See No Evil - Film Review

I had resisted the temptation for a long time. Having outgrown my love of slasher movies many years ago, I originally had no intention of buying this thing. But finally, I succumbed to the temptation, and purchased a copy of Kane’s film debut, See No Evil.

WWE Films’s first ever production sees the big red machine take on the role of Jacob Goodnight, although he’s never actually referred to that name in the film. Jacob is a rather unpleasant fellow, and as the film begins we see Jacob holding a young girl hostage, before he is found by two police officers, one of them a gentleman by the name of Frank Williams. Williams discovers that both of the girl’s eyes have been ripped out. Seconds later, Jacob attacks them with an axe, chopping off Williams’ arm, before the cop manages to shoot the psycho in the head.

Four years later, and now with an artificial arm, Williams is working as a prison guard. Williams takes a group of delinquents with him to help clean up the Blackwell Hotel, a run-down building it is hoped that one day will become a shelter for the homeless. Legend has it that there are several hidden tunnels in the hotel, as well as numerous two-way mirrors.

One of the delinquents knows of a rumour that the late-owner left a ton of cash in the hotel, and armed with a map of the hidden tunnels, he manages to talk one of his friends into helping him find the loot.

And this is where the fun begins. As the teenagers begin to explore the tunnels, Jacob appears, and his reign of terror begins. One by one the delinquents begin to meet with painful deaths.

If I were to go any further, I’d probably spoil the story for those of you who haven’t seen the film yet, although I think you can probably work out what happens. So let’s continue by taking a look at other aspects of the film.

Production-wise, See No Evil can’t be faulted. It’s extremely well filmed, and the special effects are definitely up to par. The action itself is very enjoyable as Jacob takes the kids out one by one.

However, my problem with this is the characterisations. Why Kane was perfect in the role of Jacob, the delinquents had little to no redeeming qualities at all. It got to the point where you didn’t care about which kid got killed, because most of them were assholes, and they deserved it. The only one who you thought didn’t deserve to die was Williams, and given the plans for a sequel, keeping Williams alive to battle Jacob once again would have made more sense.

But overall, if you take this film for what it is, then it’s not that bad. Sure, it won’t go down as a classic, but it’s enjoyable and mindless entertainment nonetheless.