The Eye 2 (Korean Version) DVD Region All

The Eye 2 is a thriller about relationships. This is, however, not what a successful horror movie should count on. The key of this particular genre lies on the ignorance of human beings towards ghosts. It is such a mystery and the revelation of it that bring unbelievable pleasures and heart-shaking sensation to audiences. The Eye 2 is comparatively less shocking. There are merely a few scenes specially choreographed to take your breath away. A certain distance that keeps the human world and the occult world away is also essential for a good thriller. Joey, the protagonist in The Eye 2, puts on a face-to-face confrontation against the movie's ghost at first but also shows mercy on this supposedly scary creature at the end of the movie. Such a from-foes-to-friends development has turned a thriller about the battle between good and the evil into a proportionate melodrama. It is such a half-thriller-half-drama feature that leaves a big hole in this movie.

The images of ghosts and the horror scenes in this movie are also far too artificial. Based on all those common ghost tales, The Eye 2 uses a lot of computerized special effects to re-create a range of concrete images for the ghosts. Such images are not impressive enough though. Some of them are too vividly shown to the audience while some appear to be simply a blur. There are some representations of them in this movie that may not be convincing enough. For example, it would have been heart-shaking to see Joey the pregnant woman being accompanied by a floating ghost. But once the image becomes clearer, what we can see is just someone who lacks facial expressions hanging around her. There are some more look-alikes in the movie which give you no creeps but simply a plain face looking idle. Sometimes their looks even seem amusing, which is definitely not a healthy sight in a horror movie.

There are still some scenes that can earn a few credits in this movie. For instance, there is a chilling scene where Joey witnesses a mother and her son jump off a building and end their lives. The editing and the sound effect are operated in coordination making it one of the best shots in this movie. However, it repeats the same mistake as mentioned above when it comes to the images of the two ghosts. It is far too abnormal and even hilarious for us to see a pair of badly mutilated bodies still talking with their eyes wide open while lying in a pool of blood. But there is another scene that may be able to compensate for such a loss. It is when Joey is in the changing room together with Mrs. Chow and a man with a birthmark. While Mrs. Chow thinks there are only two women there, Joey lets us see that there is one more uninvited guest around. We the audience know he is already dead and we see his face. But we still have no idea how he is related to Mrs. Chow and this leaves a hook for us. Such a natural way of bringing out the ghosts is actually the key of success in the series of The Eye.

It is pleasing to see that Shu Qi has successfully shaken off her sex symbol image in this movie. Without her trademark inaccurate Cantonese and her seductive body, she plays well the role of a pregnant woman suffering from extreme pains and desperation. It is also refreshing to see how committed she plays the haunted and manic character.

Reviewed by Ji Li An at City Entertainment (Hong Kong)

Translated by Holly (Hong Kong)