See No Evil

While investigating a call in an abandoned house, Officer Frank Williams (Steven Vidler) and a rookie find a woman brutally blinded, but they are attacked by a huge psychopath with an ax; the rookie is killed and Frank shots the criminal in the head, but has a severed arm. Four years later, the mutilated Frank is relocated, working as a guard in the County Detention Center. Frank goes with some delinquents to the Blackwell Hotel, an abandoned place since a fire burnt the last two floors, with the purpose of cleaning the location, preparing it to work as a shelter for homeless; in return, the criminals will have their sentences reduced. During the night, the inmate Kira (Samantha Noble) that has some Christian tattoos in her body is kidnapped by the deranged serial-killer Kane (Glen Jacobs) that collect the eyes of his victims, while the rest of the group is attacked by the psychopath with his ax.

The slasher "See No Evil" uses a similar argument of the cult Bigas Luna's "Angustia", i.e., a deranged man that collects eyes of sinners controlled by his insane mother. The forgettable story uses the usual clichés of the genre, with the most unreasonable attitudes of a group trapped in a place and beautiful naked bodies. However, this film is not bad, having a creepy murderer; gruesome locations and atmosphere that recall "Se7en"; a very insane fanatic religious mother; and some dark humor, specially during the credits. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Noite do Terror" ("Night of the Terror")

All right, let's be realistic about this. Nobody goes into a movie produced by WWE Films (whose owner has challenged God to a wrestling match), directed by a former porn director (the man gave the world the Between the Cheeks trilogy), starring a wrestler named Kane, and expects a little slice of art on a golden platter. If you do then you probably need to find something other than watching movies to occupy your time.

So what exactly are we to expect from a movie like this? Well, here's what I was looking forward to:

1) Bad acting. 2) A fairly non-existent, clichéd storyline. 3) Kane walking around with a scrunched, sour face that indicates his nostrils just found the potato salad he misplaced a month ago. 4) Tons and tons of gore.

Well, if you're hungry for some "so bad it's funny" entertainment then this might satisfy your appetite because it delivers on all counts.

Obviously, movies like this are best seen for free, but if you do choose to sacrifice box office bucks then have some fun and make a game out of it. The filmmakers are nice enough to introduce us to each of the annoying delinquents by flashing their names and legal offenses on the screen. This makes it easier for you to write down which ones you want to see killed and in what order. You and your friends can see whose predictions are most accurate.

I also suggest that you and your pals write down every single moment of stupidity and inanity that you can find. Tally them up at the end and see who comes up with the most. I think my grand total was 107; can you beat that? I personally want to know how after 35 years and a fire does this abandoned hotel still have electricity, running water, and a working elevator?

I know, I know, the filmmakers are assuming that if you pay to see this then you obviously don't put much thought into what you spend your money on and therefore likely won't put much thought into how silly the movie is, but that doesn't mean we can't point it out and laugh at it.

I also like how the city wants to turn this huge hotel (which would be condemned and recommended for demolition by any sensible inspector) into a homeless shelter and they think the best way to get it cleaned up is to give eight punks a few mops and brooms. Uh-huh.

I think you pretty much know what to expect, but I feel the need to provide you with a couple of warnings. First, if you hate crowd interaction no matter the movie then you might want to stay away. The people in the audience acted like they were at an actual wrestling show. Shouts of "Kill him, Kane!" and "I hope you die first!" and "Chokeslam!" echoed through the theater, showcasing what I hope is NOT the best of what America has to offer. I usually don't appreciate such audience interaction, but for a cheesefest like this I thought the commentary added to the entertainment value. However, I can see how others could be annoyed by it.

Second, and this shouldn't even warrant explanation, the film doesn't shy away from the gore. If watching a big ugly dude rip eyeballs right out of their sockets doesn't scream "fun night at the movies!" for ya then you know good and well to save your dough.

I must say that I was a little surprised by the extreme lack of dialogue on Kane's part. I wasn't expecting him to put on an acting clinic, but I was hoping he'd have some cute little catchphrase like "Say goodnight" (his character's last name is "Goodnight") right before he killed a victim. Instead he uttered four words in the entire film - "Nooooooo!" and "I see it." But hey, he delivered them flawlessly!

If I were a bad guy in a movie then my catchphrase would be something like "Place your BETTS!" or "All BETTS are off!"

