The Eye 2

While the majority of movie sequels are often only concerned with following the original formula, but with more explosions, blood and characters, Hong Kong brothers Danny and Oxide Pang switch gears completely. Their horror hit The Eye told the story of a blind woman who received a cornea transplant then began seeing ghosts and ended in an explosive finale. The only thing Eye 2 has in common with its predecessor is a woman who suddenly finds herself with the ability to see ghosts. In this case the woman, Joey Cheng (Qi Shu), gains the unwanted power after unsuccessfully attempting suicide while pregnant. She learns this from a Buddhist monk (Philip Kwok) who slowly metes out the information at various points of the movie, revealing information often only after it has occurred. While witnesses assume her paranoia is due to her pregnancy, she begins to fear that the ghosts they cannot see are trying to steal her baby. The question is: are they? The Eye 2 starts off early with some good creepy moments but by the end the Pangs have nearly turned the movie into a drama, ending on somewhat of a positive note — definitely not your typical horror movie finale. The ghosts are superbly filmed for maximum fear factor and there are some extremely intense moments, such as the birthing scene in the hospital elevator. The Pang Brothers deserve credit for taking chances with their sequel and for doing it so stylishly. It may not be a bigger movie than The Eye but it might just be a better one. And the "making of" documentary is certainly interesting, revealing the Chinese ghost stories that spawned some of the ghastly characters, and how some of the ghost effects were created. (Maple)