Review: The Eye (DVD & Blu-Ray)

Jessica Alba is the main reason most people will give The Eye a try, but the big secret of the movie is that it’s actually not that bad as a suspense-horror-thriller, either. An American remake of the 2002 original by the Pang Brothers, The Eye casts Alba as a blind violinist who has a chance to see again by undergoing a double corneal transplant.

The operation is an apparent success as Sydney (Alba) slowly learns to see again, her vision initially fuzzy and untrustworthy. She begins to see some things she thinks should not be there, although she is reassured by everyone that it’s all normal and part of her adjustment. But is it normal to see the spirits that reap souls from the land of the living to the land of the dead? Or is Sydney just paranoid and confusing dreams with reality.

It’s an intriguing premise that’s not unlike a handful of other horror stories where a transplant recipient of one sort or another have trouble when they find out the organ they received came from a criminal or a crime victim or some such thing. The core concept dates back at least as far as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, with The Eye simply being the latest variation on that general theme.

One of The Eye’s cinematic forebears is Blink, which starred Madeline Stowe as a very similar character in a similar plot; however, that movie went off in a different direction, so you won’t confuse the two by the time it’s all done. Fans of the Pang Brothers will be pleased to note that American directors David Moreau and Xavier Palud maintain some of the style of the original Asian film, including a cameo by the “report card boy,” who has appeared in all three installments of The Eye directed by the Pang Brothers.

With virtually identical special features on Blu-Ray and standard DVD, The Eye is a rare commodity in today’s world of “unrated special editions.” It is a genuine PG-13 thriller that maintains a sense of suspense and horror without resorting to “director’s cut” excesses that amount to nothing more than a couple seconds more nudity, a few more cuss words and other needless toys; fortunately, The Eye delivers its spookiness without relying on offensive excesses.