October 12, 2018
Written by: Joe Augustyn, James Penzi
Starring: Cristi Harris, Darin Heames, Robert Jayne
Budget: $1,300,000
Quote: "Well, listen to this: About a year ago her parents were sent a weird Halloween card. It was home-made and really creepy; like decorated with dead bugs and dried blood, totally disgusting... anyway it was signed by Angela."
Trivia: Some of the scenes involving Angela floating on the hallways was taken from the first Night of the Demons.
The original Night of the Demons, along with Return of the Living Dead, were favorites of mine in high school. I was really disappointed after watching the sequel to Return of the Living Dead (review here) so it is with some hesitation that I watched Night of the Demons 2. Luckily, it ends up being a pretty decent movie. Not as good as the first movie (how can it be without Linnea Quigley?), but an overall fun sequel nonetheless. This movie even benefits from added comedy. It's really hard to make a successful horror sequel. By its definition, the premise has already been done so filmmakers have two choices, to either build off what was established in the original or to veer off into a new direction. If filmmakers choose the latter, we get weird moments with Telekenesis in Friday the 13th Part VII, The Howling 3: The Marsupial, and Leprechaun in the Hood. Some work (Lep in the Hood Come to Do No Good), but most don't. The other option is to build on what the original movie created. The downside to this is that the premise is by now stale, so filmmakers need to do something to up the ante and all too often this means adding comedic moments. Return of the Living Dead 2 is a perfect example of how filmmakers tried this and failed. Night of the Demons 2 on the other hand actually is able to create some funny moments while successfully building on the first movie's concept. Particularly entertaining are the scenes with Sister Gloria (Jennifer Rhodes), a tough nun whose out to preserve her students' virginities and kick demon ass.
Six years have passed and the events of the first movie have now become an urban legend in the surrounding towns. Angela's parents killed themselves a year ago after receiving a letter supposedly from Angela, and her sister is now a scared timid high school student at a Catholic private school. One day, the school cool girl Terri (Christine Taylor from Zoolander and The Brady Bunch Movie) and her friends decide to have a Halloween party at the house where Angela had her party in the first movie. A bunch of horny high school kids descend onto the house, raising the demonic spirit of Angela and horror comedy gold ensues. Oh, and when Angela is not raping and killing, Linnea Quigley's character's lipstick from the first movie begins possessing people. Seriously. Now enter Sister Gloria and a whole mess of holy water. They end up blasting the demonic possessed high school dumb dumbs, leaving only Angela left, who is planning on sacrificing her sister to Satan (I forget why, or maybe they never explained it... for this one, just enjoy the silly horror magic). Angela gives her sister a Sophie's Choice, she can either kill Sister Gloria or be sacrificed herself. She turns the tables and stabs Angela, while some kid kicks a cross shaped hole into the wall and the divine holy light (or something) kills Angela.
Okay. As I am writing the movie's plot down, it does sound pretty stupid. And it is. But it really is a good movie! Honestly! Alright, so it's an eighties horror film, and what that means is nudity. This movie is not bashful. There is some peeping tom nudity within the first minute of the film, just to get it out of the way and a few more scenes throughout (unfortunately no one shoves a tube of lipstick into their nipple). There is another scene where a guy is trying to get to second base with a demonic girl and her boobs actually grab him. Awesome! Angela also engages in what can only be called a demonic rape scene where she rapes and possesses a stoner kid called Z-Boy (he also played a stoner in PCU). There is also some great practical effect gore. Early in the film, mouse has a dream that she meets Angela who rips the front part of her jaw off. There is also your classic arms being ripped off and stabbings.
In addition to the addition of Sister Gloria, who adds in needed comedic relief, the movie focuses heavily on repressed sexuality. More so than the average horror film. The characters all go to a Catholic school where sexuality both runs rampant and is actively repressed by the religious teachings and their religious teachers. There is a scene where one of the girl students wrestles with a boy in the middle of the gym amounting to what is basically dry humping before she is caught and the whole group of them is reprimanded. There's several other moments where boys and girls are separated and told to "save room for the holy spirit." At another moment, Sister Gloria explains that, "A kiss is a sin when it is an upper persuasion for a lower invasion." It is obvious that the repressed adults are supposed to by the bad guys with their outdated moral beliefs. At least that is how the film presents them. However, ironically, like most slasher films, the sexually active characters are the first ones to be killed. A moral double edged sword. On the one hand the movie looks at the ridiculousness of the chaste beliefs of the adults, and on the other hand continues the horror theme of punishing children/young adults for exploring their own sexuality.
Sexual repression aside, while the plot is insane, this really is a great sequel with all the elements that made the first one great. It doesn't quite live up to the original, but its a damn fun film nonetheless.
...what's your thoughts?
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