Ghoulies II (1987)

"They'll get you in the end... again!"

Plot

The devilish Ghoulies find themselves tagging along with a struggling carnival and proceed to turn the haunted house attraction into a real money spinner by scaring people for real. But it isn't long before the Ghoulies just can't resist taking everything one step too far.

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I have to say that this sequel really took me by surprise. The original Ghoulies was a bargain basement Gremlins-wannabe featuring a bunch of moth-ridden, soiled puppets which looked to be falling apart at the seams but attempted to cause mischief nevertheless. It was awful and the title creatures were given little screen time (not surprisingly). But from Charles Band, the man who later developed a fetish for tiny terror films (Puppet Master, Demonic Toys, Hideous!, Blood Dolls, etc), I would have expected no less than a sequel and here we are. It's hardly in The Dark Knight levels of superior sequels but compared to the original, it's definitely in The Godfather Part II mould.

This first sequel (of which there were three - I know, the film world amazes me) starts to put things right by actually focusing on the Ghoulies and giving them plenty of screen time. As crude and as damaged as the puppets look, at least they're given something to do this time around. They're not the Gremlins and they're not even at Crites level (from the Critters films for those who may be wondering) but these little monsters can still manage to pull a chuckle or two out of the viewer and they've all got some individual personality. All three of the creatures from the first one are back as well as a new puppet - the bald green one from the film poster is my favourite as he looks like an overgrown Jelly Baby. Here they cause all sorts of mayhem in the carnival, with the shooting gallery scene being an amusing highlight. It's hardly rocket science comedy and it panders to the school children in all of us. Little things hitting each other - its basic Punch 'n' Judy comedy but it works in a low budget horror-comedy like this. Whilst the puppets look as worn out as they did in the original, the stop motion sequences don't work very well.

As for the premise, well it's as fleshed out as it possibly could be. Basically an excuse for the monster hi-jinks, the film sees a standard story of a struggling business on the verge of collapse being suddenly revitalised when something extraordinary happens to it. You know the direction that the story will take but the fun here is just sitting back and allowing everything to transpire by the book. As long as there is some Ghoulie action going, it's not too difficult. The light-hearted tone of the film and a generous helping of daft 80s comedy helps to hide over many of the cracks. This is the film we had imagined the original would be. Thankfully the producer learnt from his mistakes and made sure that Ghoulies II lived up to the expectations. Given how terrible the original was, I wonder just how many people gave this one a chance when it was originally released.

I don't want to sound like I'm praising it too much. The film lacks any measure of quality but as far as junk films go, there's fun to be had and credit needs to be given where it's due. The beauty of setting the film inside a carnival, specifically one with a haunted house, gives the production team a field day to create some fantastic sets. The haunted house looks like great Halloween fun and allowing the Ghoulies to run wild in it adds to its low grade charms. It's the type of setting that has seen relatively few horror films utilise to good effect (Tobe Hooper's The Funhouse springs to mind) but one which can work well when required. Of course, the Ghoulies don't spend all film cooped up in there and shenanigans breaks out when they do, racking up an impressive body count of kills involving acid and chopped-off limbs. This doesn't skimp on the practical gore effects, revelling in its absurdity at times with a knowing wink to the audience.

Diminutive actor Phil Fondacaro is the pick of the cast, playing the carnival's resident midget who thinks he should be a Shakespearian actor instead of being stuck as one of the cheap gimmicks inside the haunted house. In many respects, this mirrors Fondacaro: he's an actor I've seen many times in these low budget flicks and he's far better than any of the material given. There's lots of the cast who would star in other 80s horror films such as Royal Dano (Killer Klowns from Outer Space), Sasha Jenson (Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Myers) and William Butler (Friday the 13th VII: The New Blood) so you know you're in good company. Everyone seems to be having a good time making it and this infectious enthusiasm spreads across the lens - it's hard to dislike Ghoulies II and you'll hate yourself for feeling that!

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Final Verdict

Ghoulies II is a vast improvement over the original. Whilst it's still not a great film, it's more than watchable in a daft 80s horror-comedy sort of way. If you're in desperate need of a fix of little demonic creatures resorting to toilet humour to entertain, then check it out. It's not Shakespeare but it will fill a gap.

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Ghoulies II Director(s): Albert Band Writer(s): Charlie Dolan (story), Dennis Paoli (screenplay), Luca Bercovici (characters) Actor(s): Damon Martin, Royal Dano, Phil Fondacaro, J. Downing, Kerry Remsen, Dale Wyatt, Jon Pennell, Sasha Jenson Duration: 89 mins