Ghoulies II

You normally think of cinematic greats such as the Godfather 2, Terminator 2, Empire Strikes Back and Aliens as 'superior' sequels. Not many people ever mention the eighties horror 'Ghoulies 2' in the same breath as any of the affore-mentioned films. However, it is head and shoulders about its predecessor. Although, that's not saying much.

The original was about a wannabe sorcerer who conjured up a load of evil little critters, aka, 'ghoulies' only to have them turn on him. Sadly, the first film centred on the – pretty bland – humans, whereas the real stars of the show were the nasty little puppets who terrorised people. I'm guessing this was more to do with budget constraints, but, this time round, they seem to have learned from their mistakes. The ghoulies are the stars.

They're in it pretty much all the way through. Yes, the human characters are still pretty bland, but at least you don't really notice when the monsters get going. You could naturally pick faults in the film by saying how the ghoulies are about two feet tall and would probably find it difficult to actually hurt someone (let alone savage them to death), but we'll just skip that one and assume they are capable of killing tonnes of people.

It's hardly scary. There's not an awful lot of tension of scares in it (unless you're that afraid of rubbery-looking monsters) and you have to majorly suspend your disbelief to imagine that creatures can walk around a packed fairground and not be seen until it suits the script's needs. But, if you like cheesy eighties horror/monster movies, then give this one a go (and ignore the sequels – the series truly peaks here – and that's saying something!).

This is the rare case where a sequel is actually better than the original. Considering that original is the cheap and nasty Ghoulies, it's really not much of an accomplishment. Anyway the plot here is that the Ghoulies make their way to a carnival where business is poor. Their presence manages to help business pick up but of course they do what Ghoulies are meant to do and start killing people.

What makes this a better movie than the first? Well for starters the carnival setting is more interesting. The special effects for the Ghoulies is improved over the first. The cast is better, helped in large part by veteran Royal Dano and "little person" Phil Fondacaro. But ultimately it's the camp humor that this movie has that elevates it above the previous movie.

All this being said about how it's an improvement over the first Ghoulies, it's still not a very good movie. It's watchable enough for a movie of its kind. But let's not get carried away and say it's anything better than that. So, better than the first Ghoulies but still not very good.

A paper-thin plot: Ghoulies II picks up a short time after the first movie, a few of the little nasties stow away on an amusement park ride and bring big bucks to a dying fair. The creatures are mad after an attempt to kill them, so the creatures go on a rampage through the fairgrounds, ultimately leading to an explosive conclusion.

Sounds corny? No matter what anyone says, this is utterly fantastic. I refuse to totally dismiss this, because I find it quite engaging, in a guilty pleasure sense. I have to say it blew me away! This might all sound corny, like a bad B-movie, but that is not the case. My rating: 7/10.

My review was written in August 1988 after watching the movie on Vestron video cassette.

Assembly line filmmaking (in this case, Charles Band's former stomping ground Empire Studios in Rome) is the curse of "Ghoulies II", a lame followup belatedly debuting this fall in video stores.

First pic, a shameless "Gremlins" imitation that emerged as Empire Pictures' top box office attraction, was a west coast-lensed horror comedy spotlighting cutesy John Buecher hand puppets. Sequel features a few more puppets and is set in the Carolinas, but lensed on gaudy sets in Rome with a nondescript cast.

A priest (British thesp Anthony Dawson) tries to destroy the little title demon, but they escape, holing up in a failing carnival show run by Royal Dano and his nephew Damon Martinl Presence of the supernatural critters perks up attendance, staving off the foreclousr efforts of meanie J. Downing, but the ghoulies start killing people, a no-no even for a Grand Guignol attraction.

Preposterous climax has the good guys conjuring up an oversize monster (it doesn't look much better than its pintsized ghoulies) to knock off the beasties.

Albert Band (father of defunct Empire's majordomo Charles) directs with apparent disinterest, just cranking out another title in a production slate. These doll-like figures just aren't scary and the attempted black humor falls flat. The inherent contradiction of producing fantasy films without imagination is evident in bold relief.

Technical team, largely Italian, delivers competence within a creative vacuum. Dwarf actor Phil Fondacaro sticks out as way too talented for this material.

Larry (Damon Martin) and Uncle Ned (Royal Dano) are driving a truck to an amusement park with their attraction Satan's Den. They have to stop in a repair shop and four demons sneak and hide in the truck. They arrive at the carnival and hide inside the Satan's Den. The arrogant owner of the carnival P. Hardin (J. Downing) threatens to fire the employees if their attractions are not profitable and assigns the dwarf Sir Nigel Penneyweight (Phil Fondacaro) to work with Larry and Ned in the Satan's Den. He also hits on Larry's girlfriend Nicole (Kerry Remsen). When the audience sees the demons in the Satan's Den, they believe that they are part of the attractions and the entertainment becomes a sensation. But when people are attacked by the demons, there is panic in the carnival. Now Larry, Nigel and Nicole try to use an incantation to get rid of the creatures.

"Ghoulies II" is a funny and cheesy franchise similar to "Critters" and other "evil toys" in the late 80's and early 90's. The plot is silly with one dimensional characters and gruesome scenes, but entertains and is cult. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not Available