Redeu-ai (Red Eye)

((summary taken from AsianMediaWiki))

On July 16, 1988, a train accident which drives 100 hundred people to death occurs. Without knowing the cause, the case becomes a mystery and soon gets forgotten. After 16 years, a train attendant Mi-sun is on board first time at work. The train leaves its platform as scheduled and rapidly gains the full speed. All of sudden, it stops for 10 minutes without any reason, and restarts. However, when it begins to run, all Mi-sun can see is from the 80’s and old newspaper with the date written July 16, 1988. What happened during the 10 minutes when the train stopped and where are they going?




My Rating:

I don't care if this is a ridiculous, stupid pun. I'm using it, anyway: this movie was a train-wreck. The story itself was cliche and very predictable, the acting was mediocre, and it wasn't scary at all. Even the "scary" moments were scenes that were almost direct copies from more popular horror films (think Ju-On and The Ring).

Mi-Sun was a very uninteresting character, no matter how much they tried to make her seem appealing. They gave her a lot of back story... but not much else. Unfortunately, I just couldn't bring myself to care about her or the situation she landed herself in. I felt the same about the passengers: they were over-used stereotypes you can find in any "ghost ship", "ghost train", "ghost subway" type movie. You have the child who may or may not exist; the girl who can see ghosts; the photographer who starts seeing strange things whenever he looks in his camera lens; and of course the long haired, vengeful ghost. The only passengers who interested me at all was the older woman in the pink business suit and the man who wrote the dissertation--and they probably had less than 2 minutes total screen time. I guess I liked them because they actually seemed genuine, and not direct copies from some other film like most of the cast...

The special effects were good, and there were some great camera shots, but it really couldn't make up for the films many short-comings. The story was a mess, no matter how much they tried to justify everything: there were too many loop-holes, and the eventual answers they did give were extremely improbable. The surprise "twists" seemed forced and ridiculous, especially the ending. I am now a firm believer that, yes, less is better.

Overall (if you couldn't already tell) I was very disappointed. There are MUCH better horror movies out there, and I'm angry that I wasted my time with this one when I could have been watching something good. This is a very forgettable movie, and I really wouldn't recommend it unless you have nothing better to do. Instead, go watch Shutter. At least then you won't be disappointed.