Night of the Demons 2
Starring: Cristi Harris, Merle Kennedy, Amelia Kincaid
Writers: Joe Augustyn, James Penzi
****Spoilers Throughout****
Six years have passed since Angela Franklin's Halloween party at Hull House turned into a demonic soiree, claiming the lives of nearly everyone that attended. All bodies of the unfortunate were recovered, save for Angela's, who is now the forefront of local urban legends that the kids tell by candlelight. Years later, a devilish card was sent to the Franklin family --said to be authentically signed by Angela-- causing the parents to commit suicide. Afterward, Angela's sister, Melissa, attends a Catholic boarding school for troubled teens. Here, she is ridiculed and made an outcast by the other teenagers, none more so than Shirley. After Shirley and a few others are banned from attending Sister Gloria's annual Halloween dance, she plans an escape from school grounds to have a real party... at Hull House, with Mouse/Melissa on the invitation list.
Brian Trenchard-Smith takes the director's chair for this sequel to Kevin Tenney's 1988 classic, Night of the Demons, with Joe Augustyn staying on as writer. While Night of the Demons 2 lacks the witty visual style of the first film, it somehow manages to be a damn near equal in entertainment. I'm still trying to figure that out. The original takes a good 20 minutes or so before any real demon action comes into play; this one takes a whoppin' 45 minutes to get to the grue --save for the opening, and a dream sequence Mouse has about her sister. Once it gets to that point, NOTD 2 is full throttle awesome, with leveled up gore and the action barely takes a single pause until the credits role. While Tenney's film lacked action at the beginning, he made up for it with incredible camera angles, crane cams, 360 panning, etc... Trenchard-Smith doesn't go that route. His work is fairly standard, and there's even use of stock footage from the first film --such as the epic demon POV shots traveling through the halls of Hull House, and the low angle scenes of Angela whisking about. I guess using stock footage was a “Don't fix what aint broke” attempt, but it doesn't work well here, and I'll explain why a little later.
While I can't say much stood out for me in terms of direction, there were a couple of things I enjoyed. There's a cool floor level shot of our two jock dudes playing basketball, following directly behind them. It's a pretty nifty sequence that makes up for the fact that said scene would otherwise be uninteresting. Another thing I liked was the scene of demon stench entering the room where the group are holding their Hull house party. It's much like it was in the first film; a POV shot of the presence all up in a character's face, not showing itself but giving off the aroma of someone's asshole. But mostly, the camera work isn't mind blowing.
The character's aren't as enjoyable this time around, but there are standout performances from some of the cast. First, Merle Kennedy (May), as Angela's tragedy impaired younger sister, Mouse/Melissa. Her nickname comes from the timidness of the character's persona, and Kennedy really nails it. Shy around boys, awkward around girls and fearful from haunting nightmares (starring her demonic sister), Mouse is immediately a character to cheer for. She also has a slightly hinted love interest in another outcast student from the catholic school, Perry, played by Bobby Jacoby (now going by Robert Jayne). He's another favorite; Perry doesn't get on well with his horny jock classmates, due to his interests in Demonology. Jacoby's character is another example of going back to older films and finding out that the geek or misfit is way cooler than the cool crowd. He's my favorite male in NOTD 2.
Other standout performances: Rod McCary as Father Bob, Jennifer Rhodes playing the bad ass rosary swingin' Sister Gloria, Rick Peters (Dexter) playing rebel Rick (Shirley's boyfriend), Darnin Heames as Z-Boy --another favorite character, due to his quirkiness, but sadly limited, and of course Amelia Kincaid as Angela. The first time I saw NOTD 2, I wasn't even sure that it was the same actress playing the demoness I fell for in my adolescence. Kincaid looks so vastly different here (which is why the stock footage sequences of her from the first film don't really work), but she has those devilish looking smirks that ultimately make it obvious. Just throwing it out there, I think Kincaid is crazy fucking hot, more so when she is portraying straight up evil. Which leads me to my complaint about giving her comedic one-liners in this film. Sure, there were a few in NOTD, but there are some instances in this sequel that seem to want to put Angela on a Freddy level... bleh. It's not enough to hinder my appreciation for the movie, just sayin' it wasn't necessary. That has nothing to do with Kincaid's performance (not to mention that she doesn't even provide her demon voice), though; she is just as awesome as she was in the first film, if not more... she seems so very comfortable this time around.
The cool kids are basically just fodder for the slaughter, even the ones that don't end up dying... they may as well have. NOTD 2 was released in 1994, though, the main teenage characters seem like they traveled from 1984 to party at Hull house. Ya know, I think this is what makes the first half of the film so entertaining. They aren't written nearly as well as the kids in Tenney's film, but they are damn sure amusing. The two cool guys, Johnny (Johnny Moran) and Kurt (Ladd York), are complete douche bags; Kurt being the worst, insisting that his nickname is King Snake... really. If I had been attending this school, I would have definitely been conjuring demons with Perry. The girls, while hot, are equally corny... especially the bad apple of the group, Shirley, played by Zoe Trilling. According to IMDB, Trilling has reached a cult status fandom, due to having a strong presence in her movies... hah. Pretty sure it's mostly to do with her body, because she's kinda forgettable, otherwise. Christine Taylor, who played Marcia in the Brady Bunch films, plays a snobby girl named Terri. She's mostly memorable for looking just like Marcia, forever. Lastly, Cristi Harris as Bibi, the sweetheart of the bunch. This character is the only one from the group --not counting Perry-- that has any regard for Mouse/Melissa's well-being, and Harris makes it believable.
Steve Johnson's SFX are amped up and improved, and that says a lot, considering I loved the shit out of his work in the first film. Roll Call: Chin and cheek skin ripped off to reveal a bottom row of teeth, demon head in a toilet, Demon-Angela cowgirling a dude after she sticks her black devil tongue down his throat, breasts turning into hands, decapitated dude coming back as a demon to play basketball using his head as the ball, a new element of lipstick horror, demons Vs holy water= gooey gucky mess, spiked ball bat to the forehead, and lastly... a truly fucking epic Demon-Angela snakelike creature slithering in for the killing.
Dennis Tenney's musical prowess --heard in the first film-- is sorely missed. Jim Manzie composes the score for NOTD 2, and I must say it's pretty damn generic and unmemorable. However, hearing --via boombox-- Morbid Angel's Rapture at a Catholic school Halloween dance makes me feel hellishly gleeful. Furthermore, it offers Kincaid another opportunity to dance it up, Yay! Not revealing as much as she did in NOTD, but I gotta say she looks wonderful pouring the party punch all down her chest. Love it!
Random:
1) Sister Gloria FTW!!!
↓↓↓
2) Required reading at Saint Rita's Academy.
↓↓↓
3) Epic sign for a tennis court!
↓↓↓
4) Best. Face. Ever.
↓↓↓
5) Hi, I'm boob-hands! Nice to meet you!
↓↓↓
So yeah, Night of the Demons 2 may not be as well crafted as its predecessor, but it manages to be just as enjoyable. Perhaps its most impressive accomplishment is taking the main elements from the first film and setting them in a new location. Angela and her evil eroticism being brought across the underground streams and thrown into a Catholic school is just so wrong that it's ultimately right. Definitely put a smile on my face. Recommended Halloween viewing.
