After some bizarre events have left their friends dead at the hands of the monsters inside of an evil wax museum, Mark and Sarah make their way home, hoping to forget about everything they've witnessed. Within a few hours, a disembodied hand from one of the figures kills Sarah's stepfather, and despite getting rid of the evil hand afterwards, she is blamed for the murder. Soon, Sarah and Mark discover a compass that belonged to Mark's grandfather, which can help them traverse different dimensions, and will hopefully be able to help clear Sarah's name.
Last year I reviewed 1988's Waxwork, a pretty decent little horror/comedy with some good imagination to help make up for its weak start. Naturally, a sequel (and in this case, a DIRECT sequel) was released four years after the original's theatrical run, and so Waxwork II: Lost In Time, has come to be. If "Sequely" was an actual word, this would be it to a tee.
Director Anthony Hickox and star Zach Galligan are back, but unfortunately co-star Deborah Foreman turned down the offer to return as love interest Sarah Brightman (how in the hell did I miss making a joke about that last year?!), so she's replaced by a woman who looks absolutely nothing like her. Shockingly, I think I actually preferred newcomer Monika Schnarre though, who tries to bring a level of spunk and humor to a character that I thought was flat and irritating in the first. We're also treated to bit parts from David Carradine (R.I.P.) and Bruce Campbell, who naturally, are awesome for the little amount of time they have.
For the first two thirds of the movie, the idea of time hopping through what were essentially the same type of absurd and nonrealistic segments from the first film, confused me quite a bit, but one segment with an unhealthy amount of exposition later, any and all questions we have are answered. Almost immediately, the comedy starts to overtake the horror, and while I love both genres near and dear, I personally prefer a proper balance of the two, since I feel it wields the best results. The first Waxwork wasn't shy or subtle with its homages to a plethora of films from all across the board, but they turn it up to 11 this time around. I don't even have the time to list all of the parodies and homages I was able to spot, and some are even vital to the film's plot (including the ending). There is some pretty cheesy effects work going on as well, though it may been intentionally so. Also, better utterance of the phrase "Kill the bitch" EVER.
This film's kind of a mess, and way too silly at times, but it's the type of mess that you can have an enjoyable time with. I think a proper comparison would be that this is to Army of Darkness what Waxwork was to Evil Dead II. There seems to be a subliminal message to the audience, telling us "Don't take this too seriously," and that's the same advice I can give out. Watching it back to back with the original is the best route one can take.
Tomorrow, we're still sick with sequelitis, and I can hope that CREEPSHOW 2 is the cure.
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