47 METERS DOWN: UNCAGED

UK, USA/2019

Directed By: Johannes Roberts

Written By: Ernest Riera, Johannes Roberts

Starring: Sophie Nelisse, Corinne Foxx, Brianne Tju

Color/90 Minutes/PG-13

Region A

Release Date: November 12, 2019

Blu-ray/DVD

The Film 

2017 saw the release of Johannes Roberts' tension filled shark thriller 47 Meters Down which was featured a simple idea of two sisters being stuck on the Ocean floor, locked in a shark cage as their oxygen depletes. The film was flawed but it had a decent premise and some good production quality. I don't remember anyone clamoring for a sequel but that didn't stop one from being made and this time there's no cage. 

47 METERS DOWN: UNCAGED introduces an entirely new story and set of characters featuring four teen girls who sneak into an underwater archaeology site of a newly discovered sunken Mayan city. This diving adventure starts well enough until an accident knocks over some massive statues and some blind deepwater sharks enter the fray making the desperate search for another way out before their oxygen levels deplete all the more dangerous. 

The Mayan city setting was absolutely stunning and I wish we somehow could have had more of it before all the dust gets kicked up and this becomes another shark attack film. The deepwater sharks and fish have an eerie translucent glow about them but their CGI rendering is spotty at times and there's some genuinely stupid moments like when a fish literally screams at one of the girls for a jump scare. This moment where any sort of serious filmmaking jumps the shark (punny punny) and took me out of it to the point where I struggled to settle back in for a while. I did appreciate that there's a good amount of shark violence and not just stalking around and near misses, specifically in the ending scene that cruelly throws the survivors into the jaws of these killer sharks almost relentlessly. 

I found 47 METERS DOWN: UNCAGED to lack the tension and acting quality of the original but did give us some eye catching set pieces and shark action but it relies on repetitious situations, and largely poor looking sharks. It's inoffensive but nothing more. 

The Audio & Video

Lionsgate delivers 47 METERS DOWN: UNCAGED on Blu-ray with a beautiful looking 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that features stunning clarity with vivid colors and high levels of detail. Black levels are deep and inky and the picture quality is as gorgeous as the locations featured within. The English audio is presented in a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix with optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles. The audio is crisp and clear with no crackling, popping or other imperfections. The mix is nicely done and mixed well across all channels with proper balance in dialogue and soundtrack. 

The Extras

-"Diving Deeper: Uncaging 47 Meters Down" - a making-of featurette
-Audio commentary with writer/director Johannes Roberts, producer James Harris and writer Ernest Riera

The Bottom Line
This isn't reinventing the shark movie wheel by any means. Its familiar territory that could possibly make for an okay use of time on a rainy Sunday afternoon but otherwise you can do better. 

47 METERS DOWN: UNCAGED is available HERE

RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD PART 2 (Scream Factory Blu-ray Review)

USA/1988
Directed By: Ken Wiederhorn
Written By: Ken Wiederhorn
Starring: James Karen, Thom Mathews, Michael Kenworthy
Color/89 Minutes/R
Region A
Release Date: August 14, 2018

The Film
Following in the footsteps of the original Return Of The Living Dead, RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD PART 2 has a similar set up and plot revolving around a group of people fighting to survive a zombie outbreak after a toxic gas has been unleashed from a lost Army container. Unlike the first film that while having a healthy dose of comedy was definitely geared toward adult audiences with plenty of gore and nudity, the sequel is based more in comedy than horror and is a much more family friendly affair.

Writer and director Ken Wiederhorn is best known for his work in the horror genre having helmed films such as the Nazi zombie drive-in staple Shock Waves and the early 80s serial killer flick Eyes Of A Stranger, Wiederhorn's most notable and popular work is RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD PART 2. Ironically Wiederhorn isn't much of a fan of the horror genre and has gone on record many times stating that. Knowing that it is obvious why he took this sequel in a decidedly more humorous and family friendly direction concerned more about laughs than shocks. From the opening ten minutes of the film it is immediately apparent that this is not going to be a tonal rehash of the first film as we're quickly introduced to a trio of kids, not old enough to be in high school. Along with the youthful presence is a whimsical score that wouldn't be out of place in a children adventure movie like The Goonies.

Fans of the first film may have been thrown for a loop early on but I suspect a wave of comfort (and slight confusion as well) washed over them when James Karen and Thom Mathews appeared on screen. These two played a classic duo in the original and despite having died make their return as different characters in the sequel albeit in similar roles. They even repeat their classic "Watch your tongue boy, if you like this job!" "Like this job!?" exchange much to my personal delight. Then the zombies start coming and any remaining doubt that this isn't going to be like the first film is erased as the slapstick is introduced. Instead of making these zombies menacing and scary Ken Wiederhorn has them bumbling around the graveyard, stepping on each other's heads as they climb out of their resting places, falling into empty graves and eventually driving military jeeps around town while flailing about.

These zombies are still dangerous and gross. These undead monsters want brains and will chase you down to get them. Like the first film these zombies run and even a gunshot to the head won't stop them. There's a bit of gore on display to keep a slight edge to the film and make-up effects artist Kenny Myers and his team created dozens of decayed designs that I think are overlooked in the world of zombie design because they're in a more comedic film. That's not Kenny Myers' fault who I think did a superb job in keeping the horror aspects of this horror movie in tact enough so that it works because without the horror in this movie it would be a big goofy mess. And while it is goofy it's goofy in a charming way and there's enough horror to keep things moving along at a nice pace. If there's one thing RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD 2 could never be accused of it is being slow or boring. There's always something to laugh at or get excited by.

Yes, RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD 2 is a wacky departure from the first film and no, it is not a slice of counter culture goodness that the first film is but it is a wildly entertaining film that has its tongue planted firmly in cheek and after nearly a quarter century of me being a fan of it I think I can safely call it timeless. It is funny in ways that will always be funny and the scary bits are scary in ways that will always be scary. It may not be as good as the first but I will shout it from the mountaintops that I love RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD PART 2.

The Audio & Video
Scream Factory has restored the film with a new 2K scan of the original interpositive to very nice results. The film has always had a hazy and soft look from the way it was lit and photographed and that remains the case here but that doesn't detract from the obvious and sizable upgrade over the old DVD release of the film. Colors are vivid but realistic while detail is enhanced quite a bit which makes the zombies look even more ghoulish. Black levels are appropriately dark and there's no signs of pixelation or blocking up. The DTS-HD Master Audio is crystal clear and provides a crisp listening experience. The mix is perfectly done letting the dialogue come through loud and clear while the music shines when it needs to. The audio is free of any sort of damage or distortions like crackling, popping, or hissing.

