Starring: Jessica Alba, Alessandro Nivola, Parker Posey
Director: David Moreau and Xavier Palud
Studio: LionsGate
Video: 2.35:1 anamorphic/enhanced for 16:9, 1080p HD
Audio: DTS HD Master Audio 7.1, Spanish DD 5.1, French DD Stereo
Extras: Deleted Scenes, 4 Featurettes, SD Digital Copy
Subtitles: English, Spanish
Length: 97 minutes
Rating: ***
The Eye is another in a series of Hollywood remakes of Asian horror flicks that started a few years ago with the 1998 Japanese film Ringu (ultimately remade as The Ring), a film that pretty much grabbed its audiences with non-stop suspense and shocking imagery, while attempting to maintain a plausible storyline. This film remakes Hong Kong shocker Jian Gui (2002), and attempts to lock onto that seemingly winning strategy with a superb, if rather small, ensemble and some frighteningly good cinematography. I readily admit that I nearly jumped out of my chair more than once during the movie; in terms of reaching their desired shock quotient, I think French directors David Moreau and Xavier Palud have achieved an unqualified success!
The story centers around Sydney Wells (Jessica Alba), a concert violinist who happens to be blind from a childhood accident. Although she has adjusted quite well to her circumstances, at the insistence of her older sister, she undergoes a cornea transplant with the hope that it will restore her sight. All seems to be going well, until Sydney begins to experience a series of disturbing events, and begins to see things that shouldn’t be there. All the while, she begins to believe that her visions are rooted in the life experiences of her cornea donor. With the help of a vision specialist (Alessandro Nivola), she begins a terrifying journey to discover the identity of the donor, and hopefully gain some insight into the nature of the truly troublesome phantasms that constantly disrupt her life.
While The Eye does indeed conjure some terrifying visuals, unfortunately, it just doesn’t tell a very compelling story. And the movie does promote an atmosphere of hope, unlike so many horror movies that seemingly end well, only to spiral downward with some last-minute shocking revelation. However, the story here just seems more than a little half-baked, and the plot’s exposition is, well, pretty dull, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where the story’s headed. And while Jessica Alba maintains a captivating presence on screen she just doesn’t deliver the requisite acting chops to overcome a weak script.
The real saving grace is that, in technical terms, the Blu-ray’s presentation is very close to reference quality. The combination of superb HD video transfer and an excellent DTS HD Master Audio soundtrack does make for an entertaining (if not totally compelling) watch. A really darkly-shot movie, with an equally dark color palette, the Blu-ray does an excellent job of maintaining really sharp image quality and terrific contrast. And the audio is equally fabulous, with subterranean bass and a truly immersive soundtrack that will rock your home’s foundation!
While the movie itself perhaps comes up somewhat short in substance, the two-disc set offers a substantial host of extras, including a standard definition digital copy of the movie for use on your home computer or personal portable. By no means a classic, but definitely worth a look, not only for a good scare, but for the disc’s superb Blu-ray presentation. Recommended.
— Tom Gibbs
