The Child's Eye

cover

AKA: Child's Eye 3D

Year of release: 2010

Genre: horror

Directors: Pang Brothers

Producers: Daniel Lam, Alvin Lam, Pang Brothers

Writers: Pang Brothers, Thomas Pang

Cinematography: Decha Srimantra

Editing: Curran Pang

Music: Origin Kampanee

Stars: Rainie Yang, Shawn Yu, Rex Ho, Elanne Kong, Gordon Lam, Ciwi Lam, Jo Kuk, Jones Xu

Rated IIB for violence and disturbing imagery

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Widely promoted as the first Hong Kong film shot in high-definition 3D, The Child's Eye was a hit at the local box office. But will the Pang Brothers' effort play out successfully to foreign audiences, most of whom will be watching the movie in 2D via DVD or nefarious downloading means? Like the old dependable magic 8-ball says after a vigorous shake, all signs point to no.

Things here are technically done well enough. As with most Pang Brothers productions, the film looks good for the most part, and I'm sure fans of the young pop stars masquerading as actors here will have fun watching them running around and screaming. The Child's Eye main problem that it feels like it is just going through the motions. There are a few sequences that break from the norm, such as one that envisions a world made up of the paper offerings people burn in tribute to the departed, but these sorts of things are unfortunately too few and far between. Instead, most of the movie depends on cheap scares to interest the viewer, which, in this case, is stuff flying towards the screen -- something that was supposedly well done in the theatrical 3D release, but does absolutely nothing for an audience watching the film in old-fashioned 2D.

Besides the lack of real terror, suspense, tension, or horror, The Child's Eye feels completely and utterly stupid at points, which is saying a lot in the world of Hong Kong ghost movies, a genre that has hosted some of the most banal entries in the region's cinematic output. To keep this review spoiler-free, I can't go into too much detail here, but let's say that the title of The Child's Eye is a bit of a misnomer, since it's actually a dog that can see the ghosts in this installment. But wait! It gets even better. Why can the dog see the ghosts, you might ask? Well, because the main one is a half-dog/half-child mutant. And why is this mutant running around? Ah, dear reader, you'll have to watch the film to find out, but I can say without any hyperbole that you'll be totally underwhelmed and perhaps perplexed when the mandatory big twist is revealed at the end.

Despite its' flaws -- of which there are many -- The Child's Eye is still moderately entertaining, at least in a brainless way. Hovering somewhere in my mid-thirties, I'm sure that I'm about twenty years older than this film's intended audience, who would probably eat this sort of thing up. The film barely earns its' IIB rating, with really only a spattering of blood delivered along the way, with most of the emphasis placed on cute young actors jumping at things that go bump in the night. If that is your idea of horror, or the level that you can take without putting your hands over your eyes, The Child's Eye might be right up your alley. Most other viewers, especially those weaned on the rougher side of the horror genre, would probably be better suited bringing out those old-school boob-and-blood filled Category III classics from their collection.

RATING: 5