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Movie Review: See No Evil 2

Published

9 years ago

October 22, 2014

See No Evil 2 is exactly what it is supposed to be in some regards. It was unlikely that we would have gotten anything much better than what we did with a sequel to 2006’s See No Evil. The first one was reasonably entertaining for what it was, but certainly wasn’t breaking any new ground. It’s not one I’d return to very frequently as I might with its slashser predecessors from twenty years prior.

In fact, I’ve only seen it twice – once after it hit DVD and once more about a month ago as I wanted to refresh my memory with the sequel on the way. I wouldn’t have even cared about the coming sequel if not for the names attached to it, which I suspect is a similar feeling to what a lot of other horror fans had.

See No Evil 2, now out on VOD, is directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska, also known as the Soska Sisters. They really need no introduction at this point. After impressing with 2012’s American Mary, they’ve become genre stars. They also have a segment in ABCs of Death 2 (review here), which is also currently on VOD, and hitting select theaters on Halloween.

Earlier this year, news that the Soska Sisters were taking on a slasher sequel just sounded good. There probably weren’t many sitting around anticipating a See No Evil sequel, but once that announcement was made, we thought back on the first movie, and what the Soskas might bring to the table, and it sounded fun. It also helped that genre favorites Danielle Harris and Katherine Isabelle were attached. Suddenly expectations were high for a movie that probably wouldn’t have otherwise had any expectations whatsoever.

I’m sorry to say that while it may be my own fault for setting those expectations, I was a bit underwhelmed by the movie. I’m glad I saw it once, but like the first one, I don’t see myself returning to it very much down the road. In fact, I’m more likely to return to the first one if either. Then again, who knows? I may change my mind if a third installment pops up with any level of intrigue.

I like the way See No Evil 2 is set up, which is a birthday party at the morgue where villain Jacob Goodnight and some of his victims are taken. The words “morgue party” just beg for slasher movie fun, but nearly the entire film takes place in this setting, and after a while, not entirely unlike Halloween II before it, it just kind of drags a bit. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have Michael Myers, Laurie Strode, or Sam Loomis going for it.

If there’s one thing a slasher film should do, it’s deliver fun and/or otherwise memorable kills, and See No Evil 2’s generally didn’t fit those standards for my opinion, save for one pretty good throat gag.

For the Soskas, the movie feels like a step backward from American Mary, but they didn’t write, it, and that might ultimately be the biggest problem. I like to think that if they had written it, it may have turned out better. My experience may have also suffered from just having reached a point in my life where a slasher has to really offer something special for me to care. Unfortunately,that something has been harder to come by since the post-Scream era.

You can still tell they had fun making it, and there are some interesting scenes and shots sprinkled throughout. I certainly wouldn’t put the movie on the lowest end of the slasher spectrum. I’d call it roughly middle of the road. It’s worth a watch, and I still look forward to more of the Soskas’ work including the coming Painkiller Jane project.

Jacob Goodnight does get a mask in the film, and further establishes the chain as his weapon of choice, though he’s certainly not limiting himself. It feels like his identity in the slasher world has been made clearer.

Jacob would be a scary brute to reckon with in real life for sure, but on film, he’s kind of boring as movie killers go – more so this time around. I may be biased toward another murdering brute with mommy issues who has historically had more entertaining people to kill as well as more entertaining kills. Harris has also faced more interesting killers in the past (you know, like Milo in The Last Boy Scout and the Noxema girl in Urban Legend. Oh yeah, and that Mike Myers guy).

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This Horror Film Just Derailed a Record Held by ‘Train to Busan’

Published

2 hours ago

April 16, 2024

Timothy Rawles

The South Korean supernatural horror film Exhuma is generating buzz. The star-studded movie is setting records, including the derailment of the country’s former top-grosser, Train to Busan.

Movie success in South Korea is measured by “moviegoers” instead of box office returns, and of this writing, it has garnered over 10 million of them which surpasses the 2016 favorite Train to Busan.

India’s current events publication, Outlook reports, “Train to Busan previously held the record with 11,567,816 viewers, but ‘Exhuma’ has now achieved 11,569,310 viewers, marking a significant feat.”

