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See No Evil 1 & 2

See No Evil (January 12/07)

Though it boasts the sort of gritty visuals that tend to accompany most contemporary films of this ilk (ie the Saw series, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, etc), See No Evil is slightly more effective than your average not-screened-for-critics genre entry - primarily because it essentially forgoes character development and plot in favor of an almost immediate emphasis on mayhem. The paper thin storyline follows several delinquents as they arrive at an abandoned hotel for repair work and are subsequently attacked by a deranged lunatic (played by Kane) with a penchant for plucking out his victims' eyes. See No Evil delivers exactly what its promotional push has promised - ie sequence after sequence of Kane brutally murdering a series of hapless victims - and there's little doubt that viewers in the mood for this sort of thing could certainly do worse. Yet there's no overlooking the repetitive, superficial nature of Dan Madigan's screenplay, which emphasizes incredibly one-note characters and an almost laughable backstory for Kane's maniac. In the end, however, See No Evil is almost - almost - saved by its refreshingly old-school vibe, although one can't help but wish that filmmaker Gregory Dark would've eased up on the relentless use of modern cinematic tricks.

out of


See No Evil 2 (May 6/15)

A significant drop in quality from the first one, See No Evil 2 once again follows deranged lunatic Jacob Goodnight (Kane) as he terrorizes a group of entirely forgettable characters - including Danielle Harris' Amy, Katharine Isabelle's Tamara, and Greyston Holt's Will. Filmmakers Jen and Sylvia Soska, whose 2012 breakthrough American Mary certainly held a certain amount of promise, drop the ball right from the get-go, as See No Evil 2 suffers from a pervasively bland feel that's reflected in its various attributes - with, especially, the claustrophobic, all-too-familiar locale in which the entirety of the proceedings unfold ultimately exacerbating all of the movie's myriad of problems. It doesn't help, either, that the Soskas fail to include even a single interesting (or, at the very least, over-the-top) kill sequence, while the frustratingly repetitive second half seems to revolve entirely of scene after scene of the surviving protagonists running and hiding from Kane's less-than-compelling villain. By the time the hopelessly interminable climax rolls around, See No Evil 2 has certainly confirmed its place as just another misguided and thoroughly needless horror sequel.

out of

© David Nusair