The Extras
I... Want... Your... Brains!!! Whoops, I mean special features and there are plenty of them.

-Audio commentary with star Suzanne Snyder
-Audio commentary with Gary Smart (Co-author of The Complete History Of The Return Of The Living Dead) and filmmaker Christopher Griffiths
-Audio commentary with writer/director Ken Wiederhorn and actor Thor Van Lingen
-"Back To The Dead" - Featurette with special effects supervisor Kenny Myers (and others)
-"The Laughing Dead" - Featurette with writer/director Ken Wiederhorn
-"They Won't Stay Dead" - a look at ROTLD2
-"Undead Melodies" - Featurette with composer J. Peter Robinson
-Archival featurette from the set
-Archival interviews
-Interview with actor Troy Fromin
-Behind-the-scenes footage
-Theatrical trailer
-Teaser trailer
-TV Spots
-Poster artwork still gallery
-Special effects makeup still gallery

The Bottom Line
This sequel's Blu-ray release was long overdue but Scream Factory made the wait worth it with a release featuring a great transfer and a slew of special features that definitely lives up to its "Collector's Edition" banner. And let us not overlook that the movie finally has been released with its original soundtrack for the first time since the VHS days. If you have any brains you'd go get it now.

RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD 2 is available HERE

ANOTHER WOLFCOP (Blu-ray Review)

Canada/2017
Directed By: Lowell Dean
Written By: Lowell Dean
Starring: Leo Fafard, Yannick Bisson, Amy Matysio
Color/79 Minutes/Not Rated
Region A
Release Date: July 3, 2018


The Film
A year after the events of the first film the town of Woodhaven is home to a new brewery being opened by a devious entrepreneur named Swallows (Yannick Bisson) who plans to use his new Chicken Milk Stout to attack the local population with stomach bursting monsters. It is up to the local police force led by the wolfcop himself Lou Garou to stop Swallows and save Woodhaven.

A few years have gone by since the release of Wolfcop but it is still fresh in the mind's of horror fans including myself and I was cautiously excited about the sequel being released. My trepidation comes from plenty of prior experiences where a successful modern indie horror movie spawns a far less successful sequel, losing the magic that the first film had created. ANOTHER WOLFCOP clocks in at only 79 minutes and upon seeing that runtime I was a bit less worried as it seemed that writer/director Lowell Dean had a tight idea for a sequel that can hit all the beats and get us in and out in a whirlwind of lycanthrope action but what I was presented was a mess of a story that only sort of comes together and more ideas that are used for laughs than to actually progress the story. The stomach monster angle only gives the character of Willie Higgins (Johnathan Cherry) a minor inconvenience to deal with and otherwise doesn't have any real point.

The special effects are a high point for the film with the wolf suit looking excellent yet again including some simple yet effective transformation scenes. There's plenty of gore including limbs getting lopped off and guts getting ripped out all of which are dripped with blood and will please the gore hounds. The effects work on the stomach monsters isn't bad either except for the one on Willie Higgins which looks like a cheap piece of rubber with a shitty face painted on it. I can see that monster design being a style choice based on how good all of the other effects were but it doesn't work either way. It's played for laughs but it's painfully unfunny which is a running theme as this is very much a horror comedy but the laughs are sporadic.

I am being rough on the movie because even though I approached the film with tempered expectations I still felt disappointed and cheated. Wolfcop had a great idea and was well thought out and executed with skill. Perhaps most importantly it felt fresh and didn't force itself to be everything else, it was happy being Wolfcop for better and for worse. ANOTHER WOLFCOP tries so hard to be everything all at once. It is bloated with references and nods to make it feel relevant to current genre trends. It has a bunch of ideas but none of them are thought through to conclusion and there's a lot of clutter in its 79 minutes. There are moments I enjoyed and I thought the use of the moon rock was ingenious but ANOTHER WOLFCOP feels more like any film that would have come out a decade ago towards the start of this "grindhouse revival" we find ourselves in than a sequel to one of the great horror comedies of the last few years.

The Audio & Video
ANOTHER WOLFCOP comes to Blu-ray courtesy of RLJE Films who previously released the first film and it looks and sounds excellent. The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer features a crystal clear picture with a vibrant color palette, especially with the bloody reds. Detail is strong letting the special effects work shine and giving way to great looking surfaces and textures. There's no signs of edge enhancement or excessive DNR use. The audio is presented in a 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio mix that is crisp and mixed perfectly between the dialogue and rocking soundtrack. There's no distortions or other audio hiccups to mention.

The Extras
-"The Making Of Another Wolfcop"
-"Friends & Foes: Meet The Cast"
-"The Monster Shop" - Special FX featurette
-"Shoot Or Die: Surviving On The Set"

The Bottom Line
While there's a good bit of gore and some scattered laughs, ANOTHER WOLFCOP simply felt slapped together and a weak story with very little actual Wolfcop makes for a rather disappointing follow up.

ANOTHER WOLFCOP is available HERE

THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT (2018)

USA/2018

Directed By: Johannes Roberts

Written By: Bryan Bertino, Ben Katai

Starring: Bailee Madison, Christina Hendricks, Emma Bellomy

The Strangers hit theaters in 2008 and found great success at the box office despite mixed reviews. I found the movie to be a tense and altogether unnerving home invasion film. The trio of killers, two female and one male each wearing a different mask, were relentless but patient, and certainly cold and calculating. They seemed to take as much joy in the process as they did the kill. When asked by one of their victims why they were doing this they offered a simple response; "Because you were home." It offered no insight or sense of reasoning and made for a chilling scene. A decade later the film holds up, aided by its score that sets the atmosphere which is a backbone for the film. 

Now a decade later a sequel has been released. THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT features a similar plot as the trio of killers stalk a family who plan to spend some time with relatives before dropping their daughter off at a boarding school. The secluded park is mysteriously empty and it doesn't take long for the masked killers to begin preying on the family but find resistance from the teenage brother and sister who fight for their survival with every ounce of strength they have. 

THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT sounds like a very similar sequel on paper, and in many ways it is but instead of focusing on tension and building suspense this sequel takes a more is more approach and turns the film into an almost straight forward slasher film, complete with final girl. The tone of the film has shifted from stalking and atmosphere to bigger and louder like literally driving a truck into the trailer's living room. I wouldn't say The Strangers was a smart film, certainly effective but it isn't smarter than your average home invasion film but it's successor certainly is dumber. And bloodier. There's no shortage of blood in the original film but there's no holding back here, even giving us a couple of gorier shots but it's not enough for the film to fall back on to become a full blown slasher. The film still wants to be a tension based home invasion horror film and keeps its roots in that area but it desperately wants to fit in with the best slasher films of the 80s. There's plenty of 80s nostalgia thrown shamelessly at the audience and two of the moments during the climax and end of the film are embarrassingly cliched ripoffs from Christine and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Groan inducing describes it pretty well. 

