See No Evil (2006)

A group of delinquents are sent to clean the Blackwell Hotel. Little do they know reclusive psychopath Jacob Goodnight 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 Woman

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 shoots 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 the homeless; in return, the criminals will have their sentences reduced. During the night, the inmate Kira who has some Christian tattoos on her body is kidnapped by the deranged serial-killer Kane who collects 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 | severed arm | murder of a police officer | 

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Taglines:

This Summer, someone is raising Kane.

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Genres:

Action | 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 [United States]

Country:

USA Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 May 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

see no eviL

Filming Locations:

Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,581,233, 21 May 2006, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$15,032,800

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

It was mentioned in some interviews that Kane's co-stars were a little uneasy around the 6 foot 7 tall man. Fangoria magazine mentions the director having to ask Kane to remain seated during cast introductions, since one of the women, who only came up to his sternum, wouldn't come near him.

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Goofs

In one of the penthouses where the teens have joined to smoke pot, upon the lighting of the second joint, the camera zooms out to show all four teens and a very visible boom mic. A few moment later, it's shown again.

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Quotes

Kira: [Michael walks in on her showering] How the fuck did you get in here?
Michael: You should be used to me coming in the back door.

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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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Alternate Versions

German DVD release by Kinowelt was cut by 11 seconds (cell phone scene) to secure a light SPIO: JK approval (meaning they were allowed to advertise the film, a normal approval would result in prohibition of advertising). Additionally, a FSK-18 version was created for retail chains, which was cut by 3 minutes.

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Connections

References WWE Raw (1993)

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Soundtracks

Back to Boston
Written by Jeff Cohen & Aria Pullman
Performed by Aria Pullman
Courtesy of As You Wish Music & BreakoutBetty 22 Music

User Reviews

What a joke

I remember first seeing the trailer for "See No Evil" in theatres and laughing heartlily when the WWE films logo appeared at the beginning. By the end, my laughter had increased. Yet somehow, I found myself watching it several months later on DVD. I'm a huge horror movie fan and I guess I just thought it would be at least entertaining.

How wrong I was. It's not the bad acting or dialogue that does this movie in. It's just the complete lack of originality that makes this a task to sit through. The plot is so routine that it's laughable. A group of youth offenders are sent to clean up an old, dirty hotel for community service. This just happens to be the same hotel where a vicious, deranged serial killer is holed up. And then, as per usual in these films, they get killed off one by one. I know this is the standard slasher movie plot, but would it have killed them to add just one twist or interesting element to the story? Even the characters are the typical clichés. A backstory about the killer's childhood abuse is touched upon but never fully explained.

You can usually count on the gore in these types of movies to at least provide some sort of visceral thrill but, with the exception of a few moments, it is all dull. Kane pretty much kills everyone with his hook on a chain and then gouges their eyes out, which gets repetitive by the second time he does it.

Knowing that he has virtually no story, Gregory Dark, a famed porn director, overdoses us with every "cool" camera trick he can think of. Instead of jolting the picture to life, it just further numbs us to the film.

The only thing "See No Evil" has going for it is Kane. Say what you will about him, but if I saw his character in real life, I would run away as fast as I could. He doesn't even need to act (I think he says a total of three words throughout the entire film) but he just oozes brutality. Too bad the writers couldn't give him a better vehicle.

All in all, this is just a complete waste of time. Even if you're a die-hard slasher-flick fan, it will still manage to bore you. A couple more of these and the slasher film genre will be completely dead.

Grade: D