Unseen Terror 2017: Day 29

It's 1957, and cocky, promiscuous Mary Lou Mahoney is setting out to have a blast at her high school prom. Unfortunately, a series of freakish events result in the woman burning to death that very evening at the event. Thirty years later, the young Vicki Carpenter is searching for a dress to wear to her own prom and comes across a trunk that contains all of the departed Mary Lou's accessories and belongings. After opening the container, she unknowingly unleashes the vengeful spirit of the would-be queen of the dance, who returns to seek revenge for her untimely demise, and if possible, find a new permanent host for her essence.



As you may recall, this year's Unseen Terror marathon kicked off with my first time viewing of 1980's proto-slasher Prom Night. I found that even with some fairly obvious flaws, the flick was lively in all the right areas, and ultimately worth a recommendation. As with many franchises that have made appearances on this blog over the span of seven years (Hellraiser comes to mind), the temptation to check out all three follow-ups and its unwanted remake was high, but not vital. Alas, I did hear some good feedback from people on social media about how Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II was actually worth a watch. Thanks to various websites/services still refusing to cooperate with me, original choices Inseminoid and Breeders were thrown back into the pile once more. Room must be made for a motion picture that features a spectacled Michael Ironside accidentally murdering someone with a stink bomb.


From the get-go, the tone of Hello Mary Lou feels drastically different than its predecessor. Supernatural and psychological horror elements permeate throughout its crisp running time, which wasn't present in director Paul Lynch's slow burn. It may not come as a surprise to hear that independent film company Samuel Goldwyn got a hold of something that was not related to Prom Night whatsoever and suggested that it be tweaked and marketed as a continuation of the motion picture that came out seven years earlier. New film head Bruce Pittman doesn't seem to believe in patiently building to a big bang of a climax (though its own third act is quite wonderful), but rather to score home runs as soon as possible. This can be a disappointment when you factor in how calm the first Prom Night was during its first hour, and it felt as though the new studio heads wanted this sequel to follow traditional "modern" slasher guidelines. Still, there are a great number of franchise entries that share only the most basic of similarities with the movies that preceded them (Aliens comes to mind). And sometimes you just want to watch a body count pile up over time.


Speaking of that, the first victim, who resembles a more "80s"-fied version of Angela Kinkade in the first Night of the Demons, is the recipient of a death that hints of extravagance, but teases the audience with something that unfortunately doesn't occur. Perhaps watching that 4K restoration of Suspiria yesterday was a bad idea since it spoiled me on the visual aspect of lives being ended. Regardless, the kills in Hello Mary Lou have more impact considering that its cast of characters are far more likeable this time around. During the first Prom Night, nearly every single soul was a different shade of unsympathetic asshole, and it just made you a bit impatient since all you wanted was to see them die as horrible a death as possible. Lead actress Wendy Lyon (Anne of Green Gables) adds a very innocent, personable quality to Vicki, and you're just fascinated by her constant visions. She's a very underrated performer in the "scream queen" field, and has the aura of a young Daryl Hannah. Without going too much into spoiler territory, Lyon's protagonist does a complete 180 towards the end of Hello Mary Lou's second act, becoming completely unhinged and reveling in devilish behavior.


If you can ignore the fact that Hello Mary Lou's full title features the words "Prom Night" on the marquee and home video releases, you actually have an engaging, if not somewhat standard slasher picture at your disposal. The pacing is good enough that you never feel bored, the acting is fairly solid, and the whole shebang is just plain fun. I'd even go so far as to say that I personally enjoyed it more than the Jamie Lee Curtis-led vehicle that was released around the end of the disco era (side note: why didn't you do an updated version of the Prom Night theme?!). As of this writing, the first sequel is available for streaming over on Amazon Prime, and if you're feeling ambitious enough, it can be purchased for either paltry or absurd amounts of cash. I have to offer some advice on the former DVD though: it contains the infamously bad Full Moon Entertainment release known as Killjoy.



.....wait a minute, have I even seen that particular one? Ugh, might have to do some rearranging.....again.




