The Terror Within II (1991)
"Part man. Part beast. Total nightmare."
Plot
After the underground bunker that David and his team were hiding inside was destroyed in a mutant attack, he heads off across the desolate, plague-infested landscape in search of the Rocky Mountain outpost where he believes another team is holed up. On his way, he rescues Ariel from a mutant attack but, when they encounter a tribe of survivors, he is unable to prevent her from being raped by another mutant. Eventually they arrive at the outpost where they are welcomed inside by the team. However that is the least of their worries as not only is Ariel ready to give birth to a monstrous offspring but the team have also inadvertently allowed the severed finger of another mutant to re-grow back to full size inside their compound.
I could honestly go into further details about the plot as it's a rather convoluted sequence of events that leads to a couple of the mutants being let loose inside the bunker. But hey, we're looking at a cheap direct-to-video sequel to a cheap direct-to-video sci-fi horror film where creativity is a bare minimum and recycling everything is the order of the day. If you've seen The Terror Within then you've already seen The Terror Within II, virtually the same film as its predecessor as a rag-tag bunch of human survivors headed up by a famous name (Full Metal Jacket's infamous drill instructor, R. Lee Ermey, taking over the George Kennedy role) allow those mutated humans to infiltrate their underground facility where lots of Alien-stylehi-jinks ensue. Though there are some plot deviations, the standard monster-on-the-loose formula is adhered to the letter.
In many ways it's everything I like about a true sequel where both films could be watched back-to-back without interruption. The sets look the same. The exterior locations look the same. Characters discuss events that have happened and everything seems to fit into a big jigsaw. It's obvious that this takes place within the same fictional future as the original and the same story is continued. Everything fits nicely together so it's a real shame that the film is almost an identical re-tread, save for the first twenty minutes or so. Even thinking back about it now, I'm hard-pressed to remember which parts were from which film.
As I've said, if you've seen the original (and why would you be watching the sequel if you haven't?) then this is virtually the same film. If you've seen Alien or any of the countless low budget monster-on-the-loose-in-a-confined-space rip-offs then you'll have seen this. The expendable crew of stereotyped characters decide to hunt down the creature and before you can say "let's split up so we explore more areas but also make ourselves easier targets" they're getting ripped apart in gory death scenes. There's little in the way of tension or scares, just exploitative elements which enhance the film's low budget nature.
I said in my review for The Terror Within that the monsters really reminded me of the recent Feast films and not just for appearances. These are horny monsters who are happy to destroy any males they come across and breed with the females. Monster-rape has always been a taboo in the horror genre and both of these films have tackled the issue with all the subtlety of a bull in a china shop. The monsters look like men in shabby fancy dress outfits but I'll take them over CGI monsters any day of the week.
Having been cast in the main role in the first one and having survived the onslaught of the mutated humanoid, Andrew Stevens is back as David. Only this time he's writing and directing the sequel too. It's a canny move on his part having creative control. Not only does his character get to rescue and then have sex with the lovely Clare Hoak (he conveniently waits to jump in and save her until after her brother has just been savaged, thus eliminating the sibling competition) but as the director, he had the say on who was cast in the other roles. He populates the film with a bunch of good-looking women (if the result of the apocalypse was like this where hot, nubile young women eager to shed their clothes for surviving males were the only ones to survive then let's get those red buttons pushed) and even finds a role for his mam, Stella Stevens (who looked good for her age as well). R. Lee Ermey is wasted in his role, just like George Kennedy was before him. Still, he got his name on the poster.
Final Verdict
So what is there to be had from The Terror Within II? Well if you enjoyed the first one, chances are you'll enjoy this as they're virtually the same film, only split across two instalments. I would have liked to see Stevens try something a little different with the story here, rather than being a shameless remake. But the cheap and cheesy B-grade elements keep things ticking over until the end and it's never boring, just too familiar.
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The Terror Within II Director(s): Andrew Stevens Writer(s): Thomas McKelvey Cleaver (characters), Andrew Stevens Actor(s): Andrew Stevens, Stella Stevens, Chick Vennera, R. Lee Ermey, Burton Gilliam, Clare Hoak, Larry Gilman Duration: 88 mins |  |
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