See No Evil 2 is a 2014 American slasher film directed by the Soska sisters, written by Nathan Brookes and Bobby Lee Darby, produced by Michael Luisi, and starring Danielle Harris, Katharine Isabelle and the WWE professional wrestler Kane. It is the sequel to the 2006 See No Evil feature film. Unlike the original, which had a theatrical release, the film was released in 2014 on a direct to Blu-ray and DVD form.[2][3]
| See No Evil 2 | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Jen and Sylvia Soska |
| Written by | Nathan Brookes Bobby Lee Darby |
| Based on | Characters by Dan Madigan |
| Produced by | Michael Luisi |
| Starring | Danielle Harris Katharine Isabelle Kaj-Erik Eriksen Michael Eklund Chelan Simmons Greyston Holt Glenn "Kane" Jacobs |
| Cinematography | Mahlon Todd Williams |
| Edited by | Mark Stevens |
| Music by | The Newton Brothers |
Production companies | WWE Studios (See No Evil Films 2, Inc.) |
| Distributed by | Lionsgate Home Entertainment |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1.6 million[1] |
Plot
editAmy (Danielle Harris) prepares to leave her job at the city morgue while Seth (Kaj-Erik Eriksen) and their boss Holden (Michael Eklund) work the graveyard shift. As Amy is leaving to meet friends at a bar for her birthday, Holden receives news that a number of bodies are being delivered, the victims of a mass murder committed by Jacob Goodnight (Kane) at the Blackwell Hotel. Amy decides to cancel her plans and help her colleagues with the deliveries. Amy and Seth process the corpses, including that of Goodnight. As Amy leaves Seth to finish the work, she is surprised to find Holden has allowed her friends Tamara (Katharine Isabelle), Kayla (Chelan Simmons), Carter (Lee Majdoub) and her brother Will (Greyston Holt) to throw a birthday party in the morgue. During the party, Will warns Seth to stay away from Amy, believing she deserves better than him, causing Seth to leave the party and return to work. Will tells Amy of his disapproval of her dropping out of Med School to work in the morgue, angering Amy, who also leaves the party.
Tamara, who is fascinated by death and serial killers, leaves the party with Carter to go look at Jacob's body. The experience of being in a room with the body of a real murderer arouses her and she and Carter begin to have sex. Jacob suddenly awakens, and kills Carter while Tamara escapes. Jacob searches the room, outfitting himself with a burn victim mask and several surgical tools before cutting the building's electricity.
Hearing Tamara's screams, the rest of the partygoers attempt to find her; Holden, away from the rest, is captured and mortally wounded by Jacob.
Amy, Will, Kayla and Tamara acknowledge their predicament and attempt to reach the upper levels of the hospital, only to find Jacob blocking their way at every turn. Seth arrives with the keys to open a locked emergency stairwell, but Jacob is behind him and attacks them, causing the group to split up. Kayla seeks refuge in a bathroom, where Jacob strangles her. When Kayla mutters "Thank God!" at Jacob's hesitation, he relives old memories, remembering the abuse he suffered at the hands of his religious mother. As Kayla dies from her injuries anyway, Jacob asks her, "Why would God help you?" before setting off in search of the remaining members of the group.
Jacob kills Tamara and captures Will, using him as bait to lure Seth and Amy into a trap, where he proceeds to execute her brother. In the resultant confrontation, Seth is wounded by an electric knife; Amy takes him into a room to cauterize the wound, where she reveals that she dropped out of medical school after realizing the inevitability of death. Noticing that one of the windows leads to ground level, Amy kisses Seth for the first time then squeezes out to get help. Finding Jacob in the parking lot, however, she retreats back inside. Afterwards, Jacob stabs her to death as she attempts to unlock a side exit door. After fighting Jacob, Seth impales him with the nozzle from a piece of embalming equipment and pumps his body full of embalming chemicals, seemingly killing him.
Seth escapes the morgue through a broken window and drives away in his car. As he stops to open the gated entrance, he realizes that not only is Jacob still alive but also that he was in the car with him. Jacob attacks Seth from behind, and gouges out his eyes, killing him.
The final shots of the film show each dead member of the cast before a final closeup shot of Jacob's face as he says, "I see it now", referring to their sins.