It'd rule and you know it. We need a new genre term for bad horror films like See No Evil that induce so much unintentional laughter that you almost have to label them comedic. Feel free to send me your suggestions. For now we'll just call 'em HOR-larious!

This, ladies and gentlemen, is truly a modern B-movie. The dialog is stilted and delivered with wooden rigidity, the premise is predictable (there are a few decent twists) and characters remain 2D for most of it. And yet there is a certain...charm. WWE wrestler Kane brings to life the sick, twisted monster of a man with a lot of pathos (though it is somewhat like his character that he's been playing around ten years) and so I'll find it quite amusing when people say it's "not much of a reach for him," but Glen Jacobs is, apparently, quite the nice guy, so actually it is. In any event, he's cast perfectly as the hulking brute and the deaths are suitably over the top (Jason would be proud), but I heard at least four applause breaks for four different kills scenes. Frankly go into this movie thinking that you'll have some fun and a gorefest, oh it is QUITE the gorefest. The R-rating IS richly deserved and I actually got a little nauseous during some of the more graphic times. In any event, a very, very fun, but fairly bad, movie.

Although the movie is not very likable, it can be said that it is partially good because of the way it introduces and uses many problematic characters. The setting is scary, but there seems to be a problem with the subject, so it could have been different. Keeping the sexuality high doesn't make movies more interesting or creative. I think the movie would have attracted more attention if the bloody deaths were more interesting. It's not a bad slasher. At least there are no slow and boring scenes. It moves fast. The production seems to be faltering a bit because the initial event doesn't contribute much to the story. It seems unnecessary because the young people are the ones who are experiencing the real event and the events are on them. I didn't find the second movie very good.

I remember way back when I was a manager at Toys R Us I had to watch this sad, pathetic "Personnel Management" training video. It lectured that whenever you say a criticism, you should ALSO include a compliment. This movie reminded me of that principal.

First off, it's not all that bad, actually. Kane makes a pretty good "Silent Psycho," and the character's back story is decently developed in a series of B&W flashbacks. His POV shots are nicely distorted, and, unlike the vast majority of psycho killers in film today, is not simply an "unstoppable force." Kane actually manages to find a character in there. (A very minimal character, to be sure, but there is a TINY bit there more than just a "Thing-That-Kills-People-For-No-Reason.") On the whole, however, the acting in the film is best described as "not-TOTALY-sucking." (I'm reminded of that Simpsons episode where Groundskeeper Willie sings a song that goes "Wouldn't it be adequate?" Yes, the acting here is, indeed, adequate, but only just. To be fair the actors aren't really being asked to act here, it's enough that they are clichéd stereotypes.)

The art direction is generally good, if very, very derivative of other films like "Hostel" and the "Saw" series. It goes a bit over the top with the filth and grime at times, but for this kind of movie, that isn't really a problem from an aesthetic standpoint. It is a problem from a plot standpoint. The people are there (we learn this in the first 10 minutes, so don't worry, it isn't a spoiler) to do public service by cleaning an old, historic building. Unfortunately, the sheer SCALE of the mess at this building would take that guy from "Dirty Jobs" and a full hazmat crew a month to deal with. The place is practically a toxic waste dump. There are a few problems (which I will NOT detail in the interest of avoiding spoilers) with the set and set dressing that are later revealed as not problems at all, but rather plot points. Those I can forgive.

The film delivers on what it promises: A creepy, disgusting setting with a creepy, violent psycho stalking creepy, dysfunctional people, with absolutely minimal story, plot, acting, direction, sense, or purpose to get in the way. It's almost Ed-Woodian in it's gleeful disregard of knowledge of it's own lack of ambition to greatness. (If I may be allowed to construct a sentence that convoluted without being arrested by the Language Police.)

I had very few expectations from this film (Hell, after all, it IS a WWE film...), and the only thing that really disappointed me is the same thing I am disappointed by in most horror films. It was very, very predictable. At one point I was sitting there going, "...and now someone runs in and saves them," only to be rewarded by just that.

In the end, if you can accept the idea that a correctional institute would send a co-ed group of mixed violent and non-violent offenders to do heavy-duty industrial cleanup in street clothes and sandals for a weekend with only 2 chaperons, then nothing else the film asks you to accept will be much of a problem for you.