Reviewed by: Chungking_Cash Date: 11/03/2008 Hyped as a Chinese "Sixth Sense" (1999) its understandable that American audiences might have reservations about seeing "The Eye" which offers more stylization than its Hollywood counterpart, but with far less depth (if one can even fathom that). At its core "The Eye" is fairly tiresome: the romantic subplot is as fragile as a piece of toast and the climax is commonplace to the Chinese ghost subgenre. That being said: the hair raising, eye bulging, and spine tingling moments are consistent. There within lies the recommendation. Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: j.crawford Date: 01/17/2006 Summary: Look out for The Eye! The Pang Brothers deliver scary chills in their debut film. Featuring Lee Sin-Je in a starring role as the recipient of a corneal transplant operation that has ghostly complications, the young actress manages a spooky, jarring performance. Cleverly written script is beautifully designed and photographed, creating a well produced and satisfying movie. Look out for The Eye! Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: PAUL MARTINEZ Date: 12/20/2004 Summary: HK's New Genre Starts Off Well The Eye is the beginning over Hong Kong Cinema's latest "hot" genre. That of the horror film. Although I feel this is actually more of a suspense thriller. When I usually think of HK horror films I cringe. Without a doubt, the least liked type of HK productions of mine. However the Pang Bros. show how it should be done. The most important elements to a good thriller are the score, acting ability of your lead, and the building up of suspense. These things are all evident throughout this tale. The scene in the elevator was exceptionally shot well. It does have similarites to The Sixth Sense as well as The Mothman Prophecies but tries not to completely copy them. Sub-plots were not handled very well, but that seems to be the norm for a lot of HK movies I've seen lately. Angelica Lee really blew me away with her performance. Especially the elevator scene. I could almost feel her terror come right through the screen. Lawrence Chou Chun Wai wasn't bad but, I had a problem with someone looking like they're 20 years old playing a doctor. I just didn't believe it. Obviously there will be a bevy of HK Thrillers coming our way in the near future. The Eye should be used as the measuring stick for these movies. I hope other directors take the time to study what works well here before making thiers. Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: senordingdong Date: 09/27/2004 Summary: Excellent sound design I don't scare easily, but watching this movie with the sound turned up genuinely creeped me out. The visuals alone were not that scary, but combined with the sound, I litterally got goosebumps each time a ghost appeared. It's not a jumpy scary that you get from most American made horror films. If you're expecting that kind of horror you will be disappointed.

Reviewed by: mrblue Date: 09/26/2003 Even though The Eye has been receiving generally good reviews (an increasing rarity these days for HK movies), I was a bit hesitant to see it. The Pang Brothers' previous film Bangkok Dangerous had sparks of greatness, but was a bit too derivative of John Woo and Wong Kar-Wai for my tastes, and when The Eye started to draw comparisons with The Sixth Sense (one of the most over-rated movies of the last decade in my opinion), I was pretty turned off. However, upon giving The Eye a chance, I was pleasantly surprised. While it's not a great movie by any means, it is a slick thriller that is a lot better than many other recent "ghost" movies from both sides of the ocean. In the movie, Angelica Lee plays a blind woman who gains sight after a cornea transplant. Her new sight proves to be troublesome when she starts seeing ghosts (hence the "I see dead people" comparisions, though thankfully Lee is nowhere near as annoying as that little bastard Haley Joel Osment). Through a series of events and with the help of her psychatrist (Lawrence Chow), Lee learns the cause of her visions and sets off on a journey to put them to an end. Lawrence Chow. Image courtesy of Panorama. While I am not a big fan of ghost or psychological horror stories, I will admit The Eye does a good job in setting up a creepy mood. Of particular note are several Fight Club-esque almost subliminal shots which cause the viewer to become almost disoriented at times, but in a good way. While it does take some time to get going, the payoff is definitely worth the wait, especially since newcomer Angelica Lee does a great job with her role. In contrast to many of the other young HK actors who tend to overact, Lee takes a more natural approach that really works with the material. Overall, The Eye is a solid film that should please fans of the genre, as well as those who are normally turned off by Hong KOng's usual over-the-top take on horror movies. Like Shamalyan's Unbreakable, the Pang Brothers' follow-up to their critically successful (yet flawed) debut is much more assured in their own style. Instead of parroting other film-makers' techniques, the Pang Brothers seem to be moving in their own direction, and I look forward to seeing more films from the pair in the future.