There's two sides to every coin though and some of that 80s nostalgia simply works at least in a single scene vaccum. Blasting Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" while a boy fights for his life alongside and in a pool while the music fades in and out as the boy goes underwater and comes up for each breath and the entire scene is drenched in the rainbow of light from neon palm trees. Maybe it's my fondness for the song but I believe this scene oozes style and is fucking brilliantly done. In fact there's plenty of moments that the movie shows a visual flare that I really dig, to the point where as the closing credits rolled I thought "If I was making a slasher film I'd want the cinematographer of this film to shoot it for me." and after looking up Ryan Samul's other credits I'm not totally surprised as he's shot some good looking horror films over the last 15 years including Stake Land and Mulberry Street. And I have to give a mention to Bailee Madison who stars as the troubled daughter Kinsey, the lead that the film revolves around. While the acting in the movie is all decent and more than competent, I think Madison proves she can play the final girl pretty well and I wouldn't mind seeing her in more horror films. 

THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT is confused, not knowing what it wanted to be. It's too into being a nostalgia act for slashers to successfully reproduce what worked about the original but it isn't even a good slasher when you get down to it. I didn't totally hate it, I loved how it looked and the music choices, I really loved one scene, but it's a mess and I'm not totally surprised as I haven't yet found a film from director Johannes Roberts that I am a fan of. I can't say my expectations weren't met as I didn't have any but I was at least a bit hopeful that it would be a surprise hit to me like its predecessor. Alas THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT is at best a harmless cliche and at worst a shitty nostalgia act. I've seen some reviews absolutely tearing it apart and I don't think it's that bad, not even close but it definitely isn't good. 

But damn, do I love that pool scene. 

VICTOR CROWLEY (2017) Review

Directed By: Adam Green
Written By: Adam Green
Starring: Parry Chen, Laura Ortiz, Kane Hodder
On Blu-ray and DVD February 6, 2018

Adam Green's Hatchet series has relied on buckets of blood and a tone that successfully toes the line of comedy and serious slasher film. The laughs are not at the expense of the scare and fully add to an atmosphere and vibe that I would describe as a "party slasher". This is the type of horror movie designed to have a raucous crowd, hooting and hollering with each and every exceedingly gory kill sequence. The story is presented straight but light enough so that it isn't down beat and designed more to thrill the viewer than to chill them. The first three installments in the franchise have been largely successful at this with groups of characters that are developed enough, or just plain likable enough that we connect with them and care about them. From Deon Richmond's longing for a Moons Over My Hammy from Denny's in the first film to Colton Dunn's biscuit song in part 2, we're given reasons to enjoy the time we spend with these people that are merely scraps for the meat grinder in true slasher film fashion. I won't pretend the films are perfect but I have an absolute blast with them and proudly sing their praises so when I heard the surprise news that a forth installment was not only announced but actually already finished and screening I couldn't wait to get my hands on another gore soaked adventure into Honey Island Swamp.

Titled after the monstrous, deformed, undead murderer of the swamp, VICTOR CROWLEY wastes no time bringing the comedy in to the film with a bit of a prequel gross out gag that quickly turns in to the gore fest we're used to and then it keeps going. Following in the footsteps of its predecessors VICTOR CROWLEY is a gore hound's wet dream. Arterial blood sprays are common place and limbs fly around like beads at Mardi Gras. People are scalped, stomped, mutilated with a hammer (claw end of course) and just plain fucked up. The special effects aren't going to pass for real life but they're well done and incredibly fun and fully believable. This is the meat and potatoes of the Hatchet series and writer/director Adam Green knows how to deliver it in droves. His monstrous creation and titular character Victor Crowley looks menacing with his design here. He's hulking and massive, his deformed and mutilated face are horrifying. Kane Hodder returns to wear the suit and provide the kills in a way it seems only he can. I do have to say that the quality of the makeup and suit look to be on the cheap side. The design is good but the execution is lacking in the scenes where we get a long clear look at Crowley, of which there are plenty. 

On a similar note, the sets and production also feel lacking and look and feel way too much like a soundstage and too little like an actual swamp. The film is comprised almost entirely of medium shots using which exposes how little to each little set location there really is. I like the look and design of the swamp, especially the areas in which the tours have set up their attractions in but we never get a good look at any area that looks to be more than ten or twelve yards across. The size of those set pieces are a small complaint compared to how much time is spent in the fuselage of a crashed airplane. I'd estimate that 2/3 of the movie is spent inside this plane as Crowley picks off someone one by one as they try to make their escape or he goes after inside the plane. The pacing is really off at these moments when we're left with a group of survivors doing basically nothing and all we can do is hope someone dies soon so the movie progresses. Eventually it does and a lot of bodies drop in a small amount of time which again feels oddly paced. 

The group of characters in VICTOR CROWLEY are a very uneven group as far as likability goes. As far as I'm concerned Parry Shen is a total star in these movies. He's been in each film as different characters and returns in his role of Andrew from part 3, now shilling a book of his tale of survival from the events a decade earlier. Shen is naturally funny without having to try too hard and forcing it, he's also able to bring a well rounded performance that is both strong and vulnerable. He excels in all situations and is easily the best part of the series front to back. Laura Ortiz makes her debut in the franchise as Rose, a character that started out being a bit grating for me but by the end I was totally on her side and rooting for her. Ortiz will be a familiar face to Adam Green followers as she starred in his sitcom series Holliston and also appeared in his segment for the anthology horror film Chillerama. She brings a cute ditsy and sometimes clueless type humor to the picture that ends up working more as the film moves along. There's plenty of other characters and familiar faces that stand out like Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp) as Parry Shen's agent. Her forced accent is unbearable and I found myself disappointed in how much I loathed her. I was more disappointed in how quickly Tezz Yancey comes and goes. He's fantastic in his very limited screen time and I would have loved to see how his character reacted to Victor Crowley.  