Tomorrow, we're closer to the end, and hopefully we are NOT concluding with Killjoy.

Unseen Terror 2017: Day 26 & 27

Huh, okay, I've calmed down now. Well, once again, things have taken a bit of a turn for Unseen Terror. I'd like to thank steaming service Plex for somehow forgetting my login information, and not cooperating no matter how many attempts it takes. This means that for the time being, original choices The Lure and Rings will have to wait on the sidelines. So, let's just get the two days' worth of flicks out of the way, shall we?

Xtro II: The Second Encounter, despite advertising itself as a sequel to that one particular flick I reviewed not that long ago, has nothing to do whatsoever with its predecessor. Rather, it plays out like a mixture of Aliens, Predator, and a primitive version of Stargate. It turns out that when writer/director Harry Bromley Davenport made the decision to begin work on a follow-up film, he didn't have the rights to his own work's storyline, but rather only the name itself. Not feeling completely deterred or defeated, he set out to work on a new motion picture anyway, believing that attaching the Xtro name would be enough of a draw for interested viewers. Yeah, that tactic of "we've got the name, that's all people want, right?" worked wonders for another, bigger movie didn't it?


This drastic change is felt almost immediately though, as the film just doesn't wish to be relatively self-contained or have the element of family drama like in Davenport's o.g. flick. The main plot (or whatever constitutes it) focuses on a team of supposed scientists who are working on interdimensional travel, and when one of their first guinea pigs accidentally brings back an unknown stowaway that bursts through its host, they band together to fight back and survive. As you can see, Xtro II is pretty shameless with showing off its influences (even the poster's tagline is a dead giveaway). But unlike the first Xtro, which was at least trying to establish its own identity, this just feels ludicrously lazy and like an excuse for some of its cast members to cosplay as bargain bin versions of the Colonial Marines.

And you thought I was kidding.

The fact that four separate writers were involved in creating Xtro II (hint: Davenport isn't one of them) is an absolute shocker considering that not only does it lack an original bone in its body, but there aren't even any memorable characters to be found. Shit, even the added presence of now-internet meme Jan-Michael Vincent can't bring this pile out of the tar pit that it's stuck in. According to several reports, he was rather disinterested while working on set, and ended up being fed all of his lines by the director himself. If you're combining this with the disconnect from the previous material, one can't be entirely surprised when you read interviews about HBD absolutely hating this entire picture. 

Look, despite the fact that I know friends who find it joyous whenever I bash a movie during my October marathon, there are very rare situations where I want one of my picks to be truly awful. I like being pleasantly surprised, especially when it can lead me to purchasing something on Blu-ray that I would have never considered doing before (Nights of the Demons, From Beyond, Popcorn). But Xtro II: The Second Encounter is junk. Pure, piss-soaked, shit-running-down-the-leg junk. Even if you decided to call it X.I.N.O (a.ka. "Xtro in Name Only)," it would still be a colossal waste of time. Do not seek it out. Pretend that it doesn't exist. Do not petition for this to receive a Blu-ray release. Let it rot.



Well, maybe you can demand that somehow we grab a hold of the print and digitally insert Brad Dourif into multiple shots. He can make anything better.



Well, with how atrocious Xtro II: The Second Encounter is, the plans for watching Xtro 3: Watch the Skies went flying out of the window. I just don't think I could handle anything else from this series of films. I'm in desperate need of a refresher.

I'm fully aware of what somebody might be saying right now: you're gonna cleanse your palette with a film that opens with musician John Mayer and comedian Bill Burr as a pair of lunkhead chemical waste drivers? Well heck, do you have a better idea? Regardless, 2014's Zombeavers, whose plot is pretty much what you think it is, kept evading Unseen Terror year after year, and it was merely because of what I'd call just plain procrastination. I love killer creature features, low budget trash, and discovering new horror-comedies. Plus, it's under ninety minutes, so I could knock this out before starting a shift at work if I played my cards right.


