See No Evil (2006)

Dir: Gregory Dark

Hardcore porn veteran Gregory Dark goes 'straight' and surprisingly nudity-free to deliver this testosterone-fuelled monolith of a slasher and it's (quite literally) eye-popping stuff! There's very little in the way of plot; a bunch of teenage miscreants are sent to do community service in an abandoned, tumbledown hotel, only to find themselves being picked off by a psycho (Kane, the wrestler) who wants to pluck their eyes out. It's alarming in that there's a strong element of 'cheering for the bad guy' at work here, as Kane injects his role with black humour and the kids are all so dislikable, but "See No Evil" is a surprisingly first class effort within its subgenre. It's extremely gory, sarcastic, spiteful and nasty; a hi-NRG tour-de-force of misanthropic macabra that walks the tightrope between horrifying and hilarious. Not bad going, considering the risible storyline and fit-inducing edit job. This one almost earned a full four stars, just for the post-credits punchline; one final, jet black shot of gallows humour that had me in hysterics. It's certainly worth staying 'til the end for. ***1/2