See No Evil 2 Review

A group of friends pay a late-night visit to the city morgue hoping to surprise Amy (Danielle Harris) on her birthday. But the surprise is on them when the one-eyed corpse of brutal psychopath Jacob Goodnight (WWE Superstar "Kane") unexpectedly rises from a cold sub-basement slab. Their wild party quickly turns into a terrifying slay-fest as the sadistic mass-murderer resumes his savage rampage complete with hooks, surgical knives and power saws in this blood-soaked sequel to See No Evil, directed by the notorious Soska sisters.

I'm a huge fan of the Soska Sisters work. I really enjoyed American Mary. When I heard that they would be directing See No Evil 2, I said oh hell yeah bring it on. Unfortunately See No Evil 2 is your typical generic slasher flick. Nothing is new under the sun with this film. Shockingly this film plays it more safe than I expect from the Soska Sisters. The first film had more gore, more fleshed out characters that will soon die than this installment. As stated in the synopsis Danielle Harris plays Amy a girl who is clearly a workaholic, single and has some family issues with her brother and mother. When she cancels a birthday celebration to help her co-workers. The party decides to come to her. Unfortunately the recent deceased Jacob Goodnight is not dead and is at morgue with the others. The problem with See No Evil 2 is not the direction, it's not acting (well some of the acting), it's the story. See No Evil 2 suffers from a underdeveloped supporting cast that when the time comes for the deaths you won't care. I know horror movies are not known for it's great characters and plot, however it will be nice to know who someone is or a glimpse at their lives before they are x off. 

Where the supporting characters fail in characterization, the main character and our big baddie are fleshed out well. See No Evil 2 offers a deeper glimpse of Jacob Goodnight and his relationship with his mother. We find out why Jacob is so messed up in the head, we find out why he wears a mask now, and we find out more of his childhood. The movie does well of giving you a backstory but not making Jacob a sympathetic villain. You understand why he is a killer but you still see him as a  man who is making these choices. Jacob's backstory and Amy which is played greatly by veteran Danielle Harris is what keeps the story from falling flat. The acting is not that great but it's watchable. Glenn Jacobs (Kane) doesn't have much to do but physical work and be scary. Danielle Harris nails her character and Kaj-Erik Eriksen is great as the underdog Seth. Other supporting cast members I felt overplayed the scares which took me out. Finally as far as kills go it was a little disappointing, nothing new which shock me coming the Soska Sister. Overall See No Evil 2 is your typical horror template that you seen countless times. It has it moments and the atmosphere and direction is nice, but it lacks a punch or a stab to really pull you in.