Sad as I am to have missed my initially scheduled films for these past two days, choosing Zombeavers turned out to be a pretty solid choice anyway. Once I noticed that the first sight of the titular, crazed critters made me howl with laughter that could have woken slumbering giants beneath the earth (that and hearing a screaming soundbite from Mortal Kombat II around the halfway mark), I knew that I was in for a splendidly silly time. Writer/director Jordan Rubin spent many years working in the realm of comedic shows like Crank Yankers and The Man Show, and one can tell that he must have been having a field day while conceptualizing this piece of cinema. Along with writers Al and Jon Kaplan, they turn in a script that is equal parts self-aware absurdness and small throwback to the 70s-era wave of Jaws knockoffs. True, not all of their jokes stick their landing, and most, if not all of the main characters are unlikeable/disposable schmucks, but when you're here to watch a film titled Zombeavers, does it really matter?


On the monster side of things, the bloodthirsty rodents look very, very cheap. It isn't on the level of something like say, The Killer Shrews, but more often than not, there are moments where you can clearly notice that they didn't care to put in any effort or spend any cash on making them look or move rather realistically. But gosh, they're so adorably comical that I forgave it almost immediately. There's also a fun twist revolving around their infection that occurs at around the hour-or-so mark of Zombeavers that leads to some entertaining and quite graphic gags. Up until that point, I was slightly concerned that the picture was actually holding back a bit in the gore department, but it felt as though the filmmakers were listening to their audience and winked back at us while sporting the biggest of shit-eating grins. It was a bit of a shame that these moments occur so late into its running time, but when you consider the meager amount of money that they likely had at their disposal, it's not a great offense.


Zombeavers isn't a masterpiece by any means, and is very, very stupid. But it's the absolute best kind of dumb that is sorely needed once in a blue moon. It won't win any awards, but when something like this sets out with the best of intentions and delivers on exactly what it promises, it's very hard to give it any real flack and doesn't necessarily need to earn any accolades from anybody besides the fans. Playing this back-to-back with releases such as Black Sheep or Alligator at a party isn't such a bad idea if you ask me, especially given its running time. As of this writing, this little ditty is available to stream on Netflix, and a purchasable, if not slightly highly-priced DVD is out there for interested parties as well.



.....hmm. What joke can I add at the end here? Erm, I guess I'll just say fuck Xtro II again then?




Tomorrow....well, I can't really promise that any one particular motion picture will pop up on here. Maybe something Italian? Maybe something from a notorious, but respected director? Maybe a Troma film? I guess your guess will be as good as mine!

Unseen Terror 2017: Day 3

Several years have passed since Mike Pearson battled the odd, seemingly unbeatable undertaker known as "The Tall Man," whom the young man believes is grave robbing and resurrecting recently-deceased corpses to do his bidding. Alas, no one will believe him, including his old family friend Reggie, who has saved him from his prior encounter with the benevolent being. After being locked up in a mental institution for quite some time, Mike eventually fakes his sanity and is released to the outside world. When the young man meets back up with Reggie, both begin to experience their fair share of out-of-the-ordinary incidents. These include the sudden death of Reggie's entire family, and visions of a young woman named Liz, who appears to have a psychic bond to Mike despite the two having never met face-to-face. The duo set out with two things in mind: save this mysterious lady from certain doom, and to finally kill this seemingly inhuman creation that continues to haunt them.



If one were to sit me down and ask that I compile a list of my personal top ten horror films, Don Coscarelli's 1979 relic Phantasm would undoubtedly make it onto that list. It's a creepy and wonderful little ditty that has just enough black humor, solid acting, and unique atmospheres sprinkled into its relatively short running time that helps keeps you invested. For the older audiences who were around for the glorious heyday of the 1980s scary movie explosion, the news of this particular motion picture receiving a sequel must have seemed like a huge surprise. After all, director Coscarelli admits that he really didn't know how to write a follow-up to the picture, though once he discovered that it could take place immediately after the events of the previous film had ended, he figured that it was better late than never.



