Film Review: Alba ‘Eye’s the middle ground of horror
Surprise frights and ghosts fill mediocre movie
Photo from movieweb.com
“The Eye” plunges you into a terrifying world of unfocused sight, sinister shadows and reluctant believers.
Jessica Alba’s (“Awake”) character is thrown out of her comfort zone as she plays Sydney, an accomplished concert violinist. Sydney, blinded at age five in a childhood accident, is finally getting a chance at sight. After undergoing a double cornea transplant, she regains her sight along with inescapable horrific images that plague her waking and sleeping moments.
Sydney then has trouble separating illusions of the dead and reality. Everyone around her starts to question her sanity.
What is a scary movie without a hint of romance? This comes in the form of Alessandro Nivola (“The Girl in the Park”) who plays Dr. Paul Faulkner. He specializes in the rehabilitation of patients to find their own identities and help them transition back into society as a “normal” person.
Paul thinks that Sydney’s experiences with ghosts are figments of her imagination because she is upset that she isn’t special anymore. Their relationship goes from one seeking comfort to absolute disgust.
“How can you help me, if you don’t believe me?” Sydney cried.
Although this movie was neither good nor bad, it had its moments when the scary parts startle you into jumping five feet into the air. Figures popping out at random are the best startles and this movie has plenty.
The music commands the slow build-up to the chilling scenes. You always know it’s coming - can feel it in your bones but you can’t help peeking behind the hands that cover your face.
The director uses an unfocused point-of-view filming technique in some portions of the movie for simulating a blind person regaining her vision. Interestingly enough, this makes the ghostly shadows appear scarier. It is hard to tell if the figures are within reaching distance or if it’s a ghost you are seeing.
As for character selection, Alba and Nivola should not have been paired together. The supposed chemistry between the two just isn’t there. Another mismatched pair goes to Alba and Parker Posey (“Broken English”) who plays Sydney’s sister. Those two are a far cry as sisters go. Although Posey was excellent at playing the role of the concerned sister, the sisterly love was seriously lacking on Alba’s part.
This movie may make you want to brush up on your Spanish since the beginning and the middle of the movie have scenes where people are speaking in Spanish and there aren’t any translations. It’s confusing at first, but toward the end the movie clarifies the reason for all the Spanish dialogue.
The best part is the need to be alone and hide in the darkness to escape the ghosts. It is so different because there are many horror movies that emphasize staying in the light.
All in all, this movie may not be a good choice to watch in the theaters but it’s an excellent Blockbuster release.
‘The Eye’
Release Date: Feb. 1
Director: David Moreau and Xavier Palud
Starring: Jessica Alba, Alessandro Nivola, and Parker Posey
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Rating: PG-13
Grade:
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on Monday, February 4th, 2008 at 11:04 pm and is filed under Arts & Entertainment, Film Reviews, Vibe.
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