"The Eye"....Excellent horror DVD (1 Viewer)

[EricSchulz]

I didn't see a thread already started for this title, just the ones about if/when it was getting released here.

I got interested in this after seeing both The Ring and Ringu. I read that Tom Cruise's production company has the rights to make an American version of this. (I'm sure it will be nowhere near as good, IMHO.)

I thought that while some parts of the movie were a little predictable, overall it was an excellent piece of filmmaking. The special effects did a great job of enhancing the story instead of BEING the story (are you listening Hollywood?!?) The movie was creepy in parts; kudos to the sound editor for creating some great sound effects that are just as effective as the visual effects.

The story, very briefly, is about a young woman, Mun, who lost her sight at age two. Now in her twenties, she receives a cornea transplant which is too successful. She regains her sight, but also 'sees' things that are not real. Or are they?

The cinematography is artful without ever being pretentious. The Pang Brothers don't waste one frame of film in the entire movie. Every shot counts. The use of focus plays a big part in getting us to feel what Mun is experiencing.

There's a nice "making of" feature (appr. 15 mins.) that is also included. The movie is presented in 5.1 Cantonese with English subtitles. (The translation is excellent...too often foreign movies use syntax that is awkward but this film just flows...)

Anyone have any other views on this?

 

[Garrett Lundy]

Sorry, but I have to disagree. The Eye is nothing more than a knock-off of The Sixth Sense. I'll give you a summary of the film:

Girl gets eyesight restored, girl sees dead people, girl loses eyesight in an accident, movie ends

Was it well-done and creepy? yes! But the entire "I see dead people" experience is getting old.

But not without it's highlight, there is a violin practice/exorcism scene that makes for excellant surround sound demo material.

 

[Tom Tsai]

^ seeing dead people
has been used in Asian ghost stories for centuries. That idea was not new to The Sixth Sense. Saying that the idea of people being able to see ghosts
is an over-used idea in an Asian movie is like saying people turning into vampires is an over-used idea in western horror movies.

 

[Clint]

I love the freaky visuals (elevator scene, restaurant, and school scene).

All in all a so-so movie, could have ended better. Reminded me of Six Sense meets Mothman Prophecies.

 

[David_Blackwell]

Well, the climatic scene was inspired by a true incident (according to teh making of feature on the DVD).

I say THE EYE is better and THE SIXTH SENSE is rather boring after one viewing.

Be Seeing You,
David Blackwell

 

[Garrett Lundy]

I won't give you an arguement there. The "vampire" film is horribly played out and hasn't seen any real variation in decades. If I see another two hundred year old ghoul that looks a helluva lot better than myself, I'm going to be sick.:frowning:

But on the subject of vampire movies, can anyone explain to me the history behind "jumping/hopping vampires" in Asian cinema? (This may be a Japan-specific cultural oddity however, I'm not too familiar with every countries horror-movie variables).

 

[Tom Tsai]

^ Hopping zombies/vampires is a Chinese thing I believe. I don't know the history behind it but I just remember watching a lot of those movies growing up

While we're on that topic, are there any good hopping zombie movies out on DVD?

 

[Rolando]

oh no, more spoiler tags please. I know some were used but just from post 2 and 3 I got too much.

is this out on Region 1 DVD?

 

[Tom Tsai]

^ ok, spoiler tagged it...but there's nothing in these posts that were not already given away from the back of the dvd box, trailers, movie reviews...

 

[EricSchulz]

Yes, I rented it from Netflix. Already sent it back, so I don't remember what company issued it.

 

[EricSchulz]

It's from Lion's Gate. Available on Amazon.com for $21.43.

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

(no spoilers below)

Eric and others,

I agree, the Pang Brothers' The Eye was a delightful surprise. Unfortunately the production value, IMHO, severely limited the impact this film could have had. In much the same way that Hideo Nakata's Ringu also suffered.

I am really hoping that The Eye gets revisited the same way that Ringu was with Gore Verbinski's The Ring. The added production value played a major role in this film's success. The rich textural cinematography and sound created a far more engrossing environment for which the story could be fully developed and appreciated.

