The Eye

Hot on the heels of such underwhelming asian-horror remakes as Pulse and One Missed Call comes The Eye, which – though saddled with a glacial pace and a thoroughly uneven structure – ultimately establishes itself as the most effective endeavor of its kind since 2005’s Dark Water. The film, based on the Pang brothers’ 2002 eponymous effort, stars Jessica Alba as Sydney Wells, a blind violinist whose decision to undergo an eye transplant leaves her with the ability to see into the supernatural world (which is, not surprisingly, rife with ominous sights and creepy figures). Despite the sporadic inclusion of admittedly horrific elements, The Eye is, at first, more intriguing as a drama revolving around the entirely plausible consequences stemming from Sydney’s surgery – with the initial lack of context for the overtly scary moments essentially stripping such scenes of any real suspense or fright value. It’s not until Sydney starts putting the pieces together to learn why this is happening to her that one is slowly-but-surely drawn into the story, although – to be fair – there’s little doubt that The Eye is, unlike its myriad of PG-13 horror brethren, consistently entertaining and rarely boring (something that’s due primarily to David Moreau and Xavier Palud’s exceedingly atmospheric directorial choices and Alba’s surprisingly affecting performance). The epic finale – in which Sydney essentially morphs into a superhero – leaves the proceedings on a high note that’s almost exhilarating in its unexpectedness, and it’s subsequently easy enough to overlook the few flaws within the film’s opening half hour.

*** out of ****