I found VICTOR CROWLEY to be a mixed bag with the gory kills appealing to the lowest common denominator part of my brain and having major gripes with some of the writing such as a major part toward the end of the film that makes no logical sense and has no place in the timeline of the movie that only serves as a convenient way to set up the climax. This also happens earlier in the film when *SPOILER the plane crashes for no reason. One second it's flying fine, the next there's a brief mention of slight turbulence and then it's plunging toward the swamp. *END SPOILER There are some stylish choices here and some unfortunate cutaways. There's one scene where we watch Crowley stalk a victim through the windows of the downed plane, slowly going in and out of view as he passes each window and metal body section of the plane. I felt that was a golden opportunity for an original kill sequence and stylish scene but it was more of a wasted opportunity than a victory in creativity. VICTOR CROWLEY also introduces ideas that long time fans of the fans will question (random spell resurrection?) and it works more as a set up to a possible part 5 than it does on its own, something I don't think any of the previous films suffered from, but it is still a ride light in tone and covered in blood.

For my money VICTOR CROWLEY is the most heavily flawed film in the Hatchet series but there's enough gore and cheap thrills to entertain fans of the series.

VICTOR CROWLEY is available HERE

THE HOUSES OCTOBER BUILT 2 (RLJE Films) - Blu-ray Review

USA/2017
Directed By: Bobby Roe
Written By: Zack Andrews, Bobby Roe
Starring: Brandy Schaffer, Zack Andrews, Mikey Roe
Color/101 Minutes/Not Rated
Region A
Release Date: January 2, 2018

The Film
Have you ever been surprised by how much you like a movie? I'm sure you have, we all have. I was incredibly surprised by how much I enjoyed Bobby Roe's 2014 found footage horror film The Houses October Built. This found footage horror film followed a group of friends going cross country in their RV documenting the most extreme haunted houses they can find until they come face to face with a secret haunt that takes them to their absolute extreme and blur the line of entertainment and reality. So when I heard a sequel was made I was caught off guard but totally game to check out THE HOUSES OCTOBER BUILT 2.

And then I watched it.

THE HOUSES OCTOBER BUILT 2 is lazy. It retreads the same ground laid in the first with the same plot. The same friends get together to go to some haunts and capitalize on their internet fame after the events of the first film. Except they're all incredibly shitty people this time around more worried about making a couple bucks instead of their own friends mental health. Brandy suffered the worst fate of the first movie and her shitty friends do everything they can to bribe her to join their trip because she's the pretty girl all of the haunts want to promote their attraction and without her the group is worthless. So her friends throw her in to increasingly extreme haunts despite her protests to do the extreme haunts. Of course she gives in when a few more dollars are thrown at her so we get to hate her too. This is where the film fails but definitely isn't the only place. If we're forced to spend 100 minutes confined mostly to an RV with this group of people they better be likable folks and in the first film they were but this time they've devolved into typical pieces of shit more concerned on a quick buck and exploiting their friend than a love of haunted houses and Halloween.

The film is also victim to just about every pitfall a found footage style horror movie can fall for. The added music, slick editing and basic set up of movie doesn't make a lick of sense for something being shot on the road and supposedly "found" and uploaded to Youtube. The first film did this as well but was fun enough that I could mostly overlook it but when the movie is a bad time, and I mean that it is a bad time. It's like being at a shitty party with people you barely know who are annoying the absolute piss out of you and you have no way to get home or leave, when it's that bad of a time the things you can nitpick begin to add up and then the laziness of the film shines through and it's like being blasted in the face with a nasty fart.

I loved the first. I loathe the sequel.

The Audio & Video
THE HOUSES OCTOBER BUILT 2 has been brought to Blu-ray by RLJE Films and looks fantastic with a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. The color palette is vibrant while shining and popping just enough. The black levels, of which there's plenty in the haunt interiors, are deep and inky. Detail levels are high and skin tones natural with no signs of edge enhancement or DNR. The audio is presented in a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix that sounds just as good as the picture looks. The audio is warm and full bodied with a strong mix throughout. There's no damage or hiccups to speak of.

The Extras
-Deleted Scenes
-Uncut Projection Scene
-Portrait Of A Scare Actor 2 featurette
-"Halloween Spooks" music video

The Bottom Line
It's a colder, less genuine, lazy and boring rehash of the first. Skip it.

THE HOUSES OCTOBER BUILT 2 is available HERE

CULT OF CHUCKY - Blu-ray Review

USA/2017
Directed By: Don Mancini
Written By: Don Mancini
Starring: Brad Dourif, Fiona Dourif, Michael Therriault
Color/90 Minutes/Not Rated
Region A
Release Date: October 3, 2017
Blu-ray/DVD

The Film
Following the events of Curse Of Chucky Nica has been blamed with the deaths of everyone and has spent the last several years committed to a psychiatric ward. Now she has been put in a lesser security facility to continue her improvement but quickly things take a turn for the worse when the doctor introduces a Good Guy doll to the group therapy sessions as a tool and Tiffany Valentine shows up with a Good Guy of her own informing Nica her niece has passed away and left it to her. Toss in a dash of Andy Barclay and a third Good Guy doll and all hell breaks loose inside the hospital.

Four years ago Curse Of Chucky brought the Child's Play franchise back to its horror roots and was a pretty solid movie. CULT OF CHUCKY continues the revival of the series breathing some fresh ideas into the franchise while remaining a familiar Chucky movie that old fans will love. CULT brings in the some of the most violent and definitely the goriest death scenes we've seen out of the entire series while retaining the dark sense of humor that lets Brad Dourif's perfect voice work shine with Chucky's quippy asshole personality. Director Don Mancini makes great use of having multiple Chucky's running around and their interactions with each other are hilarious and exactly what you'd hope for. That is my favorite part of the film.

The cast, lead by Fiona Dourif who has returned as Nica, is great. She plays a great heroine stuck in an impossible situation fighting against multiple enemies including an abusive asshole doctor (Michael Therriault). Jennifer Tilly shows up for a handful of scenes and is effortlessly sexy and funny while maintaining her diabolical menace. The hospital setting is eerily sterile and somewhat claustrophobic as well. The blindingly white walls that surround the characters, including a snow covered exterior setting make for a beautiful background when the blood starts to fly and those white walls are a strong juxtaposition against the dark and heavily decorated office of the head doctor. CULT OF CHUCKY has a great design.

There's some things in CULT OF CHUCKY that don't make a ton of sense, mostly involving the multiple Chucky angle but it's easy enough to look passed that and simply enjoy the movie. It's violent and funny and funny and violent and sets up a couple different angles that the franchise can move forward with that would be a lot of fun to see play out. After Seed Of Chucky the Child's Play franchise was on life support but back to back films that bring the film back to its roots have it on the upswing and it's good to have Chucky back because I am a fan of this franchise and seeing it set up for continued success this deep in to its run is something I wouldn't have expected a decade ago.

