What the hell happened to Brian Yuzna? When he made the first two Reanimator films and From Beyond, I saw the magic of a young horror director who cared about his work and, through the campy, goofy gore I was blown away by the cajones he had to make these films.
The dreadfully plot less Dagon and this latest entry in the Reanimator series show me he should just throw in the towel and direct commercials or something more constructive.
To his credit, the single redeeming quality of this film was Jeffrey Combs who somehow made his role in this awful excuse for a sequel workable. He delivered his performance with the same on screen mania that was so unappreciated on the other films.
The rest of the characters are flat caricatures of real people. The prison warden is laughable, the cell-mates are stereotypes and the reporter... well, she only had two "talents" that got her cast as best as I can tell. The entire cast, Combs aside, seemed like people who had been turned down for soap opera work.
While the first two films suspended believability, they did so with a tongue in cheek and wink of the eye that made those flaws allowable.
SPOILERS AHEAD...
In this film you have an attractive young lady in a courtyard full of imprisoned men and they don't even move on her. RIGHT! JUST LIKE REAL LIFE! If you think that's some sort of stretch of the imagination, consider the guy running around cut in half... he's not mad at the woman who cut him in two. He's mad at Herbert West for corrupting his pet rat. I couldn't possibly have made this up.
And speaking of that rat, if you think cutting to a shot of the poor creature rolling around a severed penis is entertaining, you need to read more books and perhaps graduate middle school.
Which leads me to what bothered me most about this film. Despite all the attempts to rekindle the energy that made the first two films work, Yuzna failed to not only conjure up the atmosphere and giddy playfulness his first two films had, but the film is heavily padded.
During scene after scene of what some will no doubt incorrectly label as genius, we're given shots of prisoners looking, people wandering around incoherently, exterior shots of the prison and that rat with the genitalia. All of these scenes come from nowhere and go nowhere. They seem like some sort of setup for a joke but the punchline never appears. It just keeps going and going as if disconnected from the story.
I'm left with the impression that Yuzna cut the original film and realized that it was 45 minutes long, so he strung in some cutting-room floor footage to space it out a bit and hope nobody notices. I noticed.
You have to understand... I'm a die-hard fan of the first two. They pushed boundaries, shocked people and made for great jokes about nude women strapped to tables and lecherous, talking heads.
Our antagonist, the prison warden, is like Ricky Ricardo on crack and he does everything he can to give you the impression that no man in his mental condition would be given any more responsibility than a fry station at McDonald's. David Gale would mop the floor with this guy, even without his head and no bat wings.
Bárbara Elorrieta is no Barbara Crampton, even if they share first names. Here's a fun drinking game. Every time she slips and her accent starts popping up, take a drink. You'll be wasted before you get to the second act. Also: I nearly threw up during the "tender" scene where she and Jason Barry spout clichés at each other.
As to the gore... well... that's one reason we watch Yuzna's films, now isn't it? Sure... Screamin' Mad George is at it again but his work gets less screen time then any of Yuzna's other films. There's more of the red stuff in the last fifteen minutes of the first film then all of this sequel.
Having said all that, the first scene is great. A little campy but I thought going in it was going to be a return to form after the dismal failure that Dagon was. Oh to be so lucky.
If H. P. Lovecraft were alive, he'd be calling the wrath of Cthulu down upon Brian Yuzna for this.
* INSERT WITTY JOKE ABOUT REANIMATING A GOOD MOVIE SERIES AND IT NEEDING TO BE PUT DOWN BECAUSE IT HAD GONE BAD * If you're a fan of the series, by all means, leave this one on the shelf and watch the original two instead.
The dreadfully plot less Dagon and this latest entry in the Reanimator series show me he should just throw in the towel and direct commercials or something more constructive.
To his credit, the single redeeming quality of this film was Jeffrey Combs who somehow made his role in this awful excuse for a sequel workable. He delivered his performance with the same on screen mania that was so unappreciated on the other films.
The rest of the characters are flat caricatures of real people. The prison warden is laughable, the cell-mates are stereotypes and the reporter... well, she only had two "talents" that got her cast as best as I can tell. The entire cast, Combs aside, seemed like people who had been turned down for soap opera work.
While the first two films suspended believability, they did so with a tongue in cheek and wink of the eye that made those flaws allowable.
SPOILERS AHEAD...
In this film you have an attractive young lady in a courtyard full of imprisoned men and they don't even move on her. RIGHT! JUST LIKE REAL LIFE! If you think that's some sort of stretch of the imagination, consider the guy running around cut in half... he's not mad at the woman who cut him in two. He's mad at Herbert West for corrupting his pet rat. I couldn't possibly have made this up.
And speaking of that rat, if you think cutting to a shot of the poor creature rolling around a severed penis is entertaining, you need to read more books and perhaps graduate middle school.
Which leads me to what bothered me most about this film. Despite all the attempts to rekindle the energy that made the first two films work, Yuzna failed to not only conjure up the atmosphere and giddy playfulness his first two films had, but the film is heavily padded.
During scene after scene of what some will no doubt incorrectly label as genius, we're given shots of prisoners looking, people wandering around incoherently, exterior shots of the prison and that rat with the genitalia. All of these scenes come from nowhere and go nowhere. They seem like some sort of setup for a joke but the punchline never appears. It just keeps going and going as if disconnected from the story.
I'm left with the impression that Yuzna cut the original film and realized that it was 45 minutes long, so he strung in some cutting-room floor footage to space it out a bit and hope nobody notices. I noticed.
You have to understand... I'm a die-hard fan of the first two. They pushed boundaries, shocked people and made for great jokes about nude women strapped to tables and lecherous, talking heads.
Our antagonist, the prison warden, is like Ricky Ricardo on crack and he does everything he can to give you the impression that no man in his mental condition would be given any more responsibility than a fry station at McDonald's. David Gale would mop the floor with this guy, even without his head and no bat wings.
Bárbara Elorrieta is no Barbara Crampton, even if they share first names. Here's a fun drinking game. Every time she slips and her accent starts popping up, take a drink. You'll be wasted before you get to the second act. Also: I nearly threw up during the "tender" scene where she and Jason Barry spout clichés at each other.
As to the gore... well... that's one reason we watch Yuzna's films, now isn't it? Sure... Screamin' Mad George is at it again but his work gets less screen time then any of Yuzna's other films. There's more of the red stuff in the last fifteen minutes of the first film then all of this sequel.
Having said all that, the first scene is great. A little campy but I thought going in it was going to be a return to form after the dismal failure that Dagon was. Oh to be so lucky.
If H. P. Lovecraft were alive, he'd be calling the wrath of Cthulu down upon Brian Yuzna for this.
* INSERT WITTY JOKE ABOUT REANIMATING A GOOD MOVIE SERIES AND IT NEEDING TO BE PUT DOWN BECAUSE IT HAD GONE BAD * If you're a fan of the series, by all means, leave this one on the shelf and watch the original two instead.