The Eye (2008)

Directed by: David Moreau, Xavier Palud | 97 minutes | drama, horror, thriller | Actors: Jessica Alba, Parker Posey, Alessandro Nivola, Rade Serbedzija, Rachel Ticotin, Chloe Moretz, Tamlyn Tomita, François Chau, Aaron Paul, Girard Swan, Tegan Moss, Kathleen LaGue, Zak Santiago, Fernanda Romero, Jessica McLeod

The French filmmakers David Moreau and Xavier Palud managed to surprise in 2007 with the nail-biter ‘Ils’ (‘Them’), in which they used horror conventions in an extremely effective way, thus providing a nerve-racking viewing experience. As is often the case, they were noticed and drawn to Hollywood and used to remake a foreign product. And, as is usually the case, the result is less strong and subtle than the original. Here it was felt necessary to subject the Thai horror hit ‘The Eye’, by the Pang brothers, to an American adaptation. Now that Asian horror films in the vein of ‘The Ring’ and ‘The Grudge’ have made a permanent breakthrough in the West, audiences are undoubtedly ready for this interesting Thai genre work. Then give the desirable young actress Jessica Alba the lead role and the cinemas will fill up. Or not?

The American ‘The Eye’ – admittedly made by the French – follows the original fairly closely, even regularly using the same kind of shots or camera angles. Some adjustments have been made here and there, with varying degrees of success. The calligraphy center in which a (ghost) attack takes place has here been replaced by a restaurant, which makes sense given the background of the characters and the setting of the story. Also Alba’s more dramatic reaction to her observation of a series of scary ghosts in her building – by tying cloths around her eyes instead of simply putting on sunglasses – and the omission of the explanatory dialogue preceding this in the original, is interesting. After all, the images say enough: she does not want to be able to see anymore if this means that she also has to observe all these disturbing apparitions – and would prefer to return to a state of blindness. Even without the horror component, this is a fascinating and realistic fact: the idea that it is very confronting to suddenly be able to see again, and that it is probably tempting for a long time to just close your eyes and return to that familiar world where already that strange visual stimuli are absent.

Although the film sometimes briefly touches on these kinds of dramatic, realistic aspects, they are by no means the main focus of the film. And in part this is the problem. Where the original managed to find a nice balance between highlighting the tragic experience of the main character and incorporating scary ghost images and scare moments, this remake too often aims for the latter. That is to say, the horror moments here are not always organically incorporated into the film. Where in the original there is more of a build-up and subcutaneous tension that arises from the experiences and experiences of the main character, in which the viewer is well involved, the film makers in the remake cannot resist the temptation to make the scare moments more explicit. For example, the black figures through which the dead are taken in the film (to the other side) in the original are serene, mysterious creatures. They are indeed slightly frightening, but mainly because of what they do and what their presence implies than their appearance. In the remake, however, they turn more into movie monsters, with Voldemort-esque faces looking angrily into the camera. As a result, the scenes with ghosts and visions mainly involve waiting for the inevitable moment of shock. This makes the film a rather boring style exercise, as these moments are often not very frightening. It also doesn’t help that Alba isn’t exactly a gifted dramatic actress right now. She can still convey fear and helplessness quite well, but in more neutral scenes or when she has to display more complex emotions, it becomes a lot more difficult for the viewer to identify with her.

Finally, the new ending of the movie, or rather the new tone of the ending, is disappointing; though not surprisingly. It’s quite possible that this more optimistic ending was inspired by the studio as the ending of Moreau and Palud’s previous film, ‘Ils’, was very wry. Also the new clarification or conclusion of the main character is now unfortunately less exciting. This new ‘The Eye’ is not as bad as for example (the remake of) ‘The Grudge 2′, but it really didn’t become a successful horror film.