Psych major Erin Cahill (apparently a former Power Ranger a fictional college gets a visit from friend Nikki Sanderson, who claims the Boogeyman is after her. No, really. At first she doesn’t believe her, but she kinda sorta starts to turn to Sanderson’s way of thinking when she sees her being killed by the very real monster. Of course, no one takes her cries of ‘The boogeyman did it!’ seriously, even when her friends start getting hacked to pieces.
I hated the first one (who didn’t?), never saw the second, and when the opportunity came along to see this Gary Jones (“Crocodile 2: Death Swamp”, and “Mosquito”, a bug movie that I’ve seen but honestly remember nothing about) second sequel I thought: Hmmm, I wonder what else is on. But then I quickly realised nothing else was on, ergo I ended up watching this one. And y’know what? The rumours are true, it’s actually a lot better than the first film. In fact…It’s almost a good movie. Almost. But hey, ‘almost’ is about ten times better than I was expecting.
The film certainly starts out in a most pleasing manner: A bath scene replete with nipple shots, in the first ten minutes! It also happens to be a well-shot scene, just so you know I’m not a total perve. There’s a pretty nice butt shot immediately afterwards too, albeit quick and obscured. But at least it’s more than in most horror films in this overly chaste era. Hey, don’t look at me like that, this is important stuff! Did I mention the film has some seriously hot chicks? The entire opening is surprisingly strong, with lots of atmosphere and it’s even a little scary. And like I said, the cinematography is good and crisp, using shadows and darkness in ways most modern horror directors clearly have no idea about. That is, there’s still enough light to see what’s going on, unlike say, “The Uninvited”. There’s also a really good use of sound in the films, clearly Mr. Jones knows his stuff and knows where to find a good cinematographer. He certainly knows his tried and tested horror staples- strange noises, doors opening by themselves, etc. All essential for a good, spooky, old-school fright picture. Certainly the film is much more engaging than the original, which was shockingly boring.
Aside from the boring characters (sigh), the only real issue I have with the film is its lack of gore. It’s really not much more violent than the first film. We get bleeding walls (a must-have in any great horror film, surely!), and bloodied bodies after the fact, but most of the nasty stuff is kept off-screen. And that’s a shame because the death scenes are otherwise not-bad. Some are even quite scary, whilst others are just quite amusing (including one death similar but superior to a certain death in “Freddy vs. Jason”).
But look, it’s better than I expected. The director and cinematographer create atmosphere, cool visuals and shadows, and even one of the better ‘Boo!’ moments in recent memory. Plus it’s full of hot chicks in their underwear. Sometimes, hot chicks in their underwear and cool shadows is nearly enough to satisfy. There’s also a smart use of quick cutting which for once serves a purpose, in hiding the film’s budget restrictions. A glaring exception is in the washing machine murder which has some truly awful CGI blood, ruining a potentially great scene. The ending isn’t so much of a twist as it is a genuinely logical ending that the “Elm Street” series never had the cajones to do. The idea was brought up in “Freddy vs. Jason”, but not as an ending. Points off, though, for following that up with a second and third ending that ruin the whole coolness of the first. A shame, it was a good idea.
OVERALL SUMMARY
This is really not too bad, and ambitious beyond its financial means. I just wish we saw more than bloodied bodies and red walls.
