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Thursday, August 13, 2009

Eye 3, The - 1.5/5

After the disappointing "The Eye 2", I was ready to see what "3" had is store for me as it had a very promising premise. A bunch of kids decide one night that they should use this book of rituals to try and see a real ghost. Okay that part seems pretty cliche, but after the fun and games they start to disappear one by one from the various hauntings around them. Now we're talking! Give the Pang Brothers a synopsis like that and this should be awesome!

Well, if you couldn't tell from my rating, "The Eye 3" is anything but awesome. It has its awesome moments (the subway scene with the floating umbrella, the glass message, or the hide and seek scene) but overly, this film is a pretty massive let down.

The Pang Brothers still have this keen visual eye that allows them to build atmosphere and suspense when they want. It's pretty obvious that they didn't want to on this film, as it has almost none of the what I come to expect from their films. It's a departure from the series (although it does explain how the three films are tied together) in both feel and approach. This film has far more comedic elements then scares as the first 30 minutes of the film feel more parody of "The Eye" then actually a ghost horror film. Even after a very awesome scene with a guy riding an elevator with ghosts (them Pangs love their elevators!!) it moves into a weird 'possession/dance off' with local break dancers that made me want to turn off the movie and watch TV. What the hell were they thinking?! Build all this suspense and it pays off with a dance competition?! Fuck that noise!

Not only does the comedy of the film never pay off, but it also promotes this unfocused feeling of the film. The overall story is solid but this film lacks goal and focus majorly. Half the time I'm not sure what the characters are thinking or why they are doing the shit that they do. Towards the end they find their goal to be finding their missing friends (which could have been a goal about 45 minutes earlier) but even after they have their goal they end up running in circles (and farting to kill a ghost...seriously) like the 3 Stooges instead of pushing forward with the plot.

Even the good suspenseful hauntings were underused and never paid off in the full aspect of the film. This film felt like a Nickelodeon "Are You Scared Of The Dark" episode instead of a classic Pang Brother feature. It's too bad really with the promise of a descent story and awesome directors. Hopefully, the fourth film of the series that has yet to be released will return the series to its former glory.

Don't bother with this one. 


BONUS RANT: In its original form, this film is referred to as "The Eye 10" (as the poster indicates) or "The Eye Infinity".  Who the fuck thought it was a good idea to call it "10" or even the less idiotic "Infinity" for that matter? It makes much more sense to call it "3" since its the third film in the series. Even the American version of the this film seems to correct some of its mistakes by re-titling it.

Written By Matt Reifschneider 

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