Reviewed by: Sydneyguy Date: 08/15/2003 Summary: Not that scary to me!! Ok maybe i didn't watch this movie in a dark room all by myself with the doors closed. But then again i wasn't scared of watch THE RING (japanese version) either. But the USA RING did (but i saw that in the cinemas!!) Horror movies for me, i need to be in the right atmosphere to obtain the full enjoyment out of it. I wasn't scared at all. Maybe this is just not the genre i like watching, i don't know!! I found the USA "sixth sense" boring and this movie tries to obtain elements of that movie in this movie Though i was not scared, there are excellent plot twists which i appreciated. And after 1.5 hours the movie finished!! For me the movie was not a great movie. I think what also effected me, just like the SIXTH SENSE that there was a lot of hype on how good this movie was, and when i didn;t come true in my case i was disappointed. But still worth a viewing 6/10 Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: Dyogenez Date: 12/26/2002 Summary: Skin crawling.. After the release of a number of new horror movies (the ring, uzumaki) I'd been on track to watch more high calibur scarry movies. The Eye certinaly did not let me down. The story follows Men (?) who undergoes an eye transplant at the beginning of the movie. Soon after she regains most of her sight, and a little extra. She starts seeing people and things that arne't really there. Later she realizes she is seeing dead people that have not yet been taken away. She must find out what is causing her to see these things and face it in order to live a normal life. In addition to being a very creepy and suspenseful movie, there are sideplots of romance, life goals and other problems she is facing on top of the new vision problems. I thought this was interesting, but might be going a little too far into her life, although it sometimes left room for both life and action. Many times during the movie did my skin crawl as the 'ghosts' haunting her were plain out creepy. It was a little slow paced at times though, which would be my number 1 complaint. The camera work is very unusual as you see most of the visions through her eyes, leaving a little extra suspense there. Overall i'd recommend it. 7.5/10

Reviewed by: danton Date: 12/26/2002 Among the glut of similarly-themed horror movies coming out of the HKSAR this year, this one clearly stands out in a very positive way. It's a well-scripted, effectively filmed story of a blind young woman who regains her sight due to a cornea transplant, only to find out there are things better left unseen... Completely devoid of any attempts at humour, the movie focuses relentlessly on capturing the girl's growing terror, as she is driven almost to insanity by recurring nightmares and by visions of ghosts haunting the streets of HK. Some of the scenes are truly frightening, especially when she gets trapped in an elevator with an otherworldly spectre. The camera offers only glimpses and hence leaves much to the viewer's imagination, which makes what is unfolding even more scary.. A lot of credit for the film's impact goes to Angelica Lee, whose performance as the increasingly terror-stricken girl is quite intense and very believable, proving that her equally good debut performance in princess D was no coincidence. Together with Kareena Lam, she is clearly the brightest light among the new generation of HK actresses. In the second half, when some of the reasons behind her supernatural vision become clearer and she ventures to Thailand to try and resolve things, the movie becomes slightly less scary, only to replace the element of fear with an equally gripping focus on tragedy, which culminates in a very intense and visually stunning climactic disaster. Highly recommended!

Reviewed by: Tau Date: 08/31/2002 This movies was terrific.One of the best hk ghost movie i ever saw.This movie got me on the edge of my seat. With some really scaring scences.The sound effects made it even more frightly. But the movie was moving really slow.

