Starring: Amelia Kinkade, Vlasta Vrana, Larry Day, Kris Holden-Reid, Gregory Calpakis, Tara Slone, Patricia Rodriguez, Stephanie Bauder.
Director: Jim Kaufman.
Original director Kevin S. Tenney returns to the misguided franchise as the screenwriter, cribbing some dialogue and concepts from his other film Witchboard, and tries really hard to make this seriously unnecessary franchise float. Diminishing returns are a thing, though, and hit this film awfully hard and fast.
The first of the series to use some digital effects-the weird rippling portal when crossing through the gates of Hull House actually looks kinda okay-is somewhat diminished by the film obviously being shot on some pretty cheap digital video. There's some okay continuity going on with the opening sequence referencing part 2, followed by another fun animated credits sequence and a new version of the originals' theme music. None of it looks as good as the originals but there is still a sense of fun.
It's a little jarring to see what is basically an entirely new Hull House. The second film had done a good job of maintaining a pretty strong imitation of the original set piece, but considering this movie is ten years removed from the original film it was almost certainly necessary to re-tool everything.
Well, full-on nudity right out of the gate. At least they're mostly discussing their futures and...oh, well, okay now it's boys and their bodies. Disappointing.
Tenney does have a way with naturalistic witty dialogue. The cast doesn't have much skill with it, unfortunately, for all of their enthusiasm. It's not all good writing, though...some of it really doesn't work.
While slightly egregious, the gunfight at the convenience store(called the Kwik-E-Mart because ha ha) is actually kind of exciting even if it did occur due to characters acting really dumb...why would the cop actually fire at a girl who was crouched down off to the side? But, okay, it happened, it's our hook and that's pretty much fine. It gives our characters a reason to go to Hull House, even if it is a flimsy one.
I said it in the write-up for the second film, but I'm glad to see Amelia Kinkade getting more of an opportunity to strut her stuff(and she has way more here than in part 2). Kinkade is a strong actress and does a lot with the character of Angela. While this movie is certainly not good enough to warrant more franchise installments, I do wish she was given more accolades and respect for the role. She's a lovely Woman and actually pretty talented, and the character is really fun.
The new direction of Angela-that of a temptress who offers people what they want-is a pretty okay story addition. It's a little cliche but it does work pretty well as a direction, especially since an attempt was made at giving these characters base weaknesses, which is an ambitious change to the series formula. If only it occurred in a better film with stronger actors.
The series isn't super well known for good scares, but this one really doesn't elicit much thrills or chills. It all feels very distant and remote. The make-up effects are still good, but are still a step below previous entries. It seems like the effects were altered for convenience, which is understandable, but really doesn't help the cheaper feel of the whole affair.
Tenney copied a few lines from Full Metal Jacket, too, which kind of bums me out. It just feels so cheap and awkward. That brings up something I mentioned at the very beginning of the write-up, that Tenney had cribbed lines from Witchboard. The small town Detective obsessed with magic is ripped right from that film. It's not a bad character-actually, a gimmick detective is often a lot of fun under the right circumstances...this isn't really one of them, but it's a thing-or anything, it just feels hackneyed. I've seen Witchboard and, while it isn't a great film by any stretch of the imagination, the gimmick detective feels more earned there than here...and it's still super lazy for Tenney to basically copy and paste.
The romance between Nick and whatever-her-name isn't particularly earned. It's not unexpected-in fact, it was obviously going to be a thing-but the characters and actors just don't really have the chemistry. I'm not sure where they fell in love: was it when she called him a jerk or when he gave her the last Mountain Dew?
Wait, Angela destroyed the handcuffs, so why did Detective Magic have to unlock them? They were literally just shown far apart from one another. Also, it's way too neat: "You weren't caught on the surveillance camera so you can just go home." Great use of a stock footage shot of a sunrise, too....wow, this movie is really lazy.
Final Thoughts: I keep coming back around to "Well-Intentioned but Ill-conceived and misguided" when it comes to these sequels. Amelia Kinkade is probably the only one to get out of this film with any dignity intact. It's heart was in the right place, but it really never got itself off the ground floor.
Final Rating: Two Stars.
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