The Info Bit
Genre: Horror
Starring: Kane, Christina Vidal, Michael J Pagan
Run Time: 1hr 20mins
Rating: 18
Production Company: Lionsgate
The Review
I have to admit like many overgrown kids I have a special place in my heart for wrestling but I don’t think its to harsh to say that many films starring wrestlers are traditionally, by most peoples standards, poor films always having a current top star in the lead role to sell his face to the masses and always somewhere in the action putting in an ‘obligatory’ wrestling move just because they can (perfect example see John Cena in The Marine not an awful film but confirming everything I just said).
As a result I came into watching See No Evil with that on my mind and expected an average film that might occupy an hour or so with some celluloid violence with the odd scare and a weak plot. To be honest I got what I expected but with a few nice surprises.
Horror films it seems to me traditionally don’t have a particularly impressive back story/character development (do they need it?? I guess that a debate for another day) and this one is no different. The story sees our band of criminal ‘kids’ who as part of their punishment have to do some community service by repairing and cleaning an old and dilapidated hotel all arranged by a warden/ex cop who a few years before was involved in dealing with a psychopath. However whilst working on the building they are being watched but someone or something and obviously start disappearing or getting killed off in various increasingly gruesome ways. Unfortunately it takes (for me anyway) far to long to get to the ‘killing’ part which sounds a bit sadistic of me but to be honest it’s the reason we watch this sort of film, not to watch a bunch of teenagers talk about nothing for a half hour or so.
When the killing starts however the film does start to massively redeem itself, Kane does a fabulous job as a killer (not sure if that’s actually a good thing) but at over 6ft in height and weighing a good 300 pounds plus he is the perfect imposing figure that a movie like this needs. Kane’s performance, is for me, one of the better ‘horror figure’ performances I’ve seen lately, he oozes rage and frustration without speaking a word (limited mainly to grunts and snorts) and he is physically imposing, throwing people left right and centre without any problem (I’m not sure if he did all his stunts but I’d imagine he did the majority). I won’t spoil it by telling you the methods of death but there are a couple that really stick out for me as, if you will, ‘new horror deaths’ that haven’t been done before as far as I’m aware in any movie let alone horrors. Unfortunately as you approach the end things do go downhill a little with a pointless ‘plot twist’ and some obvious CGI but is slightly redeemed with the final few set pieces of action ending with a little irreverent humour to finish off a film that is definitely a mixed bag of tricks.
Extras on the DVD aren’t too bad, the usual director commentary can probably be missed unless you’re a massive fan of commentaries, the Cast and Crew interviews and Storyboard comparisons are pretty much what you would expect from the titles and the Making of Documentary with Kane: Journey into Darkness are ok for people learning a bit about the making of movies and character development from an acting perspective but aren’t really anything particularly new to the DVD extras world.
All in all if you fancy a moderately scary (I jumped about four times I think if that) and entertaining film without an impressive plot this would be right up there with Friday the 13th and The Hills Have Eyes in that department and is one of the better wrestler starring films out there.
Stars out of Five: 3 1/2
Genre: Horror
Starring: Kane, Christina Vidal, Michael J Pagan
Run Time: 1hr 20mins
Rating: 18
Production Company: Lionsgate
The Review
I have to admit like many overgrown kids I have a special place in my heart for wrestling but I don’t think its to harsh to say that many films starring wrestlers are traditionally, by most peoples standards, poor films always having a current top star in the lead role to sell his face to the masses and always somewhere in the action putting in an ‘obligatory’ wrestling move just because they can (perfect example see John Cena in The Marine not an awful film but confirming everything I just said).
As a result I came into watching See No Evil with that on my mind and expected an average film that might occupy an hour or so with some celluloid violence with the odd scare and a weak plot. To be honest I got what I expected but with a few nice surprises.
Horror films it seems to me traditionally don’t have a particularly impressive back story/character development (do they need it?? I guess that a debate for another day) and this one is no different. The story sees our band of criminal ‘kids’ who as part of their punishment have to do some community service by repairing and cleaning an old and dilapidated hotel all arranged by a warden/ex cop who a few years before was involved in dealing with a psychopath. However whilst working on the building they are being watched but someone or something and obviously start disappearing or getting killed off in various increasingly gruesome ways. Unfortunately it takes (for me anyway) far to long to get to the ‘killing’ part which sounds a bit sadistic of me but to be honest it’s the reason we watch this sort of film, not to watch a bunch of teenagers talk about nothing for a half hour or so.
When the killing starts however the film does start to massively redeem itself, Kane does a fabulous job as a killer (not sure if that’s actually a good thing) but at over 6ft in height and weighing a good 300 pounds plus he is the perfect imposing figure that a movie like this needs. Kane’s performance, is for me, one of the better ‘horror figure’ performances I’ve seen lately, he oozes rage and frustration without speaking a word (limited mainly to grunts and snorts) and he is physically imposing, throwing people left right and centre without any problem (I’m not sure if he did all his stunts but I’d imagine he did the majority). I won’t spoil it by telling you the methods of death but there are a couple that really stick out for me as, if you will, ‘new horror deaths’ that haven’t been done before as far as I’m aware in any movie let alone horrors. Unfortunately as you approach the end things do go downhill a little with a pointless ‘plot twist’ and some obvious CGI but is slightly redeemed with the final few set pieces of action ending with a little irreverent humour to finish off a film that is definitely a mixed bag of tricks.
Extras on the DVD aren’t too bad, the usual director commentary can probably be missed unless you’re a massive fan of commentaries, the Cast and Crew interviews and Storyboard comparisons are pretty much what you would expect from the titles and the Making of Documentary with Kane: Journey into Darkness are ok for people learning a bit about the making of movies and character development from an acting perspective but aren’t really anything particularly new to the DVD extras world.
All in all if you fancy a moderately scary (I jumped about four times I think if that) and entertaining film without an impressive plot this would be right up there with Friday the 13th and The Hills Have Eyes in that department and is one of the better wrestler starring films out there.
Stars out of Five: 3 1/2
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