I wasn't expecting a mind blowing horror film after I heard this movie was produced by a wresting company, but, hey, I gave it a try, and it wasn't a complete disappointment. The plot is fairly simple - a cop, now working at a detention facility for troubled youths, had his arm severed in a horrible accident while facing a brutal serial killer with religious motives - Jacob Goodnight. Now, four years later, he is sent to a huge dilapidated hotel where the delinquents are to clean up the place. But little do they know, Jacob Goodnight is hiding away in the rotting hotel somewhere, and he begins to emerge and kill off the teenagers, and seeks vengeance on the cop who shot him years ago. As night falls, the group becomes lost in the maze of the decomposing hotel, and Jacob Goodnight is close behind.
"See No Evil" is a fairly methodical, formulaic horror film. It contains some typical clichés (although I was happy to see a character actually grab the gun from a dead police officer, rather than run off screaming and leaving the weapon behind), and features very archetypal characters - the tough guy, the normal guy, the bubbly girl, the punk chick, the tough girl, and others. While these characters are somewhat clichéd, it really doesn't matter much because the majority of them are placed in the film merely for body count. This movie is a popcorn flick all the way. I liked the film's idea - a serial killer with religious motives (which makes it a little more sinister), and I definitely loved the setting, although I think it could've been a little bit better. The CGI shots of the hotel weren't highly convincing, but that may have just been me.
The performances in the film are mixed - some of them are alright, but most of them are passable and pretty wooden. Christina Vidal, the lead heroine is probably the best of them, with Samantha Noble being in second. Glen Jacobs (The WWE wrestler "Kane") plays the villain well - he's got a scary look to him naturally, and his character is very demented and disturbed. The ending was predictable but for whatever reason, I didn't really see it coming at all. There are some very predictable moments in the film (Jacob falling out of the window, but miraculously grabbing onto the ledge for one last grab at a victim), and some of the murder scenes, while not all of them, were a little bit over-the-top (the cell phone scene, while it was kind of morbidly funny, was just too much). For the most part though, the murders were really messy - this film is a pretty gory one at that.
Overall, "See No Evil" is a decent horror movie. I think it could've been a lot better, but it is what it is - a methodical, by-the-numbers slasher movie with a little bit of a spin. Horror fans have probably seen it before, but it's not a bad rental. 6/10.
"See No Evil" is a fairly methodical, formulaic horror film. It contains some typical clichés (although I was happy to see a character actually grab the gun from a dead police officer, rather than run off screaming and leaving the weapon behind), and features very archetypal characters - the tough guy, the normal guy, the bubbly girl, the punk chick, the tough girl, and others. While these characters are somewhat clichéd, it really doesn't matter much because the majority of them are placed in the film merely for body count. This movie is a popcorn flick all the way. I liked the film's idea - a serial killer with religious motives (which makes it a little more sinister), and I definitely loved the setting, although I think it could've been a little bit better. The CGI shots of the hotel weren't highly convincing, but that may have just been me.
The performances in the film are mixed - some of them are alright, but most of them are passable and pretty wooden. Christina Vidal, the lead heroine is probably the best of them, with Samantha Noble being in second. Glen Jacobs (The WWE wrestler "Kane") plays the villain well - he's got a scary look to him naturally, and his character is very demented and disturbed. The ending was predictable but for whatever reason, I didn't really see it coming at all. There are some very predictable moments in the film (Jacob falling out of the window, but miraculously grabbing onto the ledge for one last grab at a victim), and some of the murder scenes, while not all of them, were a little bit over-the-top (the cell phone scene, while it was kind of morbidly funny, was just too much). For the most part though, the murders were really messy - this film is a pretty gory one at that.
Overall, "See No Evil" is a decent horror movie. I think it could've been a lot better, but it is what it is - a methodical, by-the-numbers slasher movie with a little bit of a spin. Horror fans have probably seen it before, but it's not a bad rental. 6/10.