See No Evil

This is a typical 80's type of Slasher film. You have your killer(Kane), you give him a little back story in the way of flashbacks. Torturous childhood with huge doses of religion. In this case he is raised to believe that he is the hand of God to murder the evil. Then you throw in a bunch of sex upped, drug using beautiful teens into a place they can not easily get out of. These are kids in lock up that are cleaning up an old hotel to get time off of their sentences. Let loose the killer and have everyone make incredible dumb. This is a quick 80 minute or so movie that is more into the gore than trying to be scary. They should have released an unrated version for maximum blood. Overall it is just okay. As a fan of the slasher film, this one would just be a middle of the road entry. It's nice to see a film with a decent budget give a try a the genre in a serious way without any wisecracking villans, but there are way too many faults in this movie to make me rate it any higher.

The WWE's Kane makes his movie debut as something he's relatively comfortable playing: a monster of a man intent on pulverizing his victims. Had writer Dan Madigan left out the backstory and just let gore fans feast on the actions of Jacob Goodnight (Kane), this film would have been a decent, above-average gore-fest. However, there always has to be a reason for a killer molded in the form of Goodnight to exact his wicked fury on his victims. In this case, Goodnight has been convinced by his mother that he's the "hand of God" and has to rid the world of the wicked, or at least pluck out their eyes. We learn of this in flashbacks, full of jittery camera work, terror-inducing angles, and a little bit of gore. These vignettes actually weigh the action of this flick down. Also, the unlikeable-yet-well-groomed juvenile delinquents that Goodnight feasts on are less than stellar actors and actresses. That's somewhat expected in a flick like this, but I kept getting the feeling that these kids were better suited for a SciFi Channel horror flick than a well-budgeted gore yarn such as "See No Evil."

The juvi-hall kids end up in the abandoned Blackwell Hotel, supposedly there to clean up the place in order to get a month knocked off of their respective sentences. When they get there, however, there's an angry, confused, seven foot tall, four hundred pound monster waiting for them. They spend the rest of the flick running from him, outwitting him, hiding from him, and, in most cases, ending up on the business end of a large hook or axe.

Many of the kills in this flick were executed rather well. There are a couple of original kills (my favorite involving an animal rights girl) and a few tried and true ones as well. Most of the gore is a mixture of CGI and old fashioned buckets of goo. They come off looking pretty good overall.

As stated before, the backstory and the victims weigh this flick down. It's only eighty-four minutes long, so Kane has to get to business pretty quickly. There are hints at "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (the Biel remake) and "Wolf Creek," but this flick isn't in the same league as either of those films. There is absolutely no suspense or really good scares to be found, just lots and lots of formulaic kills and a couple of excellent ones that any gorehound can appreciate. I also saw a nod to "Friday The 13th" in the plot of the flick.

The DVD has some nice extras, especially if you're a wrestling fan. There are some obvious WWE promos where popular wrestlers such as Chris Benoit and Triple H name their favorite parts of the film and just how much acting Kane really had to do in order to make Jacob Goodnight believable. There's the obligatory "Making Of" featurette, and a brief videography of Kane's time in the WWF/WWE as well.

I understand that a sequel might be in the works. With the backstory out of the way, perhaps Kane can get to business even sooner, and let the flick be nothing more than a study in gore appreciation.

Recommended to gore fans, but if you're looking for any suspense, find something else to watch.

When my co-worker showed me this film I was damn sure this would be garbage, which I don't mind since I can find enjoyment in most films.

Just imagine my surprise when I was treated to a fairly decent film. The gore effects and violence in the film are well done featuring some cringing moments. Kane is perfectly cast as the featured pyscho, Jacob Goodnight. He was not forced with a burden of needless dialogue, his presence carries his character through the film. Some of the other characters are not so well developed, though an unexpected character lasted the film when he/she was set up as a sure fire cannon fodder. I expected he/she to be the first kill based on their representation in film, but they become a hero in the film.

The film was certainly alot better than I expected, and definately better than some reviewers here are making it out to be. If you enjoy entertaining horror films, this will fill your need. Buy or rent, its up to you, I will likely buy it eventually.

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