Thankfully, it looks like Coscarelli was able to get most of what he wanted out of Phantasm II. Virtually everyone from the original flick's cast is able to return after nearly a decade has gone by, though there are two very notable omissions: Bill Thornbury, whose character of Jody is presumed dead, and A. Michael Baldwin, who previously played the young protagonist Mike Pearson. Sadly, the latter had apparently dropped out of the acting game, so the studio forced Coscarelli to recast him with James LeGros: a relative unknown at the time who previously had bit parts in pictures such as Near Dark and the perplexingly-titled Solarbabies. LeGros is a fine substitute (if not a bit old for this role), but if the only reason as to why he was cast instead of original star Baldwin was because the latter chose to not pursue a career in Hollywood, then you should have taken some of that studio money and made an offer for the O.G. Mike to return. Thankfully, that wasn't the case with Reggie Banister, who is given a larger chunk of time to do much more than he did in the first Phantasm, and he just seems to be relishing every single moment in Phantasm II. He's one of horror's more underrated "badasses," doing things that include taking part in a chainsaw duel and fighting off a good chunk of these pint-sized minions (who seem to resemble cancer-stricken Jawas this time around). Of course, the late Angrus Scrimm delivers another triumphant performance as the Tall Man, but I don't think any single viewer would have ever doubted that he wouldn't turn one in. There isn't much to discuss when it comes to the new on-screen presences either, as even with some relatively inconsistent writing, new additions like Paula Irvine (who looks like a combination of Patricia Arquette and Debbie Harry) are still welcome in this bizarre universe. On an unrelated note, Phantasm II is also loaded with beautifully grotesque makeup and gore effects, which come courtesy of the legendary Greg Nicotero. And the updated version of the iconic theme by Fred Myrow is effectively creepy too.



Ah, but I did mention that Coscarelli got "most" of what he wanted with this sequel, yes? Well, it's unfortunate that reports of studio interference have become more well-known over the years, because it does explain why there are many things in Phantasm II that don't work. One of the most effective things about the first entry in this (now) franchise was this dreamlike state that the entire experience seemed to be going in and out of. As wonky as it may sound on paper, it just worked, and helped create this real sense of dread and feeling as if this world was coming undone. There are more dream sequences this time around, but they feel too overused and don't really pack the same punch that they should. That, and considering how abnormally pretty the motion picture looks (they sure didn't have a problem taking advantage of that higher budget), the abundance of bright colors mixed into the product after so many odd transitions can often cause you to get a headache or forcefully adjust the levels on your television set. A lot of the mystique and unanswered questions surrounding the prior movie remain unsolved and unknown, and by the time the credits have rolled, I wouldn't be entirely shocked if some aspects and plot details of the flick leave you feeling more perplexed than intrigued. There's also a very predictable twist that occurs towards the end of Phantasm II which does feel slightly disappointing, even if it does result in a memorable moment or two.


While it leaves a lot of our questions unanswered and does feel mildly confusing up until a certain point, Phantasm II is still a fairly qualified sequel in a land chocked full of far too many inadequate and unnecessary ones. The good outweighs the bad, and the bad is far from truly wretched or offensive (we haven't reached those ones just yet people). I don't know if it warrants an immediate buy, but if one has access to streaming service HBO Go, then you can currently view it on there for no extra charge. If you are still a firm believer of purchasing discs, however, then you can grab a cheap copy on DVD (packaged with other Unseen Terror alumni such as The Serpent and the Rainbow and Sssssss) or on Blu-Ray thanks to the always-reliable folks at Shout! Factory.



And while you're at it, maybe you can find one of those deadly spheres for my birthday. I need it for....personal reasons.



Tomorrow, we just can't get out of this gosh darn time period, and let Brian Yuzna of Re-Animator fame make his first appearance this year!

Unseen Terror 2014: Day 29 & Day 30

New home owners Jesse and Kate have arrived at the residence of his now-deceased parents, who were murdered when he was an infant. They settle in fine, and soon, their friends Charlie and Lana decide to pay a visit, primarily hoping that Kate will give the latter a chance to be signed to her record label. When digging around in the basement, the two men come across an old photograph of Jesse own great-great-grandfather, holding a crystal skull and posing in front of a Mayan temple. Curious as to the whereabouts of this artifact, they dig up the old man's casket and are attacked by his corpse, though "Gramps," as he will soon be known, settles down once he discovers Jesse's lineage. With this revival, however, comes an unearthing of strange forces who also wish to possess the skull, and the younger men will have to traverse many worlds connected to this house in order to protect it.


