Night of the Demons 2 (1994)

Author: Josh G.
Submitted by: Josh G.   Date : 2008-02-29 12:29
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Directed by: Bryan Trenchard-Smith
Written by: Joe Augustyn
Starring: Amelia Kinkade, Merle Kennedy and Johnny Moran


Reviewed by: Josh G.







“Where are you going? The party’s just begun!” I’m a fan of the Night of the Demons trilogy, for better, and for worse. The original was deliciously gruesome fun, with Halloween tricks, 80s splash of atmosphere, and above all, demonic wisecracking Angela. The third entry, while a step back, also delivered in some of that desired Angela loving! A Hell in ‘Hull House’, the creaky mansion that nobody escapes on October 31st. This year, a batch of religiously schooled teenagers, who are nowhere near holy, join up for a party at the infamous ‘Hull House’. A few years ago, bodies of teenagers were found strewn throughout the property, sliced, diced, and crisped! All except for one. Angela, the teenager who had held the party, was never found. Melissa Franklin (Merle Kennedy), orphaned sister of Angela, has had nightmares ever since, and won’t go anywhere near the evil place...until tonight!

After a bloody brilliant introduction with a two person slaughter by yours truly, we see a couple of male teenagers, Kurt (Ladd York) and Johnny (Johnny Moran), spying on their nude female coeds. Three of the girls, Shirley (Zoe Trilling), Terri (Christine Taylor), and Bibi (Cristi Harris), are telling stories about old Hull House by candlelight. Melissa comes in, nervous, and says that they shouldn’t talk about it, but Shirley and Terri ignore her. As they continue their story to the climax, Sister Gloria (Jennifer Rhodes) walks in, giant ruler in hand, and shouts “Lights out!”, before putting out the light with her stick. In the night, Melissa has a nightmare about her sister coming back in the form of a demon. She’s unsettled, but all is okay. It was only a dream...right?

The following day, Shirley and Kurt play around with a basketball, but things get a little out of hand as the couple fall to the tennis court, frolicking around. Sure enough, Sister Gloria comes walking by, ruler by her side, and banishes both of them to the dormitory for the evening, even with the Halloween dance being set up. Even Bibi and Johnny, guilty of nothing, are punished. Later that night, Shirley and Kurt are about to make love, but when Shirley finds out Kurt can’t take her out to a party, she dumps him. Meanwhile, the resident geek Perry (Robert Jayne) is trying to summon the Hull House legend, Angela Franklin herself! And he does, for a few seconds. But like always, nobody, not even Father Bob (Rod McCary) believes him, until the midnight brings eternal Satanism.

As a cruel joke, Shirley invites loner Melissa to join her and her friends at a party not far away from the school in Mathisville. Unknown to Ms. Franklin, Bibi, and Johnny, the mini-party is being held at Hull House, and Shirley Finnerty is hoping to have a laugh or two. She’s already picked up new boy toy Rick (Rick Peters), much to Kurt’s dismay. When the band of merry kids make it to their destination, Bibi is shocked, and Melissa throws a panic attack. Everybody goes inside the house except for Melissa, who guards the car. When Perry finds out that the group has headed to Hull House, he informs Sister Gloria. By that time, however, the festivities have started, and the unlucky adolescents are left to face the evil on their own.

As funny as it is gory, this wild ride down demon lane is a blast from start to finish. A fair share of bitchy and likeable characters adorn the film, making you cheer and whimper as each death approaches. The 90s atmosphere is definitely present here, but Night of the Demons 2 still feels like a worthy sequel to the original. Gore is added more and more as the runtime quickens, and you get every necessary shot of female erotica. Sex, lesbianism, and the three Bs of lady nudity. For those interested in the male aspect, you’ll have to settle for shirtless and briefs. Where ‘you’ is spelled “Y-O-O”, and ugly haircuts enter from the wrong sides of the park, you probably won’t be complaining. They even kept the infamous hall scene from the original, where demonic Angela is floating down the corridors. Eerie. Decapitations, melting monsters, and boobs that will break your arm off are just some of the make-up effects to watch out for. Angela is looking just as evil as ever!

People switch likeableness’ so quickly. Sister Gloria, at first, is painful to watch with her uptight attitude against anything that is even slightly promiscuous. Father Bob used to be the saving grace against the nutty nun, allowing dances and acting quite witty. Terri starts out stuck up; a carbon copy of the bitchier Shirley. By the end, Gloria is a comical demon-killing goddess, Bob is an idiot who doesn’t buy into what ‘everyone’ is warning him about, and Terri is felt sorry for, despite her rude past behaviour. Overall, the acting is very good, and I’d probably ask anybody on set to star in another flick. On the down side, Night of the Demons 2 becomes a comedy in the third act and we end the feature off with a horrible computer generated snake. The setting is spread a bit too thin. Where in the first and third entry, the gang finds it hard to leave the Hull House premise, here we skip from Hull, to school, to Hull again, with a different set of holy warriors. The dark, lost feel is absent, and your only hope is to look for cheesy entertainment, rather than spooky terror.

Lionsgate released this enjoyable ghoul on fullscreen DVD just last year. No extras; no nothing! We get to watch some previews for Lionsgate’s latest, but there’s no excitement surrounding them. A beautiful transfer is about the best it has going for it. This nasty outing is one every horror enthusiast should see, though, it’s not quite in the realm of greatness. ‘Good’ is also a term tossed around loosely. It’s a roller coaster of possession and haunted house dreams, the comedy doesn’t deflate, and it’s edited together efficiently. I was sitting on the fence with this one, but based upon pure entertainment and probable re-watchability, I’d have to say: Buy it!




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