This sequel doesn’t add a lot to the original, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth a look.
Conventional wisdom says that sequels will inevitably offer diminishing returns. While that might be true in aggregate, and certainly as the numbers after the title grow larger, there are plenty of examples of horror movies having an immediate sequel that improve on the formula. For every Jaws 2 or Halloween II, there is an Evil Dead 2 or Prom Night II. Horror is a genre where future installments are frequently farmed out to new creative teams, so sometimes it just takes some fresh blood to hijack the series with a new take to really achieve its full potential. With this in mind, I set out to watch Night of the Demons 2, hoping for an experience to rival my viewing of the original a couple of years ago. On that count, I was disappointed. Yet, if I look at the movie free of expectations, there is plenty to recommend.
It can feel weird to write these reviews without a plot synopsis, but really what do you need to know? I can only type some variation on “dumb teens behave badly and get killed off in this movie” before I eventually start questioning the point of this blog and ultimately my broader life choices, so let’s take that part as read, shall we? Let’s just say that there are plenty of fun things to enjoy here if you are into that kind of movie. It’s archetypal, in a way, for the type of horror that is more interested in providing some laughs, some boobs and a rollicking good time than it is in legitimitely giving anybody nightmares. The central performance of Angela, as portrayed by Amelia Kinkade, is just as ghoulishly delightful as it was in the previous movie, and Kinkade’s involvement is likely a big reason that anybody thought this was a good idea in the first place. No one in the cast probably needed to keep Oscar night free in 1994, but on balance for this type of movie they were all really good. Plus you had a fun turn by Jennifer Rhodes as a kick-ass nun, and a great climax featuring a new snake-form for Angela. Evil Dead fans will even notice a nod to both that film and the original NotD involving an unsavory assault by a lipstick tube.
Where the film falls short of its pedigree comes down partially to direction, and partially to some undefinable je na sais quoi. Kevin S. Tenney directed the first movie with a solid sense of framing and an attempt at spooking his audience, even as he winked at them. Brian Trenchard-Smith tackled the sequel with a more workmanlike approach that turned out fine, but hardly memorable. Ultimately, though, everything about the sequel feels very much like the original, only less. The goofy deliquent characters aren’t quite as ridiculous, the Angela dancing sequence isn’t quite as surreal, even the credit sequence is superior in the first installment. So if you have to choose, definitely spend your precious Halloween time with Night of the Demons. But really, you’re all adults right? Why choose? I say make it a double-header and enjoy a solid three hours of Hull House madness.
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