See No Evil is a typical slasher flick with a preposterous premise: two groups of male and female convicts help renovate an old mansion for a weekend to lessen their time in jail. There are so many things wrong with that sentence, but I suspend my disbelief. The kills are uninspired and the characters are incredibly boring. Jacob Goodnight could be an interesting killer, but it's just done very poorly. The only remotely interesting things about him were his abusive upbringing by his psycho religious mom and the way he collects eyes. He also kills in the name of religion to punish sinners and all that. I wasn't expecting much and it didn't deliver much.
My rating: 2/5 fishmuffins
2) See No Evil 2 (2014)
Even though I hated the first one, the second was directed by the Soska twins, who I adore. I figured if anyone can breathe life into a lackluster franchise it's them. This one has a dead Jacob Goodnight come into a morgue and he somehow recovers and continues his reign of terror. I think there's only so much you can do with the subject matter. The actors are much better acted and portrayed, particularly Danielle Harris, Katharine Isabelle, and Michael Eklund (who is actually not a scary or deranged person for once). Jacob Goodnight has a cool new look and the movie is beautifully filmed. There's a slight unexpected twist at the end, but other than that, it's pretty predictable. Overall, it's much better than the first, but not anything spectacular either.
My rating: 3.5/5 fishmuffins
3) The Thompsons (2012)
The sequel to The Hamiltons follows the vampire family as they get into trouble and seek help from others of their kind. The first film is far superior, but the followup is fine. It's got a True Blood vibe with the excessive blood and some sex. The plot is interesting and expands upon the world outside just the family. We find there are at least 2 different types of vampires and one doesn't take kindly to the other. The family had no idea since their parents (now dead) told them nothing of vampire society. Some parts are very disturbing and unexpected, but others followed predictable tropes. It's a little disappointing considering the first film was very good. I enjoyed the film despite its flaws.
My rating: 3/5 fishmuffins
4) Cabin Fever: Patient Zero (2014)
The Cabin Fever series hasn't let me down yet. It always provides fairly unlikable characters that I don't mind dying, gore, and just fun horror. This one features a bachelor party looking for a deserted Caribbean island for fun, but instead find a lab full of a flesh eating disease gone rampant. In true Cabin Fever fashion, it provides disgusting sex scenes when one person doesn't realize the other is so sick. It's a nice throwback to one of the most memorable scenes in the first film. The ending of this was completely unexpected and gave a great twist to their regular formula. Everything that happened is explained in flashback scenes during the credits. It blew my mind and completely changed how I viewed one of the characters. Very enjoyable.
My rating: 3.5/5 fishmuffins
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