I am going to be perfectly honest here. The only reason why I decided to check out this movie was because I saw a single scene from it last week. A scene in which a pair of ample female breasts turn into demonic hands and attack a horny teenager. You might say that my standards are pretty low at this point but I beg to differ. And I will explain myself in just a moment. Night of the Demons 2 is a serviceable sequel to the classic eighties horror comedy worth checking out. Especially if you’re a fan of the genre or if you’re looking for some familiar and cheesy B-movie fun. This is a stand-alone sequel so you don’t have to know anything about the original Night of the Demons to enjoy it.
Night of the Demons 2 is about a group of horny teenagers who decide to celebrate Halloween in a supposedly haunted Hull House. They all go to the local Catholic boarding school so they’re eager to loosen up a bit. And they don’t care that the last group of teens who did the same ended up dead and buried. Actually, the body of Angela was never found and the rumor has it that she’s still haunting the halls of the Hull House. So, you pretty much know the recipe for this cake. A layer of nudity, followed by a layer of comedy and entertainment topped off by gore. A classic B horror comedy formula that works great even after all of these years.
Especially in the hands of such a talented director as Brian Trenchard-Smith, one of Quentin Tarantino’s favorites. He’s the guy behind such classics as BMX Bandits and Turkey Shoot. However, I think that his best movie, without any doubt, is the unique post-apocalyptic eye-candy Dead End Drive-In. When it comes to the cast, Amelia Kinkade makes a return as Angela, and the rest of it, consisting of relatively unknown actors and actresses, doing solid work. Still, I have to single out Zoe Trilling, who plays Shirley, and Cristi Harris, who plays Bibi, as both of them were great. Zoe has such a memorable face and a charismatic persona that I wonder why she didn’t make it in Hollywood.
Sadly, she passed away last year at 57. I suggest you check out Tobe Hooper’s Night Terrors if you want to see more of Zoe. She plays the lead role in that macabre and quite explicit mess. Christine Taylor, who plays Terri, would go on to play Marcia Brady in The Brady Bunch Movie and a number of big hits like Zoolander and The Craft. She’s married to Ben Stiller. Night of the Demons 2 is a straight-to-video movie so it follows certain unwritten rules of these sorts of productions. The pacing is fast, the running time short, and the humor wacky. Moreover, the special effects look pretty good.
And I’m not just talking about the above-mentioned tits-hands scene. I’m talking about good old practical effects making the scenes just a tad bit grosser and believable. I especially liked the practical effects showing severed limbs and some strange goo on the floor. Some of these scenes are quite graphic in nature as the new, uncut version of the movie features more gore. And more gore is never a bad thing. As it usually happens with these movies, there will also be a couple of unintentionally hilarious moments. Night of the Demons 2 is a movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously and neither should you. After all, we have nuns wielding rosaries and rulers here.
I also find it interesting that this is one of those movies where characters use balloons and water guns filled with holy water to kill the demons. Something that became a staple of the genre at a certain point in time. I wonder what was the first movie to feature such an arsenal. Speaking of curiosities, we will also have the pleasure of hearing not one but two Morbid Angel songs, Rapture and Vengeance is Mine. These two songs by the death metal veterans will be accompanied by comical “choreography” without any headbanging. Wasn’t there a metalhead on the set to tell them how to properly enjoy these songs?
In the end, this is a fun little horror comedy, often overlooked because it’s a sequel to an eighties classic. It features a lot more humor than the original and it isn’t afraid to get silly with the gore. I mean, we have a man playing basketball with his own severed head, what more want from a movie? Towards the end, we will get a surprising amount of demons, including Angela in her final form. These creatures look excellent for a B movie and I can only imagine how scary they were back in a day. Sadly, Night of the Demons 2 also marks the last good entry in the franchise.
Sure, the third part is watchable but it never reaches the standards set by the first two entries. At least Amelia Kinkade appears as Angela again. The 2009 movie Night of the Demons is a solid stand-alone entry featuring a story that doesn’t have a lot of connections with the original. It’s surprisingly competent despite the bad rep it got. And if you’re looking for more similar movies, do check out 2000’s The Convent.
Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith
Writers: Joe Augustyn, James Penzi
Cast: Amelia Kinkade, Johnny Moran, Rick Peters, Cristi Harris, Jennifer Rhodes, Zoe Trilling, Merle Kennedy
Fun Facts: The director of the original movie said that this sequel is pretty good. He also commented that it’s “more fun” than the original while lacking the scares.
Rating:
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110667/
