Film Review: The Eye (2008)

The Eye (Review)
United States/2008
Netflix Streaming: No
Amazon Prime: No

Sydney (Jessica Alba) is a violinist who has been blind since she was 5 years old due to an accident involving fireworks. Now, she undergoes a cornea transplant. Her vision is blurry at first, but that is a side effect of the surgery; however, the shadowy figures and disturbing visions Sydney experiences are not...

Sydney's visions usually involve smoke and fire, and she also sees dead people. The dead are accompanied by a tall shadow figure that presumably escorts the dead to some sort of afterlife. These visions are consistent and all-too-real, and they cause Sydney to question her sanity. Sydney eventually gets help from her originally skeptical visual therapist, Paul, and they start looking into the donor of the eyes.

The Eye is a fairly simple, straight-forward story. Although it is a bit uneventful and repetitive, The Eye has an interesting, well-executed concept. The scares mostly consists of jump-scares, with some suspense and eerie visuals tossed in. There are a few amazing jump-scares in this film - a few that really use all of the above elements to create effective shockers. As with most films that rely on jump-scares, The Eye may be ineffective during repeat viewings. (the horror in this film is surprisingly effective during the first viewing.) I also really enjoyed the subtle horror, like the shadows moving. The psychological aspects are interesting, but not fully developed or explored. The ending of the film is good; it's not perfect, but it has some meaning.

The acting was great from the entire cast. Jessica Alba delivers a great performance - a very believable and accurate performance. (She's not bad to look at, either.) Jessica Alba is really the only character the film focuses on, so judging the rest of the performances is difficult as they aren't fully developed. All I can really say is: the supporting cast won't win any awards, but they didn't distract or hurt the story in anyway, either.

Overall, The Eye is an entertaining horror film. The jump-scares are very effective and creative, but they will likely lose their effectiveness on repeat viewing. It's one of the films that really uses its concept wisely to create terror. I recommend a purchase for fans of the genre, a rental otherwise.

Score: 7/10
Parental Guide: Some violence and blood.