“What’s also interesting to note is that the film achieved the impressive feat of reaching 7 million moviegoers in less than 16 days of its release, surpassing the milestone four days quicker than 12.12: The Day, which held the title of South Korea’s top-grossing box office hit in 2023.”

Exhuma’s plot isn’t exactly original; a curse is unleashed upon the characters, but people seem to love this trope, and dethroning Train to Busan is no small feat so there has to be some merit to the movie. Here’s the logline: “The process of excavating an ominous grave unleashes dreadful consequences buried underneath.”

It also stars some of East Asia’s biggest stars, including Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok, Kim Su-an, Choi Woo-shik, Ahn So-hee and Kim Eui-sung.

Putting it in Western monetary terms, Exhuma has raked in over $91 million at the worldwide box office since its February 22 release, which is almost as much as Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has earned to date.

Exhuma was released in limited theaters in the United States on March 22. No word yet on when it will make its digital debut.

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Movies

Watch ‘Immaculate’ At Home Right Now

Published

5 hours ago

April 16, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Just when we thought 2024 was going to be a horror movie wasteland, we got a few good ones in succession, Late Night With the Devil and Immaculate. The former will be available on Shudder starting April 19, the latter just had a surprise drop on digital ($19.99) today and will be getting physical on June 11.

The film stars Sydney Sweeney fresh off her success in the rom-com Anyone but You. In Immaculate, she plays a young nun named Cecilia, who travels to Italy to serve in a convent. Once there, she slowly unravels a mystery about the holy place and what role she plays in their methods.

Thanks to word of mouth and some favorable reviews, the movie has earned over $15 million domestically. Sweeney, who also produces, has waited a decade to get the film made. She purchased the rights to the screenplay, reworked it, and made the film we see today.

The movie’s controversial final scene wasn’t in the original screenplay, director Michael Mohan added it later and said, “It is my proudest directorial moment because it is exactly how I pictured it. “

Whether you go out to see it while it’s still in theaters or rent it from the convenience of your couch, let us know what you think of Immaculate and the controversy surrounding it.

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Movies

Politician Spooked By ‘First Omen’ Promo Mailer Calls Police

Published

6 hours ago

April 16, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Incredibly, what some people thought they would get with an Omen prequel turned out to be better than anticipated. Maybe it’s partly due to a good PR campaign. Maybe not. At least it wasn’t for a pro-choice Missouri politician and film blogger Amanda Taylor who received a suspicious mailer from the studio ahead of The First Omen’s theatrical release.

Taylor, a Democrat running for Missouri’s House of Representatives, must be on Disney’s PR list because she received some eerie promo merch from the studio to publicize The First Omen, a direct prequel to the 1975 original. Usually, a good mailer is supposed to pique your interest in a film not send you running to the phone to call the police.

“I was freaking out,” says the blogger who filed a police report about #TheFirstOmen PR. “My husband touched it, so I’m screaming at him to wash his hands.” The studio, for its part, regrets frightening anyone but notes that “most people had fun with it” https://t.co/9vq7xfD8kI pic.twitter.com/9KUMgvyG2Q
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) April 13, 2024

According to THR, Taylor opened the package and inside were disturbing children’s drawings related to the film that freaked her out. It’s understandable; being a female politician against abortion it’s no telling what kind of threatening hate mail you’re going to get or what might be construed as a threat.

“I was freaking out. My husband touched it, so I’m screaming at him to wash his hands,” Taylor told THR.

Marshall Weinbaum, who does Disney’s public relations campaigns says he got the idea for the cryptic letters because in the movie, “there are these creepy drawings of little girls with their faces crossed out, so I got this idea to print them out and mail them to the press.”

The studio, maybe realizing the idea wasn’t their best move, sent out a follow-up letter explaining that it was all in good fun to promote The First Omen. “Most people had fun with it,” adds Weinbaum.

While we can understand her initial shock and concern being a politician running on a controversial ticket, we have to wonder as a film enthusiast, why she wouldn’t recognize a crazy PR stunt.

Perhaps in this day and age, you can’t be too careful.