Dylan's 1994 Horror Column #2: Same Old Song and Dance
Horror, by its very nature, should abhor sequels. There is nothing very frightening about watching the same plot again and it’s even less frightening to do it a third, fourth or fifth time. It’s hard to be scared when you know what’s coming and, too often, sequels prove that point again and again. However, there are a few that manage to escalate and elevate the material, breathing new life into an old idea. Friday the 13th: Part II, Aliens, Texas Chainsaw Massacre II: all sequels that took the base concept and ran with it in completely different directions, creating newer terrors for jaded audiences who thought they knew what to expect.
Unfortunately, 1994 doesn’t have a lot of that going for it. As I have gone deeper and deeper into the tractless wastes that make up 1994’s horror library, I’ve become increasingly concerned that I’m going to die out here in this depressing, squalid landscape, clutching a copy of In the Mouth of Madness as the light fades from my eyes. It has become more apparent with each movie I’ve seen that the highlights are few and far between and the sequels have done little to dissuade me.
Pumpkinhead, regardless of what might you think of the movie itself, displays some fantastic creature work from Stan Winston and his production studio. The unfortunate sequel, Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings, does include some decent effects work, but has little else to recommend it. The teenagers in this film are some of the most unlikeable I’ve seen in any horror movie. One of the first things they do when we meet them is let an old woman burn to death, which is right after they defile a grave. “Ah!” I hear you say, “But that just means we enjoy watching them die later on!” At which point I respond, “You are wrong! And please don’t interrupt me.” The most interesting death in the movie comes at the hands of irate chickens, not even Pumpkinhead. Unless you have a strong interest in seeing Andrew Robinson after Hellraiser, but before Garrack, hard pass.
After being let down by Pumpkinhead, I went with a sequel to one of the greatest horror movies of the 1980s: Night of the Demons II. The original flick is trashy, violent, and over the top and if you’re a fan of that era of horror, you should definitely check it out. The sequel feels like a watered down and more polished version. There are brief moments when the brilliance of the original shines through, like an early sequence when someone’s lower lip is suddenly removed in an upsetting manner, but overall it's missing that oomph that the original has. There is nothing that rivals the Lipstick Scene in the sequel, nothing that really drives home that special sleazy grossness of that original production. On its own, Night of the Demons II is a fun, but forgettable horror movie. Compared to its predecessor, it’s a little disappointing.
On the very night I was planning to write this entry, I was unexpectedly given a gift by a fellow Polykill discord member, Mook. That gift was the opportunity to watch the best movie I’ve seen so far in 1994. It managed to wipe away the bad tastes of Mirror, Mirror 2: Raven Dance and Class of 1999 II: The Substitute and restored my faith in the humble horror sequel. I am, of course, talking about Puppet Master V: The Final Chapter. I love every minute of this absurd, insane movie. There are aliens, heroic, yet sinister puppets, inexplicable Brooklyn accents, bad greenscreen effects, and more puppets. The best part is, it also includes what appears to be most of the fourth movie in a flashback scene. It’s two movies for the price of one! It’s a lot of goofy, over-the-top fun and I now need to go back and watch the rest of the series.
There were of course other sequels that came out this year. Class of Nuke Em High, Ghoulies, Phantasm, and The Birds were all franchises that saw a second or third or fourth entry come out this year. There was, of course, one other franchise that saw a sequel come out in 1994. We’ll save that one for another time, but maybe first you’ll see it in your dreams….
It’s Boogeyman 3: Return of the Boogeyman.