The Audio & Video
As you'd expect, the Blu-ray release of CULT OF CHUCKY looks and sounds fantastic. Universal has given the film a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that has incredibly strong detail from the fabrics and plastics of the Good Guy dolls to skin tones and hairs that you can count the strands. The color palette features bright, sterile whites which allows the blood reds to pop even more. The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix sounds phenomenal. The mix between dialogue and music is perfect and robust. Everything sounds crisp and perfectly clear with no background noise or distortions.

The Extras
-Audio Commentary with writer/direction Don Mancini and head puppeteer/producer Tony Gardner
-Deleted Scenes with optional commentary from Don Mancini
-"Inside The Inanity of CULT OF CHUCKY" - Behind the scenes featurette
-"The Dollhouse" - Cast and crew featurette
-"Good Guy Gone Bad: The Incarnations Of Chucky" - Featurette on the puppeteer work of Chucky

The Bottom Line
CULT OF CHUCKY is every bit as good as Curse and after these two films I'm back on board with the series after the trash that was Seed. It's scary and violent and perfectly funny in all the right spots. Flawed sure but a lot of fun and good enough to have me craving more of the Chuckster.

CULT OF CHUCKY is available HERE

PSYCHO COP RETURNS - Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray Review

USA/1992
Directed By: Adam Rifkin
Written By: Dan Povenmire
Starring: Robert R. Shafer, Barbara Niven, Miles Dougal
Color/85 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: April 25, 2017
Blu-ray/DVD
Limited Slipcover Edition: 1,666 Pieces

The Film
When the original Psycho Cop movie was released in 1989 the slasher film was on life support and Psycho Cop's underwhelming reception did little to help it but in 1992 the genre had one last gasp of air with Psycho Cop's lone sequel, PSYCHO COP RETURNS where Robert R. Shafer reprises his role as Officer Vickers the killer ex-cop who stalks a group of a office workers who have planned an after hours party in their office complex complete with all the booze your liver can't handle and strippers. Why a bunch of grown men need to party in their place of employment instead of at one of their homes or a hotel room or anywhere that would be more comfortable is beyond me but it makes for an interesting slasher film setting.

It doesn't take long for Officer Vickers to make his presence felt at the party, with a gruesome pencil to the eye murder almost as soon as the booze starts flowing. It immediately lets us know that writer Dan Povenmire has written a screenplay that isn't fucking around and that director Adam Rifkin under his Rif Coogan moniker, is going to let loose and show us the goods in this picture. PSYCHO COP RETURNS is a gleefully violent and gory film letting Robert R. Shafer really sink his teeth into the Officer Vickers role and run with it. Shafer comes up with some great one liners and memorable quotes and his charisma sets him apart from the traditional mute stalk and slash villain. Shafer is perfectly campy which fits the tone of the film to a T. The filmmakers understood the movie they were making and in the special features even admitted they weren't expecting it to be nearly as good as it turned out to be but the outcome was a success when you have a cast that is putting their all in to it, a solid script that flows well and a director who understands that he needs to create a fun film. In 1992 there was really no room for dreadfully serious and dead pan slasher movies, but this one proves that the formula could still work if you create something fun and light.

PSYCHO COP RETURNS is precisely that. We may be dealing with grown adults in their late 30s and 40s but this is every bit the exact same movie as the teen summer camp slasher film just replacing the jerky frat boy for a jerky middle aged man and the sexy co-ed who gets hacked up after having sex with someone for a slightly older but no less sexy stripper, including former Penthouse Magazine Pet Of The Month Julie Strain. The tropes and formula are exactly the same but we've traded in our tents for cubicles and dark wooded trails for elevator shafts and it works. Adam Rifkin even gets a bit of social commentary in at the end with a reverse take on the Rodney King beating which is a great scene for the final act of the film.

Perfect it is not but PSYCHO COP RETURNS is a damn entertaining slasher film that makes me upset they didn't role with more sequels for Officer Vickers to appear in. Robert Shafer did sign a contract for five pictures after all...

The Audio & Video
Vinegar Syndrome delivers PSYCHO COP RETURNS on Blu-ray with a rock solid anamorphic widescreen 1.85:1 transfer. Clarity is great with a light and natural grain structure and no DNR or digital noise. Colors are a bit subdued with the intentional look of the film taking place in a dimly lit office building at night so they look as they should. Black levels are deep and show no signs of macroblocking or compression issues. Detail levels are high, even in finer details which makes the gory scenes especially nasty. The English audio is presented with a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo mix that sounds crystal clear and has a nice crisp quality. Levels are mixed perfectly so there's no problems with dialogue or music becoming overpowering. English SDH subtitles are included.

The Extras
-Audio Commentary with Director Adam Rifkin
-"Habeas Corpus" - A 43 minute documentary featuring interviews from the majority of the main cast and crew. This was extremely well done and worth the price of the disc by itself.
-"The Victims Of Vickers" - A 9 minutes featurette with special effects artist Mike Tristano. It's always entertaining to hear how some of the more gruesome moments of these movies are done and this interview is no different.

The Bottom Line
It doesn't matter that the first Psycho Cop film hasn't been released on DVD or Blu-ray because PSYCHO COP RETURNS is a fucking blast. Vinegar Syndrome gives this unsung hero of early 90s horror a home in HD and I'm calling a must own for slasher fans.

PSYCHO COP RETURNS is available HERE

CHILDREN OF THE CORN Franchise Retrospective Part 1

This has been a long time coming, an idea that I've wanted to do on Celluloid Terror for the last couple of years and I've finally gotten around to doing it. I've long neglected the CHILDREN OF THE CORN franchise having only seen the original and the Syfy channel remake. I grew up with the original and loved it for a long time but a couple of years ago a downward trend began with it where each subsequent viewing left me feeling a little less favorable towards it than the last. I could have reviewed the first film in the series without giving it another watch but I decided to pop it in, dreading that I'd like it even less than the last time because at this point I don't think I would have even called myself a fan of the movie.

1984 brought us the first film adaptation of Stephen King's novel Children Of The Corn. The film of the same name was directed by Fritz Kiersch who is best known for directing this film. The film centers around the town of Gaitlin, Nebraska where child preacher Isaac has gathered the children of the town to commit mass murder of the adults- anyone over 19 years of age. Burt (Peter Horton) and Vicky (Linda Hamilton) end up in the town and happen a couple of kids who are innocent from the evil and try to protect them while they're being hunted by Isaac and his numerous blade wielding kids.

