See No Evil (2006)
Directed by: Gregory Dark
Premise: A group of juvenile convicts is sent to an abandoned hotel and are soon stalked by a large killer (Kane).
What Works: The art direction and cinematography of See No Evil are pretty well designed. The scenes are dark but lit well enough to see the action and the sets have some great detail to them. Some members of the young cast are promising, particularly Samantha Nobel, who is able to bring some sophistication and emotion to her role.
What Doesn’t: Not much else works in this film. The premise of the story is completely unbelievable, even within the context that this story takes place in, and the opening sequence does nothing to set up or explain the discovery at the end of the film. Characters are eliminated too quickly and the film cuts between the various victims too irregularly. The teens, if that is what they are supposed to be, look more like they just got out of a Banana Republic photo shoot instead of a correctional facility and the dynamics between the characters are stock teen angst. One of the most maddening things about See No Evil is the film’s many wasted opportunities. There is a nub of story here, with some potentially interesting characters, but the film feels as though someone took an outline of a script and shot it without ever actually finishing the screenplay.
Bottom Line: See No Evil is a debacle of a film. It is gory but not scary. It dabbles in madness but in ways that make it incoherent rather than frightening. It is a Hostel and Saw imitation that is a shadow of its predecessors.
Episode: #99 (June 4, 2006)