Though most of us hoped that the Hollywood craze of remaking Asian horror flicks was dead and buried, ?The Eye? tries to claw the genre out of its grave. Those living in fear of more lousy remakes will take comfort in knowing that few will follow after this one, as ?The Eye? is certainly no sight to behold.
Jessica Alba (?Good Luck Chuck?) stars as Sydney Wells, an accomplished violinist who has been blind since the age of 5. While Sydney is meant to come off as handicap highly functional adult, Alba portrays her as nothing more than a sighted person with sunglasses on, an unsurprising testament to her inability to act. After receiving an eye transplant, Sydney finds that her newfound vision comes with a terrible curse; she begins to see death all around her, from the past, present and future. These disturbing visions conjure little emotion, however, from Alba, who prefers show off her mastery of the blank stare.
Acting skills are not totally amiss in the film, however. Sydney?s sister, played by the ethereal Parker Posey (?Broken English?) is relegated to a one-dimensional role, coddling her sister due to her guilt over Sydney?s accident. What Parker Posey is doing in a horror film of this low caliber is anyone?s guess, but her presence is greatly welcomed. Even though she is criminally underused in the film, Posey manages to elevate her small number of scenes with genuine emotion and actual acting. Directors David Moreau and Xavier Palud (?Them?) clearly did not understand the power of Posey, as she could have easily carried the film on her tiny shoulders if given the chance.
The story and plot avoid the pitfalls of most Asian horror remakes, making sure not to create overly illogical and convoluted plot twists. ?The Eye? even avoids the signature depressing and ambiguous ending of most Asian horror remakes for a clear-cut, happy ending. Still, ?The Eye? is certainly far from fresh, and it follows formulas we?ve all seen before.
But one should not expect great and innovative things from ?The Eye,? considering the film?s writer (Sebastian Guitierrez) also penned the insufferable ?Snakes on a Plane.? Gutierrez continues his use of simplistic character arcs and types, such as the doubter who becomes the believer and love interest, and he takes the easy path of making the handicapped flawless and superhuman.
?The Eye? does manage to bring one welcome change to the genre, though. Despite its many cliches, directors Moreau and Palud do their best to avoid the antiseptic look and feel that have become synonymous with Asian horror films, but that is about as far as their talents take them. Moreau and Palud?s directing style is as straightforward as the story, creating a sluggish pace and dull feel despite the film clocking in at a slim 97 minutes. The team relies too heavily on amateurish gags to generate fear and tension, using only gory makeup, sudden movements and things popping into the frame to cause frights. The one thing Moreau and Palud manage to do is pander to their producers by including a gratuitously long scene in which Alba showers and slips into a skimpy tank top.
Like most Asian horror remakes, there is an interesting premise that seems to be lost in translation. Moreau, Palud, and Gutierrez forget that ?The Eye? focuses on some basic human fears, ranging from the belief that we cannot always trust what we see to being unable to see at all, and even our belief that the light is always safer than the dark. ?The Eye? is startling in a cheap way and fails to bring about any true scares or sense of tension. Add on top of that Alba?s vapid performance, annoying voiceovers and a predictable script, and the film will hopefully put the final nail in the coffin of Asian horror remakes once and for all.
2 stars out of 5
