooted in reality.
Using shadowy reapers and ghost kids, directors David Moreau and Xavier Palud come up with some moments that had my skin crawling. That makes it a pity that they also so often go for the cinematic equivalent of saying “Boo!” - by throwing beasties at us while the soundtrack screams.
In addition to these cheap thrills, they also fumble the ending and include some unfortunate Alba voice-over moments.
While it's not a patch on the original, The Eye remake is still a decently chilly horror outing that scares up three stars.
