Night of the Demons 2: Collector's Edition - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Night of the Demons 2: Collector's Edition



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
Oh my my. We all know that sequels have a tendency of taking the original and amplifying everything up several notches in an attempt to out do, and expand upon what came before. Action movies get crazier and crazier with the fight scenes. Comedies get more and more silly, and horror movies just tend to get full on BIZARRE with gore and humor and schlockiness (yes, that’s a term). And boy howdy did they do that with the sequel to Kevin Tenney’s 1988 cult horror classic.

6 years after the original we’re firmly in the grasp of the mid 1990s, and that means that EVERYTHING is full bore nuts at this point. The 1990s were basically the 80s, just with the introduction of CGI, and doing everything that the 80s did, just more extreme and more over the top. Which means that while the 1988 Night of the Demons was a BIT over the top with how different it was, Night of the Demons 2 takes everything to it’s logical extremes and simply has fun with it. Ozploitation director Brian Trenchard-Smith has taken over directors role from Kevin Tenney, and he goes balls to the walls with this one. Think Leprechauns in Space, just with demons, Nuns, and holy water.

It’s been years since the original incident at Hull House happened where Angela (Amelia Kinkade) was taken over by demons and devoured her party goers. The legend still survives though, as randy teenagers at the local Catholic school for delinquents recite the tale one hallows eve (while of course running around in their undies while being spied upon by the boys side of the school. I mean, it IS the 90s). Things get kicked off when some of the “naughtiest” of the school girls decide to take some of the guys up to Hull House for a little more “intimate” of a party while the rest of the school is having a yearly dance under the watchful eye of Sister Gloria (Jennifer Rhodes)

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that things are going to turn hinky REAL fast, with a demonically possessed Angela arising from the underworld to torment the guests. However, instead of trapping them in the remains of Hull house and taking their bodies over one by one, she allows the teens to escape back to the school, where the demonic influence is allowed to spread, taking over the students one by one until the Sister Gloria and a few of the other teens band together to take out the demons as best they can.

I don’t care what people say. Night of the Demons 2 isn’t just better than the original, it’s a freaking masterpiece of comedic horror. Brian Trenchard-Smith is completely self aware of the ridiculousness of the plot, and leans heavily into that category of winking at the camera, while also taking the gore and horror aspects seriously. The gore is amped up to level 11, the nudity doubled from the first film, stupid teenagers getting killed while having sex triple. And of course we have martial arts takedowns of demons, a nun using a rosary as Nunchuks, hole water hand grenade water ballons, 1990s OG super soakers filled with holy water (those OG super soakers were amazing. Built like tanks and nothing like the cheap junky knockoffs of today). Tubes of lipsticks attacking teenagers, a guy named Z-Boy having sex with Angela, people playing basketball with severed heads…. Oh, and Christine Taylor as a young 20 something year old getting it on with random boys. The movie is just downright HILARIOUS. I was literally dying of laughter for at least half of the movie, as well as enjoying the actual horror and gore too.




Rating:

Rated R for horror violence and gore, sexuality, nudity and language




Video:

While the sequel doesn’t sport a brand new restoration like the first film, Scream Factory labels this as a new master taken from the original interpositive, and the results are generally really good. The encode is devilishly (see what I did there?) impressive encode that is leaps and bounds better than the DVD, and distinctly tweaked from the Olive Films Blu-ray from years back. That encode was notoriously over brightened, and the cinematographer was supposedly not very happy with the Olive release. This image is much more dim, with tamed highlights and great looking detail levels most of the time. There’s a few shots (usually long far away shots outside of a car, or looking into a building) that look a bit mushy with weak detail levels, but for the majority of the film things look REALLY good. Black levels are almost always strong (inside of Hull House things get a bit grainy and crushed though), and the primary colors really pop this go around. The film takes place outside of Hull House as well as in, so it’s not nearly so gothic and grungy as the first film. Outdoor shots pop with great highlights (and of course that ever so slight red push 90s films were famous for), making for a generally solid looking Blu-ray release.









Audio:

Unlike the first movie, there is not a bevy of audio options to choose from (nor is there problematic audio mixes as well). The single 2.0 DTS-HD MA stereo track is a bit pedestrian by design, but it is simple and authentic. The dialog is well placed in the mains, and there’s only a few glimpses of harshness around yelling and screaming. But what more could you expect from a movie about Catholic school teens running around. The mix is fairly dynamic with all of the screaming and yelling, and of course the death metal songs (seriously? What was it about 90s horror that mean you had to have Cannibal Corpse, Rabid Angel, or Carnage playing in EVERY horror movie?), but the highs are distinctly thin. It’s an overall good mix, but one that is fairly anemic with the bass and the depth of the track not being overly massive. But at the end of the day, it’s a competent track.












Extras:

• NEW Audio Commentary With Actors Cristi Harris, Jennifer Rose, Darin Heames, And Johnny Moran
• NEW A Tale Of Two Demons – An Interview With Directors Kevin S. Tenney And Brian Trenchard-Smith
• NEW Trick Or Treat, Sucker – An Interview With Actor Amelia Kinkade
• NEW Red Curls And Screams – An Interview With Actor Cristi Harris
• NEW Monster Mayhem – An Interview With Special Effects Artist Steve Johnson
• NEW A Sequel With Guts – An Interview With Producer Jeff Geoffray
• Audio Commentary With Director Brian Trenchard-Smith And Director Of Photography David Lewis
• Night Of The Demons 2 – Workprint (In Standard Definition)
• Dailies
• Behind-The-Scenes Photo Gallery
• Trailer

Final Score:
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Is Night of the Demons 2 a good movie? Oh my goodness no. It is utter exploitation level crap to the nth degree, but it is FUN crap. Trenchard-Smith dances a fine line between winking lasciviously at the camera while taking the horror aspects seriously, and he does a magnificent job. The film is stupid, hilarious, over the top, while still using a ton of practical effects unlike most of the 1990s horror films (there is a few glimpses of it, but mostly the CGI is saved for flames or that last 2 seconds of the film with the snake head, otherwise this is like 95% practical effects and makeup). Tons of extras, a hilariously campy film, and a great packing set by Scream Factory forces me to give this an unabashed 2 thumbs up. Great Watch.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Cristi Harris, Darin Heames, Bobby Jacoby, Amelia Kinkade, Johnny Moran, Rick Peters, Christine Taylor
Directed by: Brian Trenchard-Smith
Written by: Joe Augustyn, James Penzi
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Scream Factory
Rated: NR
Runtime: 96 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: October 3rd, 2023

Recommendation: Great Watch