As of now the film is over 30 years old and has quite a bit of visual effects that are dated. In fact the effects have been dated for a long time. I think the film has an inherent creepiness with all of the religiously brainwashed children who don't think or care about the consequences of their actions. The film features a strong supernatural element that adds to the terror our protagonists are facing until they realize they must destroy the corn field that these children apparently worship. The film is flawed and the fact that it only gets more dated as time goes by didn't help but I have finally put that behind me and accepted the film for what it is and I think I'm finally at a good place with it. The plot is interesting, our leads are more than capable of carrying the film as the rest of the cast is quite young throughout the majority and has a pair of characters that have become mini icons in the horror genre with Isaac and Malechi (along with his yell of "Outlander!"). I have a feeling that the rest of the series won't reach the quality of film making that this first film has.

CHILDREN OF THE CORN 2: THE FINAL SACRIFICE picks up in the aftermath of the Gaitlin murders where the now orphaned children are sent to various homes around the area. John Garrett travels to Gaitlin with his son Danny to cover the story for the tabloid magazine he writes for and they end up staying at a bed and breakfast that has taken in a boy named Micah who is a distant loner and becomes the new preacher for these freaky kids after he's sucked into an alternate dimension and comes back evil and ready to lead the children to murder again.

The thing that immediately jumps out at me is why aren't these kids in police custody or the state's custody in some sort of medical facility? They ran amok, started a cult and murdered their parents and they just get sent to live in foster homes? Who thought that was okay? That's just one of the absurdities of this film. Have we ever had a sequel use "final" in the title so early as COTC did? I mean part 2 and we're already calling it "final"? We're smarter than that!

The brilliance here is in how fucking cheesy this movie is. From the kill sequences that include flying stalks of corn, to houses being dropped on an old lady ala The Wicked Witch Of The West and razor sharp corn stalk leaves just to name a few to the ridiculous Native American and moldy corn conspiracy subplots that go nowhere and the budding romance of a couple high school kids who almost get it on in a pile of dismembered bodies. And I haven't even touched on the alternate evil corn dimension.. Yeah, that's a thing and it's stupid and bizarre.

Can I repeat myself by asking why in the blue hell these kids aren't locked away somewhere!?

Micah is a piss poor replacement for Isaac and they don't even try to replace Malechi. The editing is atrocious and leaves several scenes making absolutely no sense. Almost all technical aspects of this movie are poorly done but it's so cheesy that I can't help but be entertained by it.

CHILDREN OF THE CORN 2 was everything I was afraid of and everything I hoped for all at once.

Film Scores
Children Of The Corn - 6/10
Children Of The Corn 2: The Final Sacrifice - 6/10

ALL HALLOW'S EVE 2 (DVD Review) - Image/RLJ Entertainment

USA/2016
Directed By: Jesse Baget, Elias Benavidez, Andres Borghi, Jay Holben, Mike Kochansky, The Kondelik Brothers, Bryan Norton, Antonio Padovan, Ryan Patch, Marc Roussel
Written By: Various
Starring: Landon Ackerman, April Adamson, Ali Adatia
Color/91 Minutes/Not Rated
Region 1
Release Date: February 2, 2016

The Film
A mysterious masked man leaves a VHS tape at the stairs of a young woman and when she puts it in her VCR (of course she has a VCR!) she finds that it holds several short films...

Jack Attack- Jack gets to carve his first pumpkin with his favorite babysitter but after eating some roasted seeds from the pumpkin Elizabeth notices something beginning to grow inside of Jack's stomach and then her own. - Enjoyable seasonal piece with a bit of well done and  believable stop motion animation. This was a nice choice to start the film off strong.

The Last Halloween - Four trick or treaters end up in the home of a paranoid doomsday prepper and we see their exploits - This particular chapter didn't do much for me at all, and the ending was much too over the top.

The Offering - A father and son drive deep into the woods to make a ritual offering to an unseen creature but forget an important part of the offering. - This entry is predictable but simple and effective. It has just enough substance and doesn't run long or feel padded in any way.

Descent - A woman gets stuck on an elevator with a man she believes murdered her friend. - Another predictable one but this one feels all too familiar and redundant.

M Is For Masochist - A short originally shot as an entrant to be part of the ABC's Of Death series that wasn't chosen. A carnival game soaked in blood, as Bill Oberst Jr (we couldn't have this movie without him!) is the barking carny promising prizes if you can draw enough blood from the victim on a spinning wheel. - I loved the idea of this, I love Bill Oberst Jr as the carny but this one needs to be realized as a bigger idea. There's something great here but it needs more meat on its bones.

A Boy's Life - A young boy is afraid of the monster hiding in his bedroom and tries at length to get his mom to believe him. - The only thing I'm afraid of is that I'll have to watch this short again. It is overly drawn out, boring as shit and really hurts the overall momentum of the film.

Mr. Tricker's Treats - The best decorated house in the neighborhood isn't going to the store for his Halloween props - Blink and you'll miss it. This one had potential to go somewhere, anywhere, but there was just not enough time to develop any sort of story or characters.

Alexia - On the anniversary of his girlfriend's death a man decides it is time to move on and delete her social media profile but something or someone won't let him delete it and is communicating with him through her profile. - I hope you're at least moderate in reading Spanish because all the communication is done via texting in Spanish except for a couple lines spoken in Spanish at the end. If you know basic Spanish you should at least be able to follow along. There's been several films like this released in the last couple of years and this one is about as successful as the rest - it's okay. Not the strongest choice to end on but a decent entry overall.

Eight stories plus the wraparound that is mostly inconsequential aside from giving a reason to be seeing these short films and we're left with similar results to many other horror anthologies with this many chapters. There's some good, some bad and it's mostly uneven but ALL HALLOW'S EVE 2 has enough worthwhile to give this one a look even if some of the better chapters leave you wanting much more.

The Audio &amp Video
Image/RLJ Entertainment deliver a nice looking DVD with an anamorphic widescreen presentation that features a clean and crisp picture. Colors and detail are good from short to short and there's only sporadic instances of black levels suffering from light compression issues. The audio features a 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound mix that is even across all levels and allows the dialogue and music to compliment each other nicely. There's no background noise or damage evident. The small amount of Spanish spoken in the last chapter featured no subtitles.

The Extras
Not a one, not a single special feature.

The Bottom Line
Where I found the first All Hallow's Eve to be underwhelming at best, closer to total shit if we're being perfectly honest, I think the sequel picks up the pieces and ends up being an entertaining horror anthology that you can watch all year round.

ALL HALLOW'S EVE 2 is available HERE

SINISTER 2 (Blu-ray Review) - Universal

USA/2015
Directed By: Ciaran Foy
Written By: Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill
Starring: James Ransone, Shannyn Sossamon
Color/98 Minutes/R
Region A
Release Date: January 12, 2015

The Film
Bughuul is back in this sequel to the 2012 hit film that featured a demon that had a fetish for forcing mass murder on a family while filming it on an 8mm camera. This time he focuses his attention on a pair of boys who have escaped their abusive father with their mother and are haunted by a group of ghost kids who try to fulfill the family's destiny with another one of the 8mm murder reels.

