For flere år siden forulykkede et tog, hvor flere hundrede passagerer blev dræbt. Vognene blev restaureret og sat i drift igen, men nu er det togets sidste tur, før ruten nedlægges.
Ombord er togstewardessen Oh Mi-sun, som lige er startet – og faktisk har byttet sig til vagten, selvom det er hendes fødselsdag. Allerede kort efter togets afgang begynder hun at opleve sære ting. Hun ser mennesker og begivenheder, som udspillede sig på turen, hvor katastrofen skete, og det går langsomt op for hende, at tiden imellem de to begivenheder er smeltet sammen, og at toget nu er på vej til at gentage ulykken.
Jeg var ikke voldsomt imponeret af Red Eye, som dog teknisk set er ganske vellykket med flotte visuelle sekvenser, når spøgelsestoget og det nutidige tog smelter sammen. Til gengæld er plottet fuld af usandsynligt mange tilfældigheder, og personerne forbliver ret uinteressante. Der dør nogen undervejs, men det bliver aldrig rigtig interessant hvem og hvorfor.
Beyondhollywood.com skriver i deres anmeldelse: “As another entry into the ever-growing list of Asian horror films about vengeful female ghosts and a blank slate leading lady going through the motions of discovering the past so she can resolve the present and save the future (the basic template of many Asian ghost stories since “Ringu”), “Red Eye” is ultimately a middling effort. It’s not overly horrible, but it’s not really all that good, either. If you’ve never seen an Asian horror film in your life, or any of the recent spate of American remakes, then I suppose “Red Eye” may be worth the price of a video rental. Then again, considering the film’s overall pedestrian qualities, waiting for the free TV broadcast might be a better deal.”
Mens Korean Grindhouse opsummerer filmen således: “If nightmare-causing moments are what you’re after, most Korean fright flicks are bound to disappoint. Look at Redeye, Kim Dong-bin’s moody spookshow about a phantom train on which deceased passengers share berth-space with the living. It’s got plenty of horror movie mainstays: the rainstorm, flickering lights, fog, cobwebs, a random spider, a music box, and an affectless child who likes to draw in red. It’s also got some second-tier dependables like dirty mirrors, a late victim’s cell phone, a possessed wig, a camera that sees ghosts, and a pair of shiny scissors used repeatedly as a weapon. As a catalogue of creepiness, Redeye is respectable stuff. As a journey into your darkest fears, however, it’s more a conundrum. As the runaway train careens towards a terminal of the dead, the heroine (snack bar servant and daughter of the dead engineer) sleepwalks from one disaster to the next. Ghosts may come and go; she may scream and faint. But the dreamlike world isn’t terrifying so much as its surreal. That’s not a complaint. K-horror often feels like a strange, off-kilter parallel universe. Like many unconscious psychic trips, it’s filled with symbols and a cast of characters who rarely ask why anything is happening.”
Retfærdigvis skal den mere positive omtale fra Asian Cinema også nævnes: “It’s not terribly original, most of it we’ve seen before, but there’re enough cool little details and inventive moments to call this a success. The train setting alone is enough to make the film feel a little different and fresh. When the real world and the ghost world are brought together and the darkness starts to spread through the train, we get some very effective creepy moments. The shadows come alive, things are crawling around on the walls, and there’s the sound of crying. Like I said, it’s not new, but it works.”
Samme år udkom iøvrigt endnu en film med titlen Red Eye instrueret af Wes Craven. Denne foregår i et fly, men om der er nogen forbindelse imellem de to film, ved jeg desværre ikke.
Om Red Eye:
Instruktør: Dong-bin Kim
Udgivelsesår: 2005
Originaltitel: Redeu-ai