Cast
edit- Danielle Harris as Amy
- Katharine Isabelle as Tamara
- Kaj-Erik Eriksen as Seth
- Chelan Simmons as Kayla
- Kane as Jacob Goodnight
- Greyston Holt as Will
- Lee Majdoub as Carter
- Michael Eklund as Holden
- Annalise Woods as Girl
- Sylvia Soska as Corpse
- Jen Soska as Corpse
- Cecily Polson as Margaret
Production
editThe movie was announced in August 2013, with Kane set to reprise his role as the murderous Jacob Goodnight and the Soska sisters to direct.[4] The Soskas claimed their desire in taking on the film was to "take the character [Jacob Goodnight] and bring him to the level of Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees."[5]
On September 16, 2013 Danielle Harris, Katharine Isabelle and Michael Eklund joined the main cast.[6] On September 20, 2013 it was announced Greyston Holt, Chelan Simmons, Kaj-Erik Eriksen and Lee Majdoub had been cast.[7]
Filming began on September 23, 2013 in Vancouver, British Columbia and ended on October 11, 2013.[8][9] Filming predominantly took place at Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam.[10] Harris, Isabelle and Simmons reportedly performed all their own physical stunts.[11] The trailer was released on July 25, 2014.[12]
Release
editIn June 2014 it was reported the movie would not be released to theatres,[13] instead being released to video on demand on October 17, 2014, followed by a Blu-ray release on October 21, 2014.[14]
Reception
editThe film received an approval rating of 60% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 5 reviews with an average score of 5/10.[15] William Bibbiani, writing for CraveOnline, praised the film's adherence to traditional slasher movie conventions, saying that "...it is indeed comforting to see that the standard, straight-up slasher yarn still has some life in it. Instead of playing to some sort of house style, like many of the recent slasher remakes were determined to do, See No Evil 2 looks pleasingly grim and icy and dark. What’s more, it plays with genre expectations while playing the genre’s actual conventions somewhat straight..."[16]
Bloody Disgusting gave the film a mixed review, praising the film's characterization and first act, but saying that "once Jacob Goodnight begins stalking the halls everything slows to a crawl. Maybe it’s because the environment was so generic, or maybe it was because it’s not a franchise I care to see continue on...". Nonetheless, the review concluded that "I wish this were a standalone sequel instead of being forced into a corner in trying to continue the events from 8 years ago. But as it stands, See No Evil 2 is a fun little VOD rental for your Halloween festivities."[17]
Ryan Larson, writing for ComingSoon.net, gave the film an average rating saying "While some of the movie is enjoyable due to standard gore splashed slasher fare, for the most part you can't help but think 'haven't I seen this already?'"[18]
Dread Central's Scott Hallam gave the film a mixed review praising the directors, Jen and Sylvia Soska, but calling the script "a cookie-cutter slasher" ultimately summing up his review with "If you’re in it for some cool kills done by a cool killer as seen through the eyes of the Twisted Twins and you don’t mind the fact that the story is pretty typical, you’ll dig See No Evil 2."[19]
Awards and nominations
edit| Year | Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Fright Meter Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Katharine Isabelle | Nominated | [20] |
| 2015 | BloodGuts United Kingdom Horror Awards | Best Actor | Kaj-Erik Eriksen | Nominated | [21] |
| Fangoria Chainsaw Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Katharine Isabelle | Write-in | [22] |
References
edit- ^ "See No Evil 2 (2014)". The Numbers. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ^ Marc Graser (2014-02-11). "WWE Studios and Fox Tag Team on 'Jingle All the Way 2,' 'The Marine 4'". Variety. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
- ^ Glen Schaefer (2013-08-09). "See No Evil sequel sees double with Soska twins | The Province". Blogs.theprovince.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
- ^ "The Soska Sisters to Direct See No Evil 2". HorrorMovies.ca. 2013-08-06. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
- ^ Gingold, Michael (October 11, 2013). "NYCC '13 exclusive: Jen and Sylvia Soska talk "SEE NO EVIL 2"". Fangoria. Archived from the original on January 7, 2017. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
- ^ Borys Kit (2013-09-16). "'See No Evil 2' Sets Scream Queens". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
- ^ Steven Davies (20 September 2013). "New Cast Members Set for Carnage in 'See No Evil 2', Horror Movie Entertainment News and Reviews". Horror-asylum.com. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
- ^ Carrier, Steve (2013-09-22). "See No Evil 2 Update, 'The Call' Sequel In the Works, More". ProWrestling.com. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
- ^ "Preview New WWE Comic, See No Evil 2 Wraps, Christmas Bounty Coming To ABC Family". Wrestlingnewsworld.com. 2013-10-12. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
- ^ "Order cheap propecia - Best Price Pills". Archived from the original on 2014-10-18. Retrieved 2014-10-12.
- ^ "NYCC 2013: The Soska Sisters on "See No Evil 2"". YouTube. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
- ^ Ryan Turek (2014-07-25). "Comic-Con: The Trailer Debut for See No Evil 2". Shock Till You Drop. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
- ^ Ryan Turek (2014-06-30). "See No Evil 2 Is Heading Right to DVD, Blu-ray & VOD". Shock Till You Drop. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
- ^ Jonathan James (2014-07-25). "See No Evil 2 Trailer and Release Details". Daily Dead. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
- ^ "See No Evil 2 (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
- ^ Bibbiani, William (October 2014). "See No Evil 2 Review: Socket to Me, Baby". Retrieved 2014-10-20.
- ^ "See No Evil 2 Worth a Halloween Look". October 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-20.
- ^ Larson, Ryan (November 10, 2014). "Review: See No Evil 2 a Standard Slasher With Missed Potential". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
- ^ Hallam, Scott (October 15, 2014). "See No Evil 2 (Blu-ray / DVD)". Dread Central. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
- ^ "2014 Fright Meter Award Winners". Fright Meter Awards. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
- ^ "BloodGuts UK Horror Awards – 2015 Awards". IMDb. Archived from the original on September 9, 2020. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Gingold, Michael (June 1, 2015). "The 2015 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards Winners and Full Results!". Fangoria. Archived from the original on 2017-08-12. Retrieved September 9, 2020.