Review by Ben Bussey
The problem with movies that centre on a big twist is that more often than not that twist becomes the very thing that the movie is sold on, and often not too subtly. Witness the posters and covers that highlight Janet Leigh’s screaming face in the shower, the Statue of Liberty in half on the beach, the wicker man stood on a hilltop. In the case of No One Lives, you might very well go in much as our own Tristan did, not knowing which way it was all going to go – were it not that the promotional material (including but not limited to the rather lazy DVD cover art below) spells it out fairly clearly.
I’ll stop there. If you’re largely in the dark on No One Lives and would rather stay that way, then I’d recommend you go read Tristan’s review – his feelings on the film are largely the same as my own, and he doesn’t give any spoilers. Me – I’m going to spoiler the hell out of this thing. I don’t often do that, but I will today, partly just to diverge a little from what Tristan wrote (as I said, his assessment and mine aren’t too far removed), but also just because it’s sometimes nice to get into the specifics.
So – last warning, spoilers all the way from this point.
It’s a disingenuous title. Two people live, and you can see them on this page already. But let’s not get too pedantic.
Also – I’m not sure how big a surprise it is that Luke Evans is in fact the killer. Sure, the opening half hour or so tries to set him up as a relatively meek, mild-mannered everyman, so we’ll be taken aback when he reveals himself to be a homicidal maniac of epic proportions. Does that necessarily mean we’re genuinely shocked when the shit hits the fan? Watch any Bruce Lee movie, and more often than not for the first half hour or so he refuses to fight – but we still know he’s Bruce fucking Lee. The delay makes it that bit sweeter once the can of whoop-ass is finally opened.
Now, Luke Evans sure isn’t Bruce Lee, but when his unnamed anti-hero turns the tables on the gang holding him hostage and lets loose his monster (so to speak), it’s pretty sweet.
It’s curious how No One Lives can feel so very familiar when, to be fair, it does blend a variety of B-movie tropes in a relatively unique way. We have at least one unequivocal villain in Derek Magyar’s sadistic scumbag Flynn, and two true innocents in Adelaide Clemens’ abductee Emma and Gary Grubbs’ good natured motel manager, but otherwise this isn’t really a good guys/bad guys story; more one of varying degrees of badness. Evans in many respects has that same warped sense of honour we get from your typical slasher villain, only taking out those who really deserve it; yet Magyar aside, the same is true of the criminals. I guess the idea was to make things that bit less predictable. I don’t think it worked. You’ll still be counting down the moments between kills for the most part – but that’s not so bad, given how much fun the kills are when they come.
For director Ryûhei Kitamura, it’s very much following on in a similar spirit to his last US effort, The Midnight Meat Train; and it’s interesting to note, considering how that movie underperformed on release – alas, not unlike this one – that the DVD cover makes a point of emphasising the connection. But I guess that’s horror for you, as all the good stuff builds its reputation over the years (and hell, WWE have a sequel to See No Evil in the works, which was a long way from being a hit on release; the passage of time can do a lot). Like Kitamura’s Bradley Cooper/Vinnie Jones Clive Barker adaptation, No One Lives very much aims to augment its carnage with some distinctly oddball sensibilities, and as a result winds up coming off a bit smug, and not nearly as clever as it thinks it is. But again, I find myself forgiving that because once the violence hits it’s so agreeably gory and OTT – and, in a happy divergence from Midnight Meat Train, mostly practical, without much in the way of noticeable CG.
In a sense, sitting down to watch No One Lives is like stepping into a modern McDonalds. They’re dressing it all up a bit fancier than they used to, applying a different aesthetic, trying to feign sophistication – but ultimately you’re going there for the exact same trash, and that’s just what they’re dishing up. Meat, meat, meat, and lots of it. On which note – America Olivo. It reached the final act and I was literally just thinking, “hmm, so she’s doing her usual bad girl routine, but generally she only gets cast in roles when they want her to get her tits out. Guess she’s branching out… oh wait.” And along comes the longest shower scene in recent memory, ranking highly alongside the girl from Terror at the Opera putting in eye drops and listening to opera tapes on full-blast as one of the stupidest things for a character to do when they know full well the killer’s still after them. Once again – meat, meat, meat. But hey, we got a bit of similarly gratuitous Luke Evans naked man-ass earlier, so you can’t say they’re not striving for balance.
Still, walnut-cracking buttocks aside, what does Evans bring to the table…? This was clearly intended as a big calling card for the up-and-coming Welshman, and it would appear to have been successful given he’s followed it with Fast & Furious 6, and the upcoming Dracula Untold and the reboot of The Crow. I have to say, though, I’m not sure I can see the appeal. Sure, he’s a classic tall dark and handsome type with good physicality, but he just seems a bit nondescript to me. I’ve discussed this with others recently, and we all seem to agree that we’ve probably seen him in more films than we realise, but he always fades into the background: in The Raven he was totally overshadowed by Cusack’s impassioned Poe; in Tamara Drewe he is a pale memory next to Gemma Areterton’s Daisy Dukes. I’m really not sure he’s got quite the requisite charisma to carry a movie the way he has to here, which doesn’t bode too well for Dracula or The Crow.
There are many ways No One Lives could have been a stronger movie. A tighter script that kept things a bit simpler would have helped, and perhaps a stronger actor in the lead. But hey, since when was B-grade horror about getting everything perfect? If it wasn’t a little rough around the edges, it wouldn’t have the same appeal. Ultimately, this is a fun bit of action-infused horror that doesn’t outstay its welcome and delivers enough bang for buck to give you your money’s worth. And hey; it ain’t a sequel or a remake. I think we should all be pleased to see such fare coming out of a mainstream production house, and – even though the next two big horror titles on WWE’s roster ARE a sequel and a remake (the aforementioned See No Evil 2, and Leprechaun: Origins) – I think No One Lives is a good indicator that they’re taking on the genre in the right spirit. More of it, I hope.
No One Lives is out on Region 2 DVD and Blu-ray on 23rd September, from Anchor Bay.