Despite watching and posting my thoughts on last year's House, which I came away from fairly satisfied and happy overall, I remember virtually nothing about it. I don't suspect that this was the movie's fault, but more or less my own since I'll be the first to admit that I don't have the strongest memory sometimes when it comes to movies that don't blow me away upon first time viewings. What I do recall is that it spawned three sequels in six years, and that the franchise is generally regarded as the type that gets significantly worse with the more installments that are released (here's looking at you Jaws and Hellraiser). But heck, House II: The Second Story actually has direct involvement with most of the crew who worked on the first film, including writer Ethan Wiley (who is also sitting in the director's chair for this one), initial story creator Fred Dekker (of The Monster Squad and Night Of The Creeps fame), and producer Sean S. Cunningham (Friday The 13th). How bad could it truly be?


Well, perhaps to House II's credit, it isn't as terrible as I imagined that it would be. Wiley's sequel may currently be sitting at a frighteningly bad 0% on RottenTomatoes.com, but I don't think that the rating is completely fair or justified. After all, this penned project should not be viewed as a horror-comedy, but rather as the complete opposite: a comedy with the occasional element of horror peeking in from around the corner. I didn't expect to make a comparison to infamously-ridiculous followups to beloved horror entries such as Sam Raimi's third entry in the Evil Dead trilogy, Army Of Darkness (House II coming out the same year as Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn could not have been a coincidence), but it isn't unwarranted. There is very little that will scare audiences of any age, and save for one moment of a head being blow off by multiple shotgun shells (which is still done without a single drop of blood being spilled), I wouldn't be entirely upset if parents today showed this to their own children. The supporting characters, be they once-human or never-human, are way too delightful to be frightening. That does work against House II at times, since the comedy is occasionally pretty dreadful or just too sitcom-like for someone such as me.


On the subject of sitcoms, I'm starting to wonder if there is going to be several recurring themes in these flicks should I choose to watch numbers three and four in the near future. Once again, we have a performer from Cheers in a supporting role (George Wendt in the prior installment, John Ratzenberger this time around). The poster is a severed hand ringing a doorbell. The antagonist is an older enemy with a closer connection to the hero than we originally realized. Don't get me wrong, I see these type of things all of the time in various motion pictures (see Transformers 1-4. Actually, don't see those, stick with the Gamera movies from the 60s and 70s. Maybe), but you have to wonder if Dekker might have just been running low on time, especially since this was released only fifteen months after the first film was. The climax also feels incredibly rushed, as if the crew forgot that they were strapped for time, and thusly had to write a more serious finale that takes a radical 180 degree turn.


As long as you're willing to kick back, take off your shoes, grab a big bag of popcorn, and enter into the picture with a mentality of "just go with it," you could have a decently fun time with this inferior, though still slightly amusing sequel. There's some wacky comedy, some nice stop-motion homages to long-time greats and pioneers such as Ray Harryhausen, and a baby pterodactyl brought to life by veteran voice actor Frank Welker, who has too many notable characters on his resume that I care to name now.



And tell me that you don't want a pug-a-pillar. He's the cutest creation that I've seen since the Dorats in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. Just look at him. LOOK AT HIM I SAY.

A collector of rare books, Dean Corso is puzzled by a request to meet with literature connoisseur Boris Balkan. Though primarily motivated by greed, Dean is attracted by the older gentleman's task that is given to him. Within a short period of time, Balkan has attained a copy of the infamous title "The Nine Gates Of The Kingdom Of The Shadows," a book that was rumored to have been co-written by Lucifer himself, and even has a rumored incantation that will summon the dark lord to this plane. He assigns Corso with the command to track down two other prints of this work stored around other parts of the world, intending to prove that his copy is authentic. Should it not be, he must acquire the one that is. Such a desire shall not come without mystic occurrences or consequences though.


