Night of the Demons 2 (1994)

Night of the Demons 2 (1994)

Written By: Joe Augustyn

Directed By: Brian Trenchard-Smith

Starring: Bobby Jacoby, Amelia Kinkade, Zoe Trilling

Country of Origin: United States of America

The Idea:
For what its worth, I love Night of the Demons. The campy nature of the film mixed in with all of the 80’s horror schlock surrounding it made it something quite unique. It managed to avoid being the “same old shit” style of film, and instead created its own tier of film that had seemingly not been duplicated: until Night of the Demons 2 graced the silver screens. Written by Joe Augustyn yet again, the second installment in the Angela saga (do I have a fixation on the name Angela or what?) provides us with a great back story on the whole demonic house idea and also gives us a great body count with some terribly funny, if unintentional moments.

We pick up in a non-descript catholic coed school that happens to house numerous young (though they look about thirty), vivacious teens, all of which know far too much about the story of Hull House. This school, run by Father Bob and the world’s most awesome nun, Sister Gloria, is about to have a wonderful little school dance. Can you guess where this whole shindig is headed? I bet you could, given that this film seems to be following in the footsteps of the original perfectly. However, there is one glaring difference: our story now include Melissa, dubiously nicknamed Mouse, a girl at this wonderful private school for the troubled who just so happens to be Angela’s sister. She’s having nightmares, but given the kind of shit she puts up with during the day, I’d pray for awful fucking nightmares, too.

All of the kids, with very, very few, exceptions, are assholes. In fact, if you had to pick a protagonist, you’d be safe to stick with Mouse and damn the rest from the start. Perhaps only Sister Gloria, who, if I neglected to mention it, wields a yardstick like a broadsword, is as worthy of absolution in this peach of a plot. We have a couple of girls who clearly are better developed than most 18-year olds, plus a couple of guys who have subscriptions to Bigguns magazine. Then, if that’s not enough, there’s a nerdy little henchman who is way too into the idea of satanic ritual. If they ended the movie by blowing the fucking school up, they might be making a utilitarian decision.

Back to the movie, which, by this point, is about to breakout into total anarchy. Poindexter (actual name Perry) has decided to channel the spirit of Angela with a satanic ritual of his own, and sure enough, it works. And, sure enough, as if life wasn’t a bucket of shit already, they’re all going to party at Hull House, where, as you’re already well aware, Angela will be waiting for them. They’ll also be abducting Mouse to conduct some sick experiments. If anything, the biggest problem this movie has is being a carbon copy of Night of the Demons. Sure, Augustyn decided to write the sequel, but it looks like all he did was write in one extra character, change the setting, and apply the same premise. I could go on forever drawing comparisons, but hey, I’ve got bigger fish to fry, like actually giving you some character names.

So, here’s the deal: Bibi (redhead) and Johnny sneak of to do each other while Kurt and Terri also explore…uh…each other. Then there’s Shirley, who has recruited two seedy looking characters to help her begin a sacrificial service on Mouse. After a joke gone wrong, we’ve got a large enough body count to finally progress to the one part of this series of movies that make them truly worthwhile: the killing! Truth be told, as sick as that sounds, the murder sequences in this movie make it a truly awesome experience due to their unique, and often depraved execution. In one sequence, a tube of lipstick forms a very phallic little snake that crawls into one of the victims, and then, if that’s not bad enough, we have breasts that morph into skin-dissolving tyrants. That’s right, Possessed Demon Titties. One More Time: POSSESSED DEMON TITTIES! There is a reason these pictures have a cult following.

Anyway, the carnage has made its way out of Hull House and back to the catholic school where several new demons go on a rampage to decimate everyone, including schmucky Father Bob, who gets the big cheer of the evening for having finally been eliminated. Luckily, just when things look their worst, Sister Gloria returns to save the day! But, it’s not just Sister Gloria, it’s a Kung-Fu black belt version of Sister Gloria that comes with a decoy removable head and a lasso necklace! Seriously, this might be one of the most incredible nuns, if not THE most incredible nun in cinema history. Her fight sequences alone make Night of the Demons 2 a worthwhile experience.

One other thing of note before I wrap all this up, is the just plain underhanded use of sexual…ANYTHING in this movie. Demon jugs, a cock shaped, beef jerky looking lipstick demon, and even, yes, demon sex and demon masturbation. Smut films aren’t usually this obvious or, hell, this smutty. If at any point you feel like you’re watching soft core cinema, then you might be right. It looks like good ol’ Joe and the rest of the crew gave up during the writing process and settled for as many blunt instruments as they could fit into a small space (that’s what she said). Things just degenerate in the film from this point, showing the weakness of this sequel as compared to the original. You know how it ends, so I’ll just leave it at a dick joke for now.

Member of the Crew who should’ve been fired:
Without a doubt, the hype surrounding the character Shirley, and the actress playing her, Zoe Trilling, is just that: hype. Trilling fails at acting, dancing, speaking in one accent, and appearing even slightly youthful. I know I’m critical, but all I ever hear about is how Zoe Trilling stole the movie. I pose this question: Did you watch it?

Best Name in the Cast:
Christine Taylor, who, while playing uber-bitch Terri during this movie, went on to bigger and better things as a regular in several of the Frat Pack movies. Oh, and in case I forgot, she’s also been immortalized as Marcia Brady. Totally awesome.

Quote of the Film:

“A kiss is a sin when it is an upper persuasion for a lower invasion.” -Sister Gloria, Teacher of the Year.

Final Thoughts:
What do people really look for in sequels? Do they want to see something that is better, or exceeds the original? Or, more likely in the horror genre, are they looking for the same old song and dance with a new crew to mutilate? I’ll take the latter, and accept that while Night of the Demons 2 is just a more pornographic version of Night of the Demons, it still manages to deliver enough flat out stupidity to live up to the Angela-namesake. I’ve recently discovered that Night of the Demons is getting remade. To anyone thinking this is a good idea, I hope a tube of lipstick rapes you in your sleep while large melons singe off your eyebrows. Pleasant Dreams!
-B.B.