The Eye

Director: David Moreau, Xavier Palud David Moreau, Xavier Palud,

Overview

Sydney Wells (Jessica Alba) has been given the gift of sight, but it comes with a horrifying price in the English-language remake of Danny and Oxide Pang's The Eye. The double corneal transplant was to open up a new world for Sydney, a concert violinist whose blindness has plagued her since childhood. With the help of Dr. Paul Faulkner (Alessandro Nivola) and sister Helen (Parker Posey), Sydney's operation and recovery seemed to be on the road to success -- until horrific images start to tear their way into her newfound vision. What's worse is that these episodes appear to foreshadow future deadly events, leading Sydney on a mission to track down the person whose eyes she has inherited and discover what kind of mystery from beyond the grave lies before her. The film is directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud, the duo behind the acclaimed 2006 French terror flick Them, and is produced by Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner under their Cruise/Wagner production banner.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/03/2008
UPC:	0031398241300
Original Release:	2008
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Lions Gate
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound]
Time:	1:37:00
Sales rank:	30,681

Special Features

Featurettes: "Birth of the Shadowman," "Becoming Sydney," "Shadow World: Seeing the Dead," "The Eye: the Explosive Grand Finale"; Deleted scenes; Theatrical trailer; TheatreVision; English descriptive audio service

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jessica Alba	Sydney Wells
Alessandro Nivola	Dr. Paul Faulkner
Parker Posey	Helen Wells
Rade Serbedzija	Simon McCullough
Fernanda Romero	Actor
Rachel Ticotin	Actor
Obba Babatunde	Actor
Danny Mora	Actor
Chloe Moretz	Actor

Technical Credits

Sebastian Gutierrez

Ryne Douglas Pearson

Hillary Seitz

David Moreau	Director
Xavier Palud	Director
Angelo Badalamenti	Score Composer
Sarah E. Baker	Associate Producer
Nancy Nayor Battino	Casting
Marco Beltrami	Score Composer
Peter Block	Executive Producer
Bayard Carey	Sound/Sound Designer
Peter Chan	Executive Producer
Doug Davison	Executive Producer
Michael Dennison	Costumes/Costume Designer
Mike Elliott	Executive Producer
Jay Faires	Musical Direction/Supervision
Don Granger	Producer
Sebastian Gutierrez	Screenwriter
Jeffrey Jur	Cinematographer
Patrick Lussier	Editor
Michelle Manning	Executive Producer
Kelly Martin-Wagner	Casting
Darren Miller	Executive Producer
Matthew Mungle	Makeup Special Effects
Tom Ortenberg	Executive Producer
Michael Paseornek	Executive Producer
Ryne Douglas Pearson	Screenwriter
Roy Lee	Executive Producer
Hillary Seitz	Screenwriter
James Spencer	Production Designer
Eric Tignini	Asst. Director
Naython Vane	Art Director
Paula Wagner	Producer

Editorial Reviews

The country of origin doesn't much matter when it comes to Hollywood remakes of Asian horror films. Whether it's Japan, South Korea, or, in the case of The Eye, Hong Kong, these remakes all possess a certain sameness, drawing from a grab bag of disturbing imagery that resists any particular motif -- the exception being the heavy usage of ghostly Asian children with long hair or shrouded faces. The Hollywood remake of The Eye, in which directors David Moreau and Xavier Palud re-interpret the Pang brothers' 2002 film, faithfully continues this generic tradition, yet still manages to be interesting enough in its own right. Giving both versions their captivating creep factor is the following supposition: What if transplanted corneas could harness the visual memories of the donor? What if the eyes are literally the windows to the soul, capable of transferring one person's "consciousness" to another? This is a spooky idea, but the directors approach it without any knack for the specifics. At different points, Jessica Alba's transplant patient can see dead people, past events, and/or future tragedies; the rules aren't clear on why and when she sees what she sees. Thank goodness the nightmarish images are sprung with a strong sense of timing, which keeps viewers interested from scene to scene. Alba is pretty good as the blind violinist seeing the world for the first time. Her performance, enhanced by the directors' visual techniques, effectively dramatizes her disorientation. Even if she were only grappling with the flood of unfamiliar stimuli, this disorientation would still be significant. But also having to fend off demons, who terrorize her personal visual space? It's enough to drive a person crazy. The rest of the cast makes less of an impression, particularly a miscast Parker Posey, whose role requires none of Posey's usual eccentric whimsy.

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