Well, hello Mr. Roman Polanski, it sure is nice to see you again after I was essentially blown away by my first time viewing of Rosemary's Baby last year. Why I haven't chosen to take a gander at another entry in your "apartment" trilogy is beyond me, but as it stands, I'll try sitting through a screening of your 1999 project, the occasionally derided, yet equally praised The Ninth Gate. Sure, you still may be a scumbag for what you did in the past that caused you to flee the United States, but I've watched films by Victor Salva and listened to records from radically insane black metal bands, so why wouldn't I give you another chance in the department of cinema, especially after I adored your most well-known piece?...Okay, I'm nowhere near clever enough for a review to be done in that smarmy style, so I'll just stick with what I know and what I do best.


But what do I know after watching The Ninth Gate? Well, it's kind of hard to say what one comes away with after watching a motion picture as odd and somewhat messy as this one. As a screenwriter and director, Roman Polanski has always been able to use the "slow burn" effect to his advantage, keeping his fans and critics intrigued while building up to what ultimately ends up being a pretty damn powerful conclusion. This flick proves to be no exception to his trademark, but even through some of its moments of creepiness, it is quite lethargic by his standards. It's actually a little misleading to call this a pure horror film too, as the journey and investigation for the books plays out more like an old-time mystery, complete with some "whodunnit" parts and enigmatic, unidentified characters popping up here and there. Wojciech Kilar's (Bram Stoker's Dracula) wonderfully eerie score helps build upon this assumption too, but hey, as long as I'm not bored, then I don't particularly care what you choose to call or classify your picture as.


In the acting department, Johnny Depp is doing what pre-Pirates Of The Caribbean Johnny Depp does. He is somewhat restrained for most of the time that he's in front of the camera, but when you consider that the character of Corso is so damn intent on just getting his job done and going home again, you can't really act surprised by this choice to play it safe. On the opposite side of things, Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon) and Lena Olin (Alias, Mystery Men) seem to be having a lot more fun trying to make their portrayals of Boris and Liana that much more interesting, especially in the case of the latter. Olin starts to dive into campy territory, but despite this and a decision to have a buffer-looking version of rapper Sisqo as her bodyguard, it's saved by her resurgence and fairly dark true intentions towards the end. And if we're talking about people reentering the movie, if you remove the main gist of the plot, the here-and-there appearances of French actress Emmanuelle Seigner (the current wife of Polanski himself) prove to be the most fascinating thing about the entire ordeal. Simply referred to as "The Girl," she's fairly captivating to look at, and even by the end, I wasn't quite certain as to who, what, or why she was involved with Depp's protagonist. In terms of further compliments, there's also one potential misogynistic spoiler far down below as well. I'd list it in this paragraph, but I'm too much of a gentleman to do so.


When I was writing my notes down for this review, I was initially confused as to why so many critics at the time compared it to Rosemary's Baby and his earlier works. Outside of the involvement with Satan and some general occult shenanigans, I saw very little that it shared with its "predecessor." If anything, it plays out not unlike an episode of Master of Horror that genre legend John Carpenter would direct eight years later, the disturbing "Cigarette Burns." Then, the conclusion came. This was the absolute defining moment for The Ninth Gate, since it barely makes a lick of sense, and seeps into the disappointing, truly scary realms of the bizarre and the somewhat clunky. I had to look up several interpretations of the ending and still couldn't quite piece it together. And yet, this one is still worth a watch, though I don't imagine that most frequently-impatient viewers will be able to stomach a large portion of it. Most hardcore Johnny Depp fans will probably get a kick out of seeing him in his first horror-based role since A Nightmare On Elm Street, and it's enough to make up for some of the dreck he's been attached to recently.




There is no bit of silliness to add this time. Because tomorrow, we're going to be done with this shebang. And tomorrow's final entry will come full circle…




















Oh boy, did Emmanuelle Seigner look good naked. And I do mean REALLY GOOD.

Unseen Terror 2012: Day 26

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.