SINISTER 2 takes perhaps the most interesting part of the first film, the murder films, and shoves them down our throats like dicks in a gang bang. It gets to the point where you find yourself counting the number of films for entertainment because there is nothing else worth while on display and of course too much becomes too much too soon but at least they solved the plot hole that these silent films all had original scores in the first film as the films are synced up to a record player which is probably the most thought or effort put into any aspect of the film.

The film is competently made from a directing standpoint and the performances are passable but with a script so dreadful nobody will care. The characters are cookie cutter and make cliche decisions. There's sequences that simply don't add up, such as one of the brothers getting run over with an SUV at a violent speed and shaking it off in seconds but by the point that happens there's so many plot holes that who cares about one more.

SINISTER 2 plays out like the lamest Children Of The Corn sequel you could imagine, complete with children hiding in the corn. It takes the most interesting parts of the first film and turns them into the only moments with any real thought put into them but rendering them worthless at the same time. It is a completely phoned in and thoughtless piece of crap.

Rutabaga rutabaga save me rutabaga!

The Audio & Video
Universal delivers a stunning Blu-ray for the film. The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mix is brilliant featuring a crystal clear mix across all channels. There's no background noise and no annoyances. The mix pounds through when it wants to and features a delicate mix when it needs to. The 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is gorgeous with inky black levels that have no sign of compression issues. Colors are natural with highly detailed surface detail. There's no waxiness to skin tones which appear fleshy and healthy.

The Extras
-Extended Kill Films (Blu-ray exclusive)
-Deleted Scenes
-The Making Of SINISTER 2
-Audio Commentary With Director Ciaran Foy

The Bottom Line
The movie is an absolute waste of time even for fans of the first. If they're trying to make a franchise out of SINISTER than they're going about it the wrong way. Skip this mess.

SINISTER 2 is available HERE

THE EXORCISM OF MOLLY HARTLEY (Blu-ray Review) - 20th Century Fox

USA/2015
Directed By: Steven R. Monroe
Written By: Matt Venne
Starring: Sarah Lind, Devon Sawa, Gina Holden
Color/96 Minutes/Not Rated
Region A
Release Date: October 20, 2015

The Film
On her 18th birthday Molly Hartley became possessed by a demon. After seemingly overcoming her literal demons Molly has led a normal and successful life. After graduating college she has become a partner in her company the demons have returned as she is charged with murdering two of her friends  on the night of her 24th birthday and has been confined to a mental hospital where a defrocked priest hopes to redeem himself and save the young woman.

Seven years after the original film that failed to impress me at all we're given a sequel starring Sarah Lind and Devon Sawa as the priest looking for redemption. There's little chance for the cast to shine as the screenplay is as basic as they come. Every exorcism themed horror movie cliche is shown, from cursing religious themed obscenities, to vomiting (usually green as it is here), special effects makeup to show that, yes, the girl is indeed possessed and so on.

And with the cliches comes absolutely none of the suspense or sheer urgency in trying to cure the victim. The film has no heart to it. It's a paint by numbers picture with every label neatly marked. There's nothing to see here unless you feel like you need to see every exorcism themed horror film and I assure you you don't.

The Audio & Video
20th Century Fox delivers a very attractive 1080p HD presentation of the film in a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. Colors are vibrant and lively while flesh tones are naturally fleshy without any waxiness. Textures and surfaces show great detail and there's no issues with black levels blocking up. The English DTS-HD master audio is handled in a 5.1 surround mix that is well done. Levels are steady and feature a nice mix between dialogue and score. The sound quality is crystal clear and quite crisp with no background noise or damage.

The Extras
-"Exorcism: Beyond One Truth" featurette
-Clovesdale Institute: Security cam footage featurette
-Director diaries

The Bottom Line
There's not an awful lot that hasn't already been done in exorcism movies but THE EXORCISM OF MOLLY HARTLEY doesn't even try.

THE EXORCISM OF MOLLY HARTLEY is available HERE

THE INVOKING 2 (DVD Review) - Image/RLJ Entertainment

USA/2015
Directed By: Various
Written By: Various
Starring: Andrew Fleming, Jessica Fratus, Chara Victoria Gannett
Color/83 Minutes/Not Rated
Region 1
Release Date: October 6, 2015

The Film
When I saw that there would be a sequel to The Invoking I stared blankly at the screen for a moment before shaking my head in disbelief and then threw up in my mouth. Okay, honestly I don't remember my exact reaction but it was not a good one, I'm sure of that. The Invoking was one of the most irritating, gets under your skin like a small child crying endlessly. piece of crap horror movies I have ever seen. You can read that review HERE. I then rationalized that there's no way any sequel could be as bad. At least I can say I was right.

Changing things up with an anthology format based around paranormal events, THE INVOKING 2 made a smart movie by being a sequel in name only and having nothing to do with the original movie. Why the title wasn't changed at some point to remove any ties to the first film is beyond me. It isn't as if the first Invoking film is any sort of highly regarded or popular title. It simply came and went.

There are some positives to this sequel, such as an opening segment involving a car wreck that reminded me of classic Unsolved Mysteries segments. The only thing missing was Robert Stack's signature narration. The next segment taking place in an old mental hospital had potential but felt straight out of the mid 2000's era of horror that was packed with subpar ghost movies. The final short which has nothing at all to do with paranormal events and only runs a few minutes was probably the most effective segment in the bunch. In fact, for a movie that is called THE INVOKING 2: PARANORMAL EVENTS in the opening credits there's very little paranormal stuff going on throughout and when it is there it comes and goes in the blink of an eye.

The main feeling THE INVOKING 2 gave me was one of being underwhelmed. This is largely due to most of the segments feeling like they were taken from longer scripts and were severely chopped down to fit this anthology format. Many feel rushed and incomplete. The positive is that the movie is watchable even if its nothing special and not infuriatingly awful like the first.

The Audio & Video
Image/RLJ Entertainment's DVD release of THE INVOKING 2 feautres a 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that looks okay overall. Each short was produced independently of the rest so they all have their own look and quality. Some of the better looking segments have solid color and a crisper picture while the lesser ones suffer from poor handling of black levels and compression/blocking issues. None of the segments look particularly bad though. The Dolby Digital 5.1 surround audio track has a great mix job and is free of any background noise or damage.

The Extras
None.

