Los ojos del mal

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.

As far as mad stalker/Friday the 13th/Halloween type movies go I think it was effective. Kane makes a good "monster". The cast of unknowns seems to try reasonable hard. There were some gross-out gory parts, some effect atmosphere, some unexpected ways of getting killed, and for me anyway a surprise in some of the twists. It's a B-movie but in that context it works for me. The theater was full and the crowd seemed to get into it. If you want to see a "maniac versus a group of teen agers" movie this is a good one to see.

The set up for the villain is effective and they actually did a good job in explaining how he got as messed up as he did. Actually by the end of the movie you get enough flash backs that you think he was twisted into shape and not just born evil ala Freddy or Jason.

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.

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.

Okay, this is a B-Movie, Horror by numbers. The good news is it doesn't try or pretend to be anything else. So it just concentrates on being the best B-Movie, horror by numbers flick it can manage. It succeeded, but as you can tell by the rating, that still doesn't make it a good film.

Okay, so the positives. The acting is pretty reasonable and this lot, including Kane can probably do much better horrors in the future. The special effects, while simply being generic for this day and age were also pretty reasonable. Nothing ground breaking or stand out impressive for either of these. Probably the most notable thing was Kane himself, but it's not a great surprise seeing as his day job is to play a Psycho.

On the downside however the whole plot was so incredibly bog standard you get bored with it early on, stop really caring who's going to live or die and just try and enjoy the visuals. The story naturally revolves around a couple of young but tough women (like that's new) who have a tendency of getting all the men around them killed. The older characters are very peripheral and somewhat wasted. But that's part of the hangover from the "scary movie" sub-genre, which fortunately seems to be slowly fading into the distance and morphing into marginally better films such as this.

The worst part of the movie was the supposed plot twist. This was something that if you were to ask yourself what the most obvious, generic thing that could happen would be, you'll have guessed it long before it happens.

Anyway, as I said the film is at least honest and for a short disposable hack and slash horror it's pretty reasonable. Having said that, there are better films even in for B-Movie slashers. So really, unless your a WWE fan, or you really like this kind of movie, I wouldn't bother.