See No Evil 2

After the first movie came out in 2006, I took a liking to it. It was a great source of mindless violence to get lost in for 2 hours or so, which is OK, sometimes you feel like watching something mindless. Thus, I was expecting great things from this movie, or at the very least, of it to live up to it's predecessor.

However, this movie flat out disappoints in every way possible.

The predictability is crushing, the facepalm moments are plenty, and I found myself shaking my head for the majority of the movie. It is the typical 'killer knows where everybody is, all the time- and manages to beat everybody to every destination- meanwhile the characters make stupid and convenient decisions for him" scenario.

But wasn't it the same for the first movie in 06? Yes, and no. This one is orders of magnitude worse.

This movie was on my top "to watch" list, and I am sad that it did not do better than anticipated, and by the looks of the other reviews, and the rating, it didn't live up to anybody else's expectations.

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.

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<<

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.

For a public building, those long, dimly lit corridors have shocking fire safety provision. Poor Kayla ran around sobbing for ages and I didn't see a single well-signposted Fire Exit. It's a lawsuit just waiting to happen.

Being a lifelong wrestling fan, and clearly a good, loyal WWE consumer, I would have rushed out to see a wrestling star in a horror film... Sorry Vince, I've not seen The Marine either. (Although Triple H was ok in Blade or whatever)

The opening credit sequence is actually pretty good - a ghastly array of tools, some medical, others less erm... less wholesome, many still dripping with blood. Intersperse this with shots of organs and other random pickled parts and it all goes along with the tense music to set a good tone. But I fear, is the only way down from this promising start?

Now I like to think of myself as fairly open minded sexually. I've tried a fair few things that would make Daily Mail readers weep. But necrophilia is definitely, unequivocally a hard limit.

I enjoyed the look on Tamara's face when, mid coitus, she notices that Jacob Goodnight isn't where he ought to be. Not so naughty now is it...?

"Oh my god, are you kidding me?! you (had sex) in a morgue!!?" Outraged Amy "I thought he was dead!! - Tamara in response