The Bottom Line
Hey, it's better than the first Invoking movie. So I guess there's that.

THE INVOKING 2 is available HERE

THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN (DVD Review) - Image/RLJ Entertainment

USA/2014
Directed By: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Written By: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Earl E. Smith
Starring: Addison Timlin, Veronica Cartwright, Anthony Anderson
Color/86 Minutes/R
Region 1
Release Date: July 14, 2015

The Film
65 years after the town of Texarkana was terrorized by hooded killer the town once again falls victim to "The Phantom". Jami barely escapes an encounter with The Phantom and becomes obsessed with finding out the identity of this new killer. While Jami digs deeper in the mystery and history of the killings the bodies begin piling up in this typically sleepy town.

THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN was widely marketed as a remake to the 1974 film but in all actuality is completely a sequel. Similar events play out in this one but it's all in paying homage to the original killer. The film works as a slasher and a horror mystery with the major twists and turns the story takes. The script is otherwise pretty straight forward and simple but effective enough and carried by a solid cast.

The downfall of this film, and it is a glaring, in your face problem that you literally cannot look past is the direction and photography choices made. There are heavily slanted angles for absolutely no reason throughout the film. These are usually reserved as a way to show some sort of madness, craze or other emotion changing device for the audience. Not here, they're thrown around without any real reasoning whenever the director felt like putting them in. I could probably look passed these randomly inserted slanted angle shots if I didn't have to watch the film through an incredibly hazy and sweaty looking filter. I can guess that the director wanted to give the film a sweaty, humid look which I'd be okay with but large quantities of the film look like there's a heavy layer of condensation or Vaseline smeared all over the camera lens.

This really kills some of the better lighting designs the film has going for it in certain scenes that feature colored lighting. The hazy look drowns out the bright red lighting that gives the film a creepy atmosphere during certain scenes. It's unfortunate that this look wasn't changed after seeing how it turned out in the dailies because it looks really bad at times.

Despite the shitty look the film has it times it outshines its predecessor which is a vastly overrated film that I believe is as famous as it is for the simple reasons that it has killer artwork, The Phantom has a great look that inspired Jason Voorhees and was unavailable on DVD for years and was a heavily sought after VHS tape. The movie was frankly a bore with a couple of great moments tossed in to make it worth sitting through. This sequel done 40 years later is a solid horror film that suffers from poor technical artistic choices but remains an entertaining movie that deserves some of the recognition the original undeservedly has.

The Audio & Video
RLJ/Image Entertainment bring THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN to DVD with a 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen ratio that looks good for a standard definition release. Colors are strong and vibrant and black levels are handled decently. The filter used in photography keeps the disc from looking sharp because of the soft and sweaty photography style but that is a style choice by the filmmakers.

A 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound track handles the English audio with ease and grace. There's great clarity to the dialogue and the levels are mixed well and are quite stable without unnecessary. volume fluctuations. The track is also damage and background noise free.

The Extras
A trailer is the lone extra

The Bottom Line
Some questionable artistic decisions aside, THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN is a rock solid sequel disguised as a remake that easily outshines its predecessor. I wouldn't call it a modern classic but the good outweighs the bad and it certainly is entertaining.

THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN is available HERE

THE TOXIC AVENGER PART II (Blu-ray Review) - Troma

USA/1989
Directed By: Lloyd Kaufman, Michael Herz
Written By:
Starring:
Color/108 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: April 14, 2015

The Film
In the follow up to Troma's break out hit from 1984, Toxie is living with his girlfriend and helping out around the Tromaville Center For The Blind until Apocalypse Inc. comes in and slaughters damn near everyone to set up shop for their toxic chemical dump. Knowing that Toxie will fight them every step of the way they devise a plan to get the hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength to travel to Japan to find his long lost father where they have a chemical waiting that will strip Toxie of his powers.

THE TOXIC AVENGER PART II is more of what we came to love five years earlier but with more ridiculous writing and comedy. While Toxie isn't busy fighting ninjas and kabukimen he's eating plastic noodles (because that's what the Japanese eat!) and using fish as weapons. When he finds out his dad is smuggling cocaine inside of fish one of the big fight scenes, which there are plenty of, breaks out and Toxie must make his bitter reunion with his father a short one. The Japanese scenes were filmed in Japan where Toxie damn near hit rock star status and it lends an air of credibility to the picture making it's small budget look far bigger than it really was.

The acting is what you'd expect from any Troma production. Overacting runs rampant and is encouraged, dubbed fart jokes are plentiful and most of the story is hokey as hell. It's all lovable but I feel like it lost a little bit of the mean spiritedness that the first film had that really allowed the comedy to shine as an equalizer to the sleazier side of things. I still love this film for all of its faults and victories. It is a mighty fun ride through Tromaville and Japan filled with fights, farts and tits. Oh yeah, there's a good bit of gore in one particular scene that is hilarious!

I must add that this cut is substantially longer than the previous DVD so there's plenty of added footage here that makes this release worth checking out on its own!

The Audio & Video
Troma gives THE TOXIC AVENGER PART II its North American Blu-ray debut with very mixed results. Early reports I had read tore this disc apart, and I can see why. It is far from a home run but to call this disc a total disaster really isn't fair. It is a decisive upgrade from the DVD, which admittedly isn't saying much. The HD presentation isn't particularly sharp and detail levels fluctuate greatly. However there are some quite nice looking shots. Unfortunately they're usually stuck between a lot of mediocre looking scenes. There's a bit of damage remaining on the source material inlcuding scratches and speckling that would have been nice to have seen cleaned up and restored. The 16x9 anamorphic transfer leaves a lot to be desired but it isn't a Rabid Grannies level travesty.

The English audio sounds fine. It's a clean and clear mix with no background noise or damage that I noticed. The mix between dialogue, including voice overs, and the soundtrack is great and there's never a moment where dialogue gets lost in the mix. The A/V job is a serviceable upgrade to the DVD.

Please note: Screengrabs have been taken from the DVD and DO NOT reflect the quality of the Blu-ray.

The Extras
-Audio commentary with the directors
-New introduction by Lloyd Kaufman
-"At Home With Toxie" featurette
-"A Word From Villainess Lisa Gaye"
-"Toxie On Japanese TV"
-Radiation March
-Original DVD intro
-The American Cinematheque Honors 40 Years Of Troma
-Troma Trailers
-DVD version of the film

The Bottom Line
While this is far from what I'd call a "definitive" release it is an upgrade both in terms of additional footage and slightly with the A/V. While a bit light on the extras as none of them are anything substantial aside from the commentary track I still recommend the release.

THE TOXIC AVENGER PART II is available HERE