“A Tale of Two Sisters” is based very loosely on a Korean folktale known as “Janghwa, Hongryeon”.  The folktale tells of two sisters who are terrorized by their brutal, sadistic stepmother. There’s no fairy godmother to save the day in either the folk story or the movie, however, and in the latter, the viewer can only watch as strange, seemingly supernatural events spiral out of control.

Right from the get-go, the sense of mystery and tragedy is palpable. When the film opens, the older sister Su-mi (Su-jeong Lim) is shown being questioned by a doctor in a mental instution. She sits expressionless as the doctor intensely quizzes her about her family. The scene dreamily dissolves into a idyllic, pastoral country scene. The contrast between the stark white-walled asylum and the lush South Korean countryside is unsettling and effective. We are then introduced to Su-Mi’s family– her distracted father (Kap-su Kim); her sweet, soft-spoken younger sister Su-yeon (marvelously portrayed by Geun-Young Moon);  and her adversary– her step-mother Eun-joo (Jung-ah Yum) who appears more Stepford Wife sinister than brutal sadist.

Even in this peaceful domestic setting, it’s obvious that something is out of place. The girls are haunted at night by strange spectres. Visitors to the home spontaneously fall into violent spasmodic seizures. Stepmom’s prized pet bird is found dead in the girls’ bed. Slowly, the secrets behind the family’s tragic, disturbing past are teased out until the situation reaches a bloody, mind-bending climax.

The ending to A Tale of Two Sisters is, in fact, rather puzzling and ambiguous. The lines between dream and reality have been blurred into a nightmarish haze. I’ll admit that it took two viewings for me to fully piece together all the strange clues scattered throughout the movie.  (The director did an in-depth interview about the symbolism behind the story, but the DVD I rented didn’t come with Cast Commentary.)  All in all, the movie is impressive in its scope– it goes beyond a typical ghost story and proves to be a surprisingly moving story about how a family copes with loss.

The Eye is about a young woman, and she is blind. Through the miracles of science she is given the chance to have a new set of eyes, literally. A highly advanced surgical operation takes place that gives our main character the eyes of a woman, but not just any woman, a woman that happened to see ghosts. What are the odds!?! From the moment our innocent character wakes up from the procedure, she not only sees ghosts, but she can also hear them. The whole idea is quite intriguing, to say the least, but what makes this film really take off is its direction and atmosphere. The film portrays much of its settings as incredibly bleak and simple: minimal color spectrums, quiet voiced characters, and atmospheres that seem so regular, they almost seem inherently dull. Our main character is left to roam through these settings while she will spontaneously runs into a small variety of ghostly encounters. With the help of a new friend, she must uncover the truths behind the original owner of the eyes, find why all sorts of residual haunting are taking place, and finally, regain her ability to see the world.

The Pang brothers do a wondrous job of moving a story across a layer of simplistic atmospheres. The pacing almost reminds me of the steady build in the film, Audition. It’s a drama with a sadistic twist. The difference is that The Eye is never overbearing and at no point tries shock the audience. Our directors simply show you a ghost within these natural atmospheres. The ways in which the ghosts are displayed is a staple in Asian horror cinema. The spirits are so elegant, yet intimidating. The results are at least 3-5 ghostly encounters that have left an incredibly frightening image in my mind since the day I originally viewed them. Watch this film alone (a must) and in the dark.

The Eye is not without its obvious faults. The second half of the film seems to go forth in explaining the mysteries behind the woman that used to own the set of eyes. It’s interesting, but not as frightening as the ghostly encounters. The mysteries are uncovered and the film closes on a scene that doesn’t sit well with the rest of the film. It’s as if the directors got caught up in the story and forgot what made the first half of the film so marvelous. Though intriguing, the story needed to be left with quite a few mysteries, and much less answers to them.

In closing, watch this film with Pulse, Juon (The Grudge), One Missed Call, and Audition. They are, in my opinion, the best films that Asian horror cinema as to offer. The Eye was the film that ultimately frightened me the most.