HOUSE II : THE SECOND STORY (1987)

HOUSE II: THE SECOND STORY (1987)

Tagline: Frightening strikes twice!

Looks like you've got some kind of alternate universe in there or something.

Oh, man. This one is pretty nuts. Let’s get that out of the way right now. It’s the story of a man and his girlfriend who move into a house that is full of mystery. If you drove up to this house, you would be like – “Well damn, that’s a freakin haunted house”. Anyway, Jesse (played by Arye Gross) decides it’s just an amazing idea to start studying all about the house and eventually digs up his grandfather. No, I am not kidding. That is how stupid this dude is. He shouldn’t even be allowed to share my name, but whatever. I am over it. It’s too late now. His grandfather is re-animated and looks like a character that Scooby and the gang should be getting chased by. He befriends both Jesse and his friend Charlie (played by Jonathan Stark who two years earlier was getting thrown around like a rag doll in FRIGHT NIGHT). There are some issues with his girlfriend and bam, now he’s got demons coming to take this crystal skull with powers from his house. We end up with a dimensional portal and it’s time for the after-party in cheese-ville.

I don’t want to give too much more away here, but this movie is nuts. Cinematically it’s a bit kiddie and less horror than some other 80’s fare. However, it is brilliantly imagined and that makes it extremely unique. The cast is also quite cool. There is a short few scenes with Lar Park-Lincoln who is best known for pulling an “Friends Don’t Lie” on Jason in FRIDAY THE 13th PART VII, who plays Jesse’s girlfriend. John Ratzenberger shows up for a few really great comical scenes and Amy Yasbeck is also in this who I mostly remember from the TV show Wings. For what they are trying to accomplish all of the performances are pretty great. Kane Hodder (who plays Jason in several FRIDAY THE 13th movies was the stunt coordinator for this flick, and did a cameo as the gorilla guy, so they even managed to get him involved in this thing. 

Another thing I realized after thinking about this movie a bit further. It’s got a connection to INDIANA JONES AND THE CRYSTAL SKULL in the sense that both movies involve the crystal skull (outside of that though, not so much). 

If you enjoyed the first HOUSE movie, I don’t see how you won’t at least appreciate this one. Both movies explore deep emotional themes while delivering over-the-top visuals and overall bizarre but therapeutic adventures. I will say that HOUSE II is not a movie I would buy. It’s one of those flicks I don’t mind catching on a streaming service or renting for an 80s binge where you are running out of nostalgia, but not much more than that. That is not to say it isn’t wildly fun in its own way.

For me, HOUSE II gets at 3 out of 7. They don’t make them like this anymore and for that reason alone it’s worth a watch at least once. 

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