Movie 73: Night Of The Demons 2

Starring: Amelia Kinkade, Merle Kennedy, Cristi Harris, Jennifer Rhodes, Christine Taylor, Johnny Moran, Robert Jayne.

Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith.

A well-intentioned but mostly misguided desire to create a franchise resulted in two sequels(and a remake) being produced and not really going anywhere good.  Not that Night Of The Demons 2 is really a bad film, it just isn't great or live up to its predecessor.  The formula is still pretty much in place but the spirit of subversion is pretty much missing.  Good kids make it through, bad kids get possessed.  The characters are even more wooden but are still mostly charming.

If nothing else, Amelia Kinkade is given a lot more to do in an effort to push her into Freddy Krueger territory.  This has its ups and downs, but Kinkade clearly has a lot of fun with it.  Actually, Angel The Devils Bride might be the only Female horror franchise monster...well, okay, there's also Angela The Happy Camper of Sleepaway Camp but still...Kinkade offers a fun supernatural monster.

Sister Gloria is a fun subversion, possibly the only one in this film, and actually provides some silly fun as things go forward.  Maybe a little too much in the end, but it is something of a rarity for a Nun(who is established as being incredibly strict and maybe a little mean) to end up being the hero and a sympathetic character.  Outside of Exorcism films-and sometimes not even then-it's really quite rare for the Church to actually be the good guys.  Hell, even in this film Father Bob is kinda useless and actually a jerk in the guise of being hip and cool.

Fun exchange: "He says I took his book."

"So?"
"So what would I want with a book?"
"You're right.  He doesn't have your book. He can barely read a clock."

"Thank you."

"Sure!"

Perry, the nerdy demonology expert('cause that's a thing), actually says "You guys think you're so much better because you're bigger, stronger, and better looking than everyone else!"  Well, sure, you kind of just described "better" Perry.  There is a nice Lovecraft reference in the scene where Perry attempts to conjure a demon.

The Halloween Dance does look kinda lame.  I'd rather go to the spooky old murder house.  Of course, if I knew there were actually demons inside looking to kill me I'd probably prefer the Manilow.

I suppose I should mention the Christine Taylor appearance.  She gives a decent performance as the kinda/sorta ditzy best friend of Bibi, who is the nice girl who is capable of being a little naughty. They call Taylor "Marcia" which is cute...she does look like Marcia Brady(and played her in the film remake, right?).  There's not much to Teri, though...luckily, Taylor is made of charisma, so it's not a total loss.

The conceit of young Mouse/Melissa as Angela's orphaned sister is a pretty okay one.  It gives the movie a bit of a hook and a sense of history, both of which were absolutely needed but aren't entirely effective.  It's not ineffective, though, so...I guess it evens itself out.  The character is very basic: shy, frightened, and a bit of a load.  Merle Kennedy gives a good performance, though, even if she isn't given a lot to do.  Most of the actors give okay performances, actually.

There is a LOT of denim in this movie.  Like, an absurd amount of denim.  Ads for jeans don't have this much denim in them.

The two less moral friends-the best friends of the two nice kids-at least attempt to come to Melissas' aid when the trashy metal kids try to "sacrifice" her.  It's a nice bit of characterization, especially since the scene could have easily been Bibi and Johnny instead.  But by choosing the other pair they give them a bit of a character moment.

I would have to assume that Z-Boy had some sort of head injury that makes him talk like that?  Not sure why the movie felt it necessary to have Angela rape him, though...just seems kinda weird.  Not that the film is without a sexuality motif: the very phallic lipstick demon worm thingy first trying to force itself down Shirley's throat, and then crawling up her leg and into her hoo-hah and her subsequent writhing and moaning is obviously meant to evoke that underlying mentality.  Follow that up with Angela dancing on a table and pouring punch onto her breasts...well, yeah, lots of sexuality. Hell, Shirley's breasts kill the big Stooge fill-in.  Not sure if the motif continues throughout the third act, though, which kind of makes the sexuality more of a departure than a focus.

The preparing for battle montage is cute.  Sister Gloria going from oppressive antagonist to heroic warrior is refreshingly fun if not a little unearned.  It works well enough.  The holy water super soakers are also brought in to play for laughs.  It makes for an interesting juxtaposition to the very good make-up effects, which are suitably scary.

I'd forgotten how much this movie kind of collapses in on itself in the third act.  It's not entirely the movies fault, though: it's kind of an unwieldy premise and difficult to hold together.  Horror has always had some difficulty with climaxes, the build has always been a bit more important.  Some movies are able to kind of hide those negatives, but the supernatural sub-genre has a tendency to really lose steam during the second act and finally collapse halfway through the third.  It's not without it's moments, though: Perry's death is pretty effective, as is the death of Father Bob.  Kurt playing basketball with his own head doesn't do anybody any favors, though.

Jennifer Rhodes clearly has a blast playing Sister Gloria, especially as she makes Bruce Lee noises while swinging a rosarie at demon Z-Boy.  Rhodes has an excellent amount of conviction to the role, too.  She really is the movie MVP, narrowly edging out Amelia Kinkade, mostly due to how well she can deliver religious statements or cliches as action movie one-liners and not seem overly ridiculous.  Her growing a new head or whatever doesn't really make much sense but...okay.

Oh, right, giant snake beast thing.  It looks great, it really does, it just is kinda silly.  Okay, VERY silly.  Angela's defeat is also a bit random, but I suppose they opened the religious door from the get-go, so adding a little Dues Ex Machina does make a sort of reasonable sense.  

Final Thoughts: As I said at the start, it's very well-meaning but mostly misguided.  It certainly has its moments but mostly suffers from very uneven and confused second and third acts.  The heroes are more capable than Judy and Roger in the original, which is both a blessing and a curse, but have less personality and genre commentary than their predecessors.  It's a nice try, maybe even slightly successful, but mostly it just feels very mundane.  

Final Rating: Two and a Half Stars.