Reviewed by: Tau Date: 08/31/2002 This movies was terrific.One of the best hk ghost movie i ever saw.This movie got me on the edge of my seat. With some really scaring scences.The sound effects made it even more frightly. But the movie was moving really slow. Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: risbac Date: 08/15/2002 Summary: Technicaly impressive, but lacks a good script The main problem with the Eye is that this story has been seen many times. The slow rythm makes it quite boring to watch from time to time, despite the good directing. Fortunately, the ending is much better. It's also interesting to notice that the directing doesn't use the usual tricks to frighten, but try rather to built a special mood, not really frightening but just oppressing. The nice job of Angelica Lee must also be underlined. Overall, nice movie for the eye (silly joke...), but quite poor for the brain. Francois Cinemasie.com

Reviewed by: reelcool Date: 07/25/2002 Summary: EYE OK This film is a cross between "Sixth Sense", and "Ghost", which means nothing surprisingly, new for the audience to chew on. However, the film was directed and shot very well, and that made the movie a great watch. The filmmakers (Pang brothers), gives hope to Hong Kong cinema.

Reviewed by: Stardust Date: 07/21/2002 Summary: Organ Donation "The Eye" is a wonderfully made movie about a woman who can see the dead after receiving a cornea transplant (hence the title). There are a couple of twists throughout the movie, and instead of scaring the wits out of viewers, it can make them rethink the whole process of organ donation. There are alot of horror movies out lately in HK, but this was the first one I've seen in quite a while. Its original compared to what I've seen lately, and quite a fresh change too. Most of the actors/actresses are unknown. The main character is the girl in "Princess D". As a new actress, she did a reasonably good job here, better then "P D". I was told that this was a true story. Due to this piece of information, I got a whole new perspective on the gift of life. And trust me, you will too after watching this. Rating: 10/10

Reviewed by: Jareth1978 Date: 07/17/2002 Summary: Intelligent, beautiful The Eye is a beautifully directed, fluidly acted movie. Read the above review for a plot summary. I thought it proved awesome, I had the DTS turned up and many of the scenes scared the crap out of me. Seriously, I came close to hitting the stop button because I just can't handle that level of super scary suspense stuff. Especially the elevator scene. Very satisfying ending as well. It only suffers from coming after "Sixth Sense" in terms of chronology but it doesn't pull one of those ha ha we got ya surprise endings and has a more original and engaging appeal then say "The Others". And get this - no goofiness, horrible green lighting, or Simon Lui! So... how long till our moron American producers rip this one off? (Fear dot com = Kairo?) Reviewer Score: 9

Reviewed by: magic-8 Date: 07/12/2002 Summary: The Eye Has It Angelica Lee stars in another solid effort, following "Princess-D," with "The Eye." Directed by the Pang Brothers (Danny and Oxide's earlier effort was "Bangkok Dangerous"), "The Eye" mixes shades of "The Sixth Sense" with an Eastern Taoist twist. Angelica Lee's character undergoes corneal transplants to regain the eyesight that she had lost at the tender age of two. Adjusting to her restored eyesight, Lee discovers that she can see the dead. Using this premise, the Pang Brothers guide us through a journey filled with ghosts, death angels and a world that borders reality and the unknown. Like many other Hong Kong horror movies, "The Eye" doesn't generate many true frights. But, "The Eye" does succeed in building up tension and suspense to startle viewers with a jump or two out of their seats. The Pang Brothers achieve this through careful sound design and visual help from Centro's digital effects (the same CGI outfit that gave us the CG effects in "Storm Riders"). The Taoist element comes in the form of a priest who is around to put to rest the ghost of a boy caught in limbo. Unfortunately, the priest's role is pushed into the background where he later resurfaces to provide a plot point to further the story that will shift from Hong Kong to Thailand. The film contains a very satisfying ending that was not only entertaining but also unexpected. Angelica Lee is the crux of the entire film and she carries the weight very well. Lee goes beyond the "it" girl of the moment. She can act! Lawrence Chou is featured in a supporting role as Lee's shrink. For some reason, all the males in the film look like they just woke up and have bed-head hair, either that or a really bad hair stylist. For that reason, and the look of immaturity, Chou couldn't be taken too seriously. Hong Kong cinema is full of copycat filmmakers. The recent spate of comedies is a sure sign of that, and the horror genre is no exception. This year alone will feature other horror movies like "Inner Senses," "My Left Eye Sees Ghosts," and "Visible Secret II." So, go out and see "The Eye" before all the knock-offs put you off to this cut-above horror film. Reviewer Score: 9