There are a lot of film critics who love to criticize remakes, but often for the sake of the original idea, rather than the quality of the film itself. This is often amusing to me because many if not most films are merely remakes of novels - like Ringu.

In fact, Hideo Nakata's Ringu was not the first adaptation of Kôji Suzuki's 1989 novel, Ringu. Chisui Takigawa made Ringu: Kanzen-ban which was released on Japanese television during the Summer of 1995. I've never seen it, but many feel it was better than Nakata's adaptation.

Speaking of Ringu, Hideo Nakata is currently remaking his 1999 sequel, Ringu 2. I was not terribly impressed by Nakata's sequel, but considering this remake is being produced by DreamWorks, and is under the helm of the same production team responsible for The Ring, I am hoping for good things. It was also reassuring to hear that DreamWorks and Nakata have insisted that this sequel will be an original story, and not a remake of Ringu 2. Naomi Watts, David Dorfman, and the very eerie Daveigh Chase are all reprising their roles. I'm also glad to hear they decided not to shoot in Canada and are using many of the same locations in Washington and Oregon as used in the 'original'. The Ring 2 is scheduled for a November 10th release.

Also while on the subject of great Asian horror films and Hideo Nakata, his 2002 film, Dark Water (yet another adaptation of a Kôji Suzuki novel) is being remade/re-adapted by the brilliant Brazilian director, Walter Salles. The casting so far looks extremely promising especially with Jennifer Connelly taking the lead role.

Coincidentally, Jennifer Connelly was Gore Verbinski's original choice to play Rachel in The Ring - in fact it was hard to believe, but Naomi Watts was like the fourth or fifth choice.

As for the rest of the cast for Salles' Dark Water, look for Tim Roth, Pete Postlethwaite, John C. Reilly, Dougray Scott, Shelley Duvall and Camryn Manheim.

Buena Vista has yet to announce an official US release date, but it is expected to come out some time in late November/early December of this year.

Once again, I for one am truly hoping the Pang Brothers' The Eye is remade with the kind of financial and technical support that the 'remakes' of Ringu and Dark Water recieved.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

 

[Garrett Lundy]

Ummm.... The Ring 2 won't be an Americanised remake of Ring 2, but be a seperate entity altogether? Does this mean we will have two seperate films with the name Ring 2?

Oh man this is going to be confusing. I wonder how many Ring 0 remakes are in preproduction.:rolleyes

My suggestions for Ring 2 titles:

Ring 2; Call Waiting.

Ring 2; Macrovision Protected.

Ring 2; The Wrath of Kahn.

Ring 2; Electric Boogaloo.

Ring 2; Ringtones.

Ring 2; Reloaded

Ring 2; Now with 50% Less Horror. ('Cause you know whats gonna happen when you watch the tape).

 

[Shawn_Sek]

Though i absolutely hated the american version of Ring(U), im happy that theyre using an original story for The american Ring 2 because i thought Ring(U) 2 was pretty bad. Ring(U) 0 was somewhat better, but still bad.

i thought The Eye was great, especially the ending, which i think they will certainly change for the american remake. The Eye 2 is floating around but i havent viewed it yet.

everytime i watch an asian horror film now i am envisioning how the american remake will be. sure, the whole ghost thing is old, but its not too played out that americans arent fighting for the rights to remake them all.

 

[chris_clem]

If you liked this movie you should also check out Bangkok Haunted. It's also made by one of the Pang brothers (maybe both but I'm not sure). I wasn't able to watch it when it was released in theaters here last year so I can't really tell you what I think of it but my friends told me it was pretty good.

Other Asian horror films that might be of interest:

Battle Royale
The Grudge (Ju-on) 1 & 2
Memento Mori

 

[Paul D G]

I picked this up unseen after hearing so much about it recently and it really didn't do anything for me.

Incidently, I was well pissed to find the opening segment, perhaps the one thing I was most looking forward to see, if completely left off the R1 release. (note: this fact did not affect my viewing as I didn't fully realize it until I went looking for confirmation on what I read about it. I just thought something was missing)

-paul

 

[EricSchulz]

What was missing?

 

[Garrett Lundy]

When did Battle Royale become a horror film??

 

[Ricardo C]

GREAT setup, but it falls apart in the third act. Still worth at least a rental, though.