Night Of The Demons 2 (1994)

JUNE 13, 2009

GENRE: COMEDIC, SUPERNATURAL
SOURCE: DVD (ONLINE RENTAL)

Since I wasn't exactly overwhelmed with the original Night of the Demons, I have hopes for the upcoming remake. The filmmakers behind it have had twenty years to know what worked (lipstick) and what didn't (the pace) and fashion a better film from the concept. And if it turns out well, I hope they do the same for Night Of The Demons 2, which I honestly feel exactly the same about as I did the original.

It literally suffers from the same problems while keeping my interest with the same highlights, to the extent where I'd have to flip a coin to decide which one was better. It's more or less the exact same movie - Halloween party, Angela, sluggish pace, great makeup... even the goddamn lipstick makes a return. Since it's an entirely different creative team (original director Kevin Tenney sat this one out, though he returned to write the third one), you'd think they would try to put their own stamp on things, but if there was any, I missed it.

One thing that did impress me was that it was hard to pinpoint who the survivors would be. You'd think it was Christine Taylor's character, and not just because she's the only one that has gone on to have some semblance of a career. She is slightly more sympathetic than her fellow sorority sisters, doesn't get naked, and doesn't allow her boyfriend to get past 2nd base. Typical Final Girl behavior, but alas she is demonized, seemingly cured, and written out of the movie without any sort of wrapup for her character. On the other hand, the hot redhead gets naked and at least has the intent of having sex (a scream disrupts her boyfriend putting the condom on), but she is our Final Girl. Likewise, the presumed male heroes are offed, leaving the rather bland one to take on Angela during the finale.

At least, in theory he would. This movie has one of the most baffling conclusions I can recall, and keep in mind I've seen all of the Phantasm films. An ass-kicking nun gets her head lopped off, but another one pops up in its place (she credits this to having faith). Angela tries to get her sister to cut off someone else's head so she can gain her power (going by Highlander rules, I guess), but a holy water super soaker saves the day and everyone is OK. Except the spirit/demon/whatever has somehow found its way back inside the goddamn lipstick tube again.

In a way, though, I actually found this kind of charming, because it's so damn "huh?" worthy. Sort of like the opening scene, where a bunch of nearly nude guys spy on the not really nude girls across the street with a pair of binoculars, or when a blond guy's head is cut off and a dummy head with black hair is seen hitting the floor. Not so charming, however, is the movie's insistence on having a (non demon-y) Angela seduce another female character only to cut away as soon as they begin to make out. Bad form, movie, bad form.

And this seemingly bothered/amused me too, but I haven't the slightest goddamn clue what it says. Tudor? Quiddar? 9 wd hr? You try and decipher it.

The others are "Cow Suit", "Black Hair" and "Huh?", for clarification.

Oh, and there's a guy with a cow suit at the party. Since it's Halloween, you can expect all manner of costumes, but either because they couldn't afford enough costumes, or all of the anonymous student characters were simply lazy, because I'd say only about a quarter of them are dressed up for the occasion, making the cow guy stick out. I don't know if this is common to all big cities, but back in Boston, there was a guy in a cow suit who would seemingly always be at every concert or sports event. Anyone from Boston know who I'm talking about? He still around?

So I dunno, if you loved the first one, you'll probably love this one too. It's more of the same, albeit slightly more comedic (and even slower paced, it takes 55 minutes to get going as opposed to 45 or so), but the last act is fast paced, the girls are hot, a guy is eaten by some boobs, and it features a nun getting her weaponry together a la Ash in the Evil Dead films. Entertaining, but forgettable.

What say you?