Manicurist Bao Ling (Chen Szu Chia), after having a meeting at work, converses with her new client Shi (Sze Wei), but ends up visiting his optometrist shop due to an emergency. Once her broken spectacles are replaced with contact lenses, she quickly realizes that he is manipulating her with the lenses. Neither her boyfriend Au-ping (Lin Wei-tu) nor she is able to take them off or help Mazok with her disorientation. Gradually they realize that the aim in doing this is to turn her into a tool for Shi so that she may be able to assist other workers at her manicurist shop to help Shi replenish his strength as a ghost who is being vampire possessing an effort to possess flesh again. In order to fight his plans, they had to reach out to various concentrations of supernatural forces.
To sum it up, “Ghost Eyes” is a pleasant movie with a huge array of excitement and fun. Some of the better features are the intriguing and fun storyline by writers Chen Yun-Wen and Kuang Ni. A lot of cut scenes are arguably great as well, but more on that later. The gymnastics and synchronized swimming which dominate the film challenge Che “Is a discerning audience actually going to want to watch this?” While the fantasy area elements of Bao being comatose or Shi being possessed are plausible enough to entice a viewer, the psychological element is hinged on their popularity. The plot holds some mysteries that aren’t overly complicated, but allow the viewer to slowly unravel them.
To top it all off, this setup serves as the introduction for a range of fine supernatural experiences. The first half of “Ghost Eyes” pivots on psychological elements, which delve into one of two effects. Those would be the effects of the vampiric drain of her lifeforce or the ability to see ghosts which no one else can. The visions are presumably quite terrifying be it the hallucinations of seemingly ordinary people going about their business, or the other wherein victims of the mudslide are seen screaming for help. Although the psychological tortures here are quite impressive, the concept of Shi using Bao for sexual pleasures followed by the secondary plot in which he compels her to bring people for him to murder makes for a good introduction to the Taoist Priest who rescues her. It brings us to an amazing ending, where the grand showdown is quite eerie and inventive in the manner the clash is fought, and becomes inventive with the effects in nature, which makes it an interesting experience overall.
“Ghost Eyes” does have some issues that detract from it, one of the primary ones being the incoherent timeline. Timelines in this film tend to squeak according to scenes. However, the beginning is filled with Bao wanting to see Shi in possession of her, but the film’s tempo during this stage takes a more romantic tone. Though these elements are good, the middle of the film does tend to drag. Bao’s lifelessness and her slow movement are confusing and the film needs to tackle these elements more effectively. These aspects coupled with many ungrounded conversations portray drama where Ju, trying to convince Au-Ping isn’t effective at all. On the other hand, if sequence is spiced up with trashy movies, it can get really tiresome owing to the lack of blood and pessimism in them. In terms of description, I’d have to say that cosmetic promotion is one of the biggest drawbacks.
An enjoyable movie in its genre, “Ghost Eyes” definitely has its downfalls but the positives offered do stand out. Those who are fans of such genres, would surely enjoy working with this creative team or would want to learn more about it.
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