Return of the Living Dead Part II |
  • USA • 1988 • 89m •   • Directed by: Ken Wiederhorn. • Starring: Michael Kenworthy, Thor Van Lingen, Jason Hogan, James Karen, Thom Mathews, Suzanne Snyder, Marsha Dietlein, Hanala Sagal, Jonathan Terry, Dana Ashbrook, Sally Smythe, Allan Trautman, Don Maxwell. • Music by: J. Peter Robinson.      A gang of kids accidentally release of mysterious gas which wakes up the inhabitants of an adjacent graveyard. The zombies want only one thing and that's BRAINS and there are plenty of them in the local town which has been sealed off by the army.
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Review:
Well, the dead are back, and this time, they seem to all have rubbery looking faces and green goo for blood. I honestly think that this movie is actually WORSE than the third installment in the series. The movie starts off with a pot-smoking army truck driver loosing a few barrels from his truck, and one falling into the river. The story then cuts to a few young boys, two of which are trying to get the youngest to join their club. They go to their "clubhouse" which turns out to be a crypt. The youngest boy runs away, and goes into a large drainpipe, in which the fallen canister MAGICALLY moved into. The boys open the canister, releasing the ghoul inside. Now, this is where I realized that this movie was going to get worse before it gets better. The ghoul looks like the Tarman from the first film, only not as creepy, a bit more (trying to be) comedic, and with worse make-up and movement. Well, the gas in the canister is released into the air, and in only about 9 seconds, the clear sky gets filled with dark clouds and with a cliché stroke of lightning, it begins to rain. The rain, now with the zombie-gas in it, seeps into the graveyard, and the zombies within start to get out of their graves. Sadly, what was a fairly creepy scene in the first movie is made to be a slapstick comedy scene, with one zombie's hands getting stepped on repeatedly while trying to get out of his grave, and another zombie straightening his tie when he gets out. What insulted me most, though, is that the zombies were no longer the desperate for brains, fast-moving variety which scared us senseless in the first film. No, now they are about as slow moving as those in Night of the Living Dead. Which is a bad thing, as you would know if you were to see the horror of the characters in Part 1 when they discovered that "the movie (Night of the Living Dead) lied". Well, the movie continues, and there is a bit more brain eating than the first film, but it's no longer as horrifying as in the first movie. Instead of characters still trying to get away as their brains are eaten, and then twitching while on the ground, they are overcome with surprise (or so I would think) and stop in their tracks. Near the end of the movie, one character is chasing his girlfriend, and when she trips, he comes up to her saying that it's just her, and she says "Ok" and calms down. Now, here's the clincher: He begins to move his mouth towards the top of her head, albeit slowly, and she obviously notices this, and she has this look of grim satisfaction on her face, even after he begins to chomp her skull. You would think having your brains eaten would hurt... The absolute saddest parts of this movie, in my opinion, were the attempts at making a connection with the first movie. Two characters, Joey and Ed, are played by the same actors that played Freddie and Frank respectively in the first film, have a similar relationship as in Part 1. One scene has the characters repeating a joke from the first movie, but with none of the humor:
First film-- Freddie: Stupid asshole! Frank: Watch your tongue boy, if you like this job! Freddie: LIKE THIS JOB?!?!?!
This Film-- Joey: You're just afraid that some old creep like you is gonna come along and steal your head. Ed: Watch your tongue, boy, if you like this job! Joey: Like this job?
another scene has the characters announcing that they feel like they've done this all before, like in a dream or something.
Overall, this movie has cheesy acting, unfunny humor, an odd DOWNGRADE in make-up effects, and no horror to speak of. I can't see why anyone would be able to say this is as good as the first, let alone BETTER than Part 1.
I give this film 4 BRAAAAAAAAIIIINSSSS out of 10.
P.S. You know how I earlier commented on how I knew the movie would get worse before it got better? Well, it did get worse, but not better. The movie ends with zombie head jabbering in a (VERY fake) southern American accent, even after she gets burnt by a flamethrower.
Review by nickdude9110 from the Internet Movie Database.
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