See No Evil 2

See No Evil 2 (2014)

*** (out of 4)

Surprisenly good sequel to the 2008 film has a group of friend's celebrating a birthday when one of them (Danielle Harris) can't leave work. What they don't realize is that the dead body of Jacob Goodnight (Kane) has come back to life and he's seeking more victims.

SEE NO EVIL was a decent, run-of-the-mill slasher film that was pretty much entertaining due to its incredibly graphic and over-the-top gore/murders. Outside of the murders the film really wasn't all that memorable so I was shocked when a sequel followed so many years later. I was even more shocked when I learned Jen and Sylvia Soska was directing it. SEE NO EVIL 2 isn't going to be mistaken for a masterpiece but I was pleasantly surprised to see how well it turned out thanks to a rather good screenplay and the very good direction.

Whereas the first film relied on gore and violence, this one here really doesn't contain too much of that and in fact some of the death's are off camera. Instead the Soska sister tried to add some tension and suspense and I think for the most part they succeed. There are some extremely good scenes including one where the Harris character is stuck in an elevator with the "dead" body. Another highlight includes a scene where two characters are in total darkness and keep striking a match to see where they are. There's an extended chase sequence through the basement, which also manages to build up some good suspense. The atmosphere created by the Soska sisters is another major plus and stuck inside such a small location the directors are also able to build up a claustrophobic nature.

The performances are pretty much what you'd expect to see in a film like this. Harris is always fun to watch and she manages to bring you into her character and make you care for her. Kaj-Erik Eriksen also gives a good performance. Katharine Isabelle plays her typical slut character but man is she terrific here. She clearly steals the film in a rather over-the-top "kiss" that I won't spoil. Kane doesn't give what one would consider a great performance but there's no doubt that frame of his makes for an impressive killing machine. The film also manages to have some nice cinematography and a very effective music score.

The screenplay contains moments where the characters do stupid things but this is a horror movie after all. I really can't think of too many horror films where the characters are doing smart things because if they were the movies would be over fairly quickly with them all getting away and surviving. I really liked what the writers did here including a couple twists that happen in the final ten-minutes including one that even the most jaded horror fans won't see coming. SEE NO EVIL 2 isn't going down in history as one of the greatest films ever made but it's certainly an entertaining slasher.

See No Evil 2 (2014) is currently available on Tubi and picks up where the first film left off in the Mortuary where the bodies from the first film are being brought by the authorities. Unfortunately, the killer may not be as dead as he appears and he's pissed about what happened to his mom and he's ready to take it out on anyone he comes across.

This movie is codirected and co-written by Jen & Sylvia Soska (American Mary) and stars Glenn Jacobs (MacGruber), Danielle Harris (Urban Legend), Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps), Chelan Simmons (Tucker and Dale vs Evil), Kaj-Erik Eriksen (The Commish) and Greyston Holt (House of Chains).

It stinks they couldn't do more with a character that had so much potential. The main character is a cross of Michael Myers and Norman Bates. His makeup and missing eye scene were great. The blood splatter and setting were also solid. Unfortunately the kill scenes themselves were mediocre and even the well setup throat slash is a let down. With a little better writing and execution, this could have been a gem. Unfortunately, this doesn't live up to its potential. I would score this a 4/10 and recommend seeing it once.

See No Evil 2 follows directly on from the first film, which, by WWE Studios standards was an average film. The story sees the seemingly dead Jocab Goodnight and his victims being taken to the morgue where the birthday girl Amy is about to finish work and spend her birthday with friends, but she decides to stay and help out with the amount of bodies about to arrive. Instead, her friends bring the party to Amy and her co-workers.

Long story short, alcohol is consumed, sex is had and Goodnight returns from the dead to wreak havoc on the hapless morgue workers and the party people.

The real strong point is the direction by Jen and Sylvia Soska. If you're familiar with their work and a genre buff then you know what they are capable of. Their first film, Dead Hooker in a Trunk, had flashes of genius and the body horror film American Mary was one of the most original and important movies to hit the horror genre for a good 10 years.

Although the script was written by Nathan Brookes and Bobby Lee Darby and the only real weak point, it was the Soska's vision that brought to life the entire film. Danielle Harris, who has had a very up and down career performance wise, produced her best acting to date under the twins' guidance. As modern day scream queens, casting both Danielle Harris and Katharine Isabelle in the same film was a stroke of genius. Isabelle very nearly steals the whole show. Even Glenn Jacobs as the killing machine upped his game and gave a better performance.

WWE Studios made the best possible move in hiring Jen and Sylvia to direct. The film provides a lot of fun, some cool kill scenes and solid SFX with only a touch of CGI which makes this a great addition to the slasher sub-genre and a sequel that outweighs it's predecessor in every way.

To read my full review, head over to my blog - Maven's Movie Vault of Horror.

From the twisted mind of director The Soska Sisters comes a disappointing sequel that lost all the cheesy bloody fun of the first film. See No Evil 2 is such a typically mediocre horror film where victims get killed off one by one with not much of a surprise and coming from such potentially imaginative director (seeing from their previous works in American Mary and T segment from ABCs Of Death 2), it's quite a huge disappointment here. The GORES here are also really let down comparing to how much more gleefully bloody and nastier the first film was, but it's still moderately bloody nonetheless. The SCARE here is mostly jumpy one as our Jacob Goodnight here lacks the personality that can deliver the suspense and just looks pathetic instead. However, thanks to a cheesily tempting performance from Katharine Isabelle (American Mary) that's at least FUN to watch throughout the film. Other than that, See No Evil 2 has nothing new or surprising to be added to the genre and not enough gores or violence to even surpass the cheesy fun of the first film. >>C<<

I only gave it 3 stars because of Danielle Harris, Katharine Isabelle, and Kaj-Erik Eriksen. I'd give it 2 stars each for them because they deserve at least that much for carrying this mess, but giving this garbage 6 stars was far more than I felt comfortable doing. It's that bad.

Don't get me wrong, Ms Harris and Ms Isabelle ARE really good here, as they usually are, and Kaj-Erik is great too, he really is, and his chemistry with Danielle Harris is surprisingly good considering the utter tripe they're lumped with in this "movie". The "movie" so lacking that the directors had to drag out the opening, the ending, AND the credits rolling at the end just to reach the 90-minute mark. That's not the worst of it, though.

The worst thing they did was give Glenn Jacobs dialogue.

The ONLY thing that would have saved this mess (with the exception of Ms Isabelle, Ms Harris, and Mr Eriksen) was if they'd somehow managed to work in an angle that the morticians were WWE fans, particularly of Kane and Undertaker, and that they had a Kane mask replica hanging around AND that Jacobs' character had put that on instead of the crappy little plastic thing he half-wore. Instead we get TEMU Sloth from Goonies in a black leather apron and half the vocal skills.