The Eye (PG-13, 2008)

Blind since childhood, concert violinist Sydney (Jessica Alba) gets a cornea transplant and promptly begins seeing the same fearsome visions (warnings of deaths, visits from ghosts, etc.) that troubled the donor. Feeling abandoned by her loving but rarely available sister (Parker Posey) and increasingly unable to differentiate between her nightmarish visions and new glimpses of a daunting material world, Sydney seeks help from her therapist, Paul (Alessandro Nivola), and her conductor/mentor, Simon (Rade Serbedzija). Neither man is helpful, so Sydney sets off on her own, researching possible causes and then seeking the donor, who turns out to be a young Mexican woman named Ana (Fernanda Romero). Eventually, Sydney heads to Mexico with Paul; their efforts lead to a resolution, but not without costs.

Yet another remake of a popular Asian horror film (2002's Gin gwai), THE EYE is long on smart camerawork, short on intelligent dialogue, and finally undone by a finale that's more hectic than ironic. After the action moves to Mexico, the film lurches from a particular type of spooky flick (shadows and blurs, fear of the unknown) into something more banal: a cautionary tale about crossing the border. The self-involved, privileged Sydney pays scant attention to the violence and poverty that make up life in the pueblo, convinced that her salvation, her reclamation of her life, is the most important thing.

The film's visual tricks are plainly indebted to the Hong Kong original, full of effectively distorted figures and shadowed hallways. But once the line is clearly drawn between subjective and objective worlds, the film pretty much collapses.

Studio: Lionsgate
Director: David Moreau, Xavier Palud
Cast: Alessandro Nivola, Jessica Alba, Parker Posey
Genre: Horror
Run time: 97 minutes
Theatrical release: February 1, 2008
DVD release: June 2, 2008
MPAA Rating: PG-13
MPAA explanation: violence/terror and disturbing content.