5.8 | / 10 |
Users | 3.8 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.9 |
Seven feet tall. Four hundred pounds. A rusty steel plate screwed into his skull and razor-sharp fingernails that pluck out his victims' eyes. Reclusive psychopath Jacob Goodnight is holed up in the long-abandoned and rotting Blackwell Hotel, alone with his nightmares until eight petty criminals show up for community service duty along with the cop who put a bullet in Jacob's head four years ago. When one of their own is kidnapped by the killer and her fate uncertain, the remaining lawbreakers must fight this indestructible force of nature who has a violent score to settle.
Starring: Glenn Jacobs, Christina Vidal, Michael J. Pagan, Samantha Noble, Steven VidlerHorror | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1
English, English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Whenever I watch a particularly bad movie, I inevitably think about all the hundreds of well- meaning, artistically honest, aspiring filmmakers who can’t get their projects off the ground and who probably die a little inside every time a film like See No Evil gets the green light. I know mainstream moviemaking is a business first, but it seems unbelievable to me that some head honcho, high on the studio totem pole, would check out the synopsis for See No Evil— religiously abused man-child idiot kills delinquent youths in abandoned hotel, starring WWE’s Kane— and give it a big, fat thumbs up. Don’t get me wrong; I love a good slasher flick. The thing is, horror fans aren’t the target audience for See No Evil—they know enough to stay away. Instead, the film is clearly gunning for those that simply don’t know any better—18 to 24 year-old males who are willing to part with their money in exchange for almost zero entertainment value. Helmed by a former porn director and featuring one of the most unoriginal plots to ever be cribbed from much better genre films, See No Evil is mindless, soulless schlock that’s never frightening or gleefully violent enough to justify its money-grubbing existence.
Whether dumb-bells, dumb blondes, or wayward brunettes, Kane is always ready for a workout.
See No Evil arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer that's nearly as dingy and joyless as the film itself. With gritty swarms of grain and a palette that's been stripped of color, the film's look isn't entirely unexpected—this is a slasher after all—but the image rarely impresses in HD. Unlike most films of this ilk, See No Evil employs a warmer tone, but that doesn't mean you'll be seeing any vivid colors. Skuzzy grays and dirty browns fill up most of the screen, with occasional splashes like the bright orange of Jacob's backlit, eyeball-filled mason jar. Black levels are slightly washed out during many scenes—you can see the grain swirling over even the deepest parts of the image—and there's a preponderancy for dimness that robs contrast and gives the image a flat, dimensionless look. Overall clarity is average—close-ups are obviously sharper than longer shots—and the finest of details often get lost to grain and/or darkness. Ugliest of all are the flashback sequences, which are nearly black and white, but feature a thin, greenish-yellow sheen to the highlights. I don't want to be too harsh—the film looks okay for what it is—but you won't be demo-ing See No Evil for friends any time soon.
Lionsgate gives See No Evil their usual DTS-HD MA 7.1 surround track, and the film's audio is at least more inherently engaging than the mediocre picture quality. Dynamics are solid, with a wide range that encompasses the lowest LFE rumblings and the tinkling bells that Jacob has rigged up to every bed in the hotel. Surround channels get a bit of a workout—the hotel creaks ominously and flies buzz as harbingers of Jacob's presence—but much of the sound design revels in overly clever, style-over-substance audio tapestries filled with unnatural swooshing and creeping noises that don't emanate from the environment and only serve to add "spooky" atmosphere. Sound effects are generally crisp and brutal, from the meaty squish of a hook sinking between shoulder blades to the ripping plaster and plywood that accompany Jacob busting through a wall like the Kool- Aid man. As you might expect, channel movements aren't the most graceful, and the film beats you over the head with volume when it can't manage finesse. As a result, voices can occasionally get buried in the mix, and there were a few instances when I had to wield my remote to hear what was being said. When not embroiled in action, though, the inane dialogue is otherwise crisp and clear.
Commentary by Director Gregory Dark and Writer Dan Madigan
Both participants mumble their way through the film, leaving behind a dull track that's filled with
obvious comments about character motivation, pointless point-outs of what's going on, and too
many "this is when we..." style remarks. Even fans of the film—the "MTV generation," according
to the director—will find this track too slow and monotonous for consumption.
Commentary by Kane and Co-Executive Producer Jed Blaugrund
Likewise, Kane and Jed turn in a silence-spotted track with few real insights. Kane takes a couple
stabs at exploring his character's pathology, and it's hard to tell if he's being serious or sarcastic
when he explains that Jacob Goodnight is an extension of himself. It's ironic that they bring Kane
in for a commentary track in the first place—he's only got one line in the film—and he doesn't
have a whole lot to add to the conversation. Blaugrund controls the flow here, and it's unclear
how much of a hands-on role he had in the film's on-set production. Still, he's perhaps the most
articulate and cheerful of the commentators included on the disc, and so if you've really got to
listen to one track, I'd recommend this one.
Do You See the Sin? The Making of See No Evil (SD, 13:02)
This is your run-of-the-mill behind the scenes documentary that features interviews with the cast
and crew and offers few real insights into the filmmaking process. If I hadn't already checked
IMDB, the only thing I would've learned was that the film was shot in Australia, with mostly
Aussie actors doing their best California accents. There's a distinct lack of intelligence from the
director and writer when talking about the film, and I basically zoned out after Gregory Dark said,
"Kane brings a humanism to this human character." Okay.
Kane: Journey Into Darkness (SD, 2:59)
I don't know much about Kane or the WWE, but this seems to be a brief retrospective of the
wrestler's career.
Storyboard to Film Comparison (SD, 1:21)
Here you'll find storyboards from one scene intercut with footage from the final film.
Behind the Evil: WWE Features (SD, 1:24)
These are promos that I assume were featured during WWE presentations to hype up See No
Evil. They're basically talking-head interviews chopped up with rapidly cut sequences from
the film, and there's nothing here that can't be found in the "making of" featurette.
You can probably tell I don't have very much good to say about See No Evil. Derivative and never actually scary, the film is an empty genre exercise that will likely only appeal to Kane fans and those who have the cash to drop $40 on pay-per-view wrestling events. The merely average audio/visual package doesn't impressive enough to warrant a purely aesthetic purchase, so I'd stay away from See No Evil unless you own a t-shirt stamped with Kane's snarling pug face.
2014
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Limited Edition
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Theatrical Cut
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Hatchet IV
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Theatrical Edition
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Collector's Edition
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