See Jane Run

I'm a huge indie horror fan. And I mean real indie, not big studio movies pretending to be "independent". If you love that type of movie like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the original Night of the Living Dead, then this movie is for you. If you're looking for stuff like SAW or HOSTEL which are more your high level indie/low level studio, you might not appreciate it. In fact, I kind of got the feeling they were really trying to recreate that old style TCM feel. The story was workable, definitely a plus in this kind of movie where half of them just don't make sense. The acting was solid and really reminded me of that 60's, 70's style. FX were better than expected.

ScreamKing ReportCard:

Splatter? YES Gore Score: 8 buckets Story: 5 buckets FX: 7 buckets Actors: Joe Estevez! 8 buckets Recommend: Joe Bob would love it. If you love the indies, go for it!

Taking its title from the popular children's basils "Dick and Jane" is a clever little idea; the only problem is we never actually see Jane run. In fact, we don't see Jane do much of anything except whine, look mopey, and, overall, be a real party pooper.

The plot of this film is about as clichéd as it gets in the slasher genre: a group of friends are traveling through the country, decide it is a good idea to pick up a hitchhiker, get lured into going to a barbecue restaurant (which is actually a house) and begin to get killed off one by one by the madman living there. Yes, sounds almost exactly like "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," doesn't it? Only one problem...this film isn't nowhere near as effective.

First, Jane is supposed to be our heroine, yet she is extremely annoying, whining about anything and everything and is obviously suffering from some sort of social anxiety disorder that is never really explained. This makes it impossible to root for her or to really care what happens to her. Secondly, the friends are assured that the place they are being sent to is the "best barbecue restaurant in the state of Texas," yet when they pull up IT'S A FRICKIN HOUSE!! I mean, a real house in the middle of a suburban neighborhood! I don't know about you, but that would be my first clue that something is not right. I certainly wouldn't go to the door expecting to be served barbecue, but that is exactly what the four of them do. Even worse, it's actually a really nice house, taking away any hope of the setting providing creepy atmosphere. Run down crappy house in middle of nowhere=scary. Nice, new suburban house with awesome landscaping, cool backyard patio, and nice looking neighbors close by=not scary. Even worse yet, the killer is completely not intimidating or scary in the least. Think of Jerry Seinfeld as a serial killer. Nothing remotely scary about it, is there? He wears no mask, is not huge and stocky, and acts pretty normal (you know, despite the killing part). Again, like so many of these films, the ending is completely predictable once we establish that Jane is our heroine (as lousy of one as she is), though the last 20 minutes of the film consist of her being tied to a chair. Oh...she almost gets rescued by a jogger (yeah, when a passing jogger can here your victim tied to a chair in your garage, you know you haven't selected your location wisely).

The positive thing about this film is that it is gorier than what I thought it would be. Not that I am a huge gorehound, but when pretty much everything else about the film sucks, it's a nice surprise. The blood flows here in gallons, and for being such a wussy looking killer, the guy actually is pretty brutal with his weapons.

Overall, this film is a lame rip-off of "TCM" and countless other films that COULD have been creepy and effective, but the filmmakers seem hellbent on doing everything they could to make it NOT creepy and effective. Even "The Butcher," another recent DTV slasher film with a very similar plot was able to get the setting/atmosphere right. This was just a real let down.

My Grade: D- (the death scenes keep it from being a complete failure)

This especially if you are an avid renter/buyer of independent horror films as I am. I'm in the production of said films so I am very much interested in what others are doing and as such, this film in no way is worth less than good marks on many levels. One person asked if some one could point out redeeming qualities on this film, to please do so, so I will do just that. It has what most people want in horror, a story, gory death scenes, good acting and misdirection. Not only that but great direction, photography and if I do say so myself, special effects. If you want to know about films with no redeeming quality whatsoever, email me and I'll point you in the right/wrong direction. If you like a horror film that was not thought out, doesn't require you to pay much attention to get what is going on or that doesn't show any graphic horror scenes(which is the case with about 99% of all independent horror films), then this one probably isn't for you. If you like being drawn into what you are watching and can comprehend a little more than a simple thought(which I think is about 99% of you out there:), you will enjoy this film.

I didn't expect much from a Joe Estevez movie after "gems" like Death Row and Zombiegeddon. See Jane Run is actually a pretty good movie. While it obviously doesn't have a budget and isn't a blockbuster horror film like Hostel or Saw, I thought that the acting and picture were extremely good. The actors didn't overact like they do in most horror flicks. I thought that was great. The story wasn't anything new, but it kept my attention and the payoff was good at the end. I think that the direction of the film was the weakest link, but the actors and cinematographer did an awesome job and I would definitely recommend See Jane Run to anyone looking for a movie that skates the line between horror and art house.

I'm constantly amazed by the trash that people pass off as entertainment / horror- and this film is a prime example of just that. It was, in my opinion, neither entertaining or horrific.

I would suggest the acting is horrific, the lack of story line is pretty horrific and the camera work is pretty horrific- but as far as content goes, this is far from a decent horror movie.

I originally saw the movie when it was rated as 6.x on IMDb, and I was hopeful ... unfortunately, I was duped. I can only presume some poor so, and so, had seen the film and wanted someone else to suffer the pain they had in going to watch this poor attempt at a horror film. Well, I'm learning- I used to trust IMDb- but, as with most things in the public domain, the opinions are not controlled and anyone who rated this film higher than a "1" should really consider whether or not their faculties are intact. It was appalling, abysmal, awful, terrible ... I really cannot think of a single redeeming factor in the hour-and-a-half of my life that I will never get back that I spent watching this film.

If anyone can help me in finding a redeeming quality, please do so- I'm desperately looking for something positive to find in this film to justify the time that I spent watching it, but I can't for the life of me think what that could be.