See No Evil (2006)

A group of delinquents are sent to clean the Blackwell Hotel. Little do they know reclusive psychopath Jacob Goodnight (Jacobs) has holed away in the rotting hotel. When one of the teens is captured, those who remain -- a group that includes the cop who put a bullet in Goodnight's head four years ago -- band together to survive against the brutal killer.

Director:

Gregory Dark

Writer:

Dan Madigan

Stars:

Glenn Jacobs, Christina Vidal, Michael J. Pagan

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Glenn Jacobs	...	Jacob Goodnight (as Kane)
Christina Vidal	...	Christine
Michael J. Pagan	...	Tye
Samantha Noble	...	Kira
Steven Vidler	...	Williams
Cecily Polson	...	Margaret
Luke Pegler	...	Michael
Rachael Taylor	...	Zoe
Penny McNamee	...	Melissa
Craig Horner	...	Richie
Mikhael Wilder	...	Russell
Tiffany Lamb	...	Hannah
Sam Cotton	...	Young Jacob
Cory Robinson	...	Blaine
Zoe Ventoura	...	Eyeless Women

Storyline

While investigating a call in an abandoned house, Officer Frank Williams 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 that has some Christian tattoos in her body is kidnapped by the deranged serial-killer Kane that collect the eyes of his victims, while the rest of the group is attacked by the psychopath with his ax.

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Plot Keywords:

hotel | psychopath | tattoo | serial killer | severed arm | 

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Taglines:

This Summer, Evil Gets Raw.

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong gruesome violence and gore throughout, language, sexual content and some drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Lions Gate Films [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 May 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Eye Scream Man

Filming Locations:

Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$4,581,233 (USA) (19 May 2006)

Gross:

$15,019,200 (USA) (30 June 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Eye Scream Man Productions, Eye Scream Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min 82 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jacob Goodnight's name is never mentioned in the film. It was originally included in a monologue by Steven Vidler, but the scene ran too long and it was absentmindedly cut out.

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Goofs

In an early shot, in the trailer park, garbage and waste is shown everywhere. One shot shows a close up of an old newspaper. On the paper is visible in bold print HOLDEN which is the Australasian wing of GM, in fact the HOLDEN badge is also partly visible. Also, but not so obvious, also printed is the name of the Brisbane suburb Wynnum. Clearly a poorly chosen page from a local newspaper revealing the Queensland, Australia shooting location.

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Quotes

Melissa: The maid's quarters? Romantic.
Richie: You know what they say. Beggars can't be choosers.
Melissa: Who's begging?

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Crazy Credits

Among the end credits, after the cast and stunt list, there's a scene where a dog urinates in Jacob's empty eye socket

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Connections

Referenced in WWF Raw: Episode dated 5 June 2006 (2006)

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Soundtracks

"X'ed"
Written by David Banner & Kamikaze
Performed by David Banner featuring Kamikaze
Courtesy of SRC Records / Universal Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

I just saw it and...

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.