SEE NO EVIL 2 (2014)

 

(Directors: Jen and Sylvia Soska. Screenwriters: Nathan Brookes and Bobby Lee Darby.)

Storyline

An uninvited Jacob Goodnight crashes an undertaker’s birthday celebration and does what does well: killing people.

Review

Religious fanatic and serial killer Jacob Goodnight returns in this disappointing sequel to the 2006 slasher SEE NO EVIL. The main problem with the film is its script, penned by Nathan Brookes and Bobby Lee Darby─not only does it resurrect, without explanation, Goodnight (whose death was explicitly shown onscreen in the first movie), but EVIL 2 quickly devolves into the usual, mostly uninspired hunt-and-slaughter situations of the genre. (A few of the kills are creative and visually interesting.) It does not help that the characters, as they’re written, don’t have much backstory or chemistry. Despite that, several of the actors in the film─Scream Queens Danielle Harris (HALLOWEEN 4 and 5, 1988 and 1989) and Katharine Isabelle (the GINGER SNAPS trilogy, 2000-2004) rise above the thin-even-for-horror characterizations and breathe as much life as they can into their roles, especially Isabelle, whose character (Tamara) is played with over-the-top zest. Glenn “Kane” Jacobs, once again, plays Goodnight as best he can. Unfortunately, anything fresh he brings to his character is hobbled by bad writing (though Goodnight speaks whole sentences now).

A plus-element in EVIL 2 is Jen and Sylvia Soska, a.k.a. the Soska Sisters, who do what they can to salvage this lackluster follow-up. It’s well-shot and they inject some visual humor here and there─e.g., in the opening credits, when their directorial billing is shown, the sisters are onscreen as two corpses on metal rolling carts.  I liked how Goodnight is dispatched (again) into the netherworld near the end, but the final shots─which should’ve come earlier in the film, answering any questions about his not being dead─are belatedly inserted, coming off as cheap-cheat finish.

You can skip EVIL 2, unless you’re a Soska Sisters/Harris/Isabelle/Kane completist.

AMERICAN MARY (2012)

 

(Directors/screenwriters: Jen and Sylvia Soska, a.k.a. The Soska Sisters)

Storyline

An opportunity for easy money tempts a medical student, Mary, Mason, to enter the world of underground surgeries, one that alters her more than she expects.

Review

Jen and Sylvia Soska's (a.k.a.The Soska Sisters) first feature film is an above-average, often gory and mostly well-paced film about poverty, systemic sexism, rape, alienation, and one woman’s character-paced path to redemption. Katharine Isabelle (best known for the GINGER SNAPS trilogy) is excellent as Mary Mason, a desperate woman who learns to embrace her beyond-normal-bounds darkness while pursuing revenge and a reputation as a body modification surgeon with equal vigor. Isabelle’s top-notch acting is ably supported by other above-average actors as well, including Tristan Risk as Beatrice (a woman with strange “plastic” Barbie Doll features) and Antonio Cupo as Billy Barker, a strip club owner who’s falling in love with Mary, aiding her underground endeavors.

Those looking for a happy finish might be disappointed, but it keeps with the tone and arc of Mary’s bleakward spiral. AMERICAN, with its strong feminist theme and characters, is worth watching, an excellent first feature by the Soskas, who appear in the film as creepy twins who want surgery to bring them closer together.