House II: The Second Story
00:33:00
About
It’s weird sequel time, and there’s few that come weirder than “House II: The Second Story”. A film in which we learn that portals are a common problem in old houses (a bit like dry rot, but with more murder); that old cowboys don’t die (they just get rat-arsed in the basement); and that Bill Maher is an oily heap of shit. Whilst an anthology film franchise should endeavour to make each entry as different to what has gone before as possible; it is still is a hell of a whiplash to view this after the first “House” film. Certain things remain - the humour, marvellous practical effects, and a guest star role for someone from “Cheers”, but the differences are far greater. Whilst the first film is definitely a horror, this falls much more into the category of family adventure; and could be an entry level horror film for kids, with nothing too scary, a set of goofy, likeable characters and amusing puppets. This family-friendly spookiness was possibly influenced by the huge success a few years earlier of the likes of “Ghostbusters”, “Gremlins” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. After this, the franchise went into more obvious horror territory, but, unfortunately, never quite achieved the inventive potential displayed in the first two entries. Watch (or re-watch) to avoid spoilers and join us.
Adam's research
Verbatim lifts from Adam's own words in the episode. Click a timestamp to hear him say it.
- John Ratzenberger's casting
On that on that subject, so that's that's probably the most famous person in the film because that's John Ratzenberger who was in Cheers for years. And I didn't mean that to be rhyming. And yeah, he plays uh Bill uh Bill the electrician and slash adventurer.
- Anthology nature of the House franchise
Which kind of in a way adds to the idea that like it's not it's totally blank it's totally fresh start from the first house. It is a completely different house, completely different characters. And the but in house the premise is the same where it's like the house becomes portals to the past of the main character's via Vietnam experience. And I like the idea that this is just a general problem that houses have. So Bill sees enough of them. You know what I mean? He he actually probably sees some work at that place. And met and met his mate from Cheers as well. You know, when for a drink with Norm. At the same time, but yeah, it's it's weird that it adds to that sort of anthology shared universe of like, oh, well, you know, there's a few houses like that. This is a slightly more benevolent one than the um than the first one.
- Origin of the House franchise as an anthology
Hmm. Because I think, because the first film. That's where the first film came from is they wanted to make an anthology film. It was Sean S Cunningham who obviously did the Friday the 13th franchise. And uh Fred Decker who wrote Die Hard and he's he did uh like Night of the Creeps and you know just where's where's where's the list? The Monster Squad as well. … Monster Squad, that's what I was thinking. Yeah, I'm just thinking it's like such a it's a good little he's got an excellent little rap sheet. Yeah. Um, and wrote oh sorry, no, wrote The Predator. That's what I'm thinking of. Um, and um, yeah. But so him and Ethan Wiley wrote the first House film. And they were like, oh, originally it was going to be they made they were going to make an anthology movie and then they just took the one story that they'd written and expanded it to make the film house. So it's weird cuz I think yeah, it's almost like, well, we can still do the anthology idea. Now we just do it across the series rather than within a feature length film. And um, so this is directed by Ethan Wiley who was co-writes it with Fred Decker and had co-written with Fred Decker the first one. … And um, yeah, it's uh.
- Cameos and casting of character actors
Yes, he's the because the gorilla who gets knocked out by the cave man. And um and obviously you've got Bill Bill in there. Yeah, playing a smarmy shit, so that's that's great quite spot on. I think that's that's the weird thing as well is that you've also got um Royal Dano, who we have seen twice before now because he's in Killer Klowns from Outer Space, he's the farmer. Uh, with a fringe jeans or whatever it is who gets who gets killed right at the start. And he was also in The Dark Half. And he's I believe he's the guy who gets beaten to death with his own false leg. … Yes. … And he's um obviously he was the judge in Twin Peaks, the one who comes up when uh Cooper's in stuck. I can't remember quite what the which the point is, but like he comes in for a couple of episodes and he's just a sort of basically it's like. oh, well, John Huston won't do it, so we'll get Royal Dano and he'll he'll bring off the same sort of gravitas. But him as Gramps, I think I think that's possible.
- Shift in tone for House 2 and its cultural context
And then the sequel is 87 and it's, you know, it's pretty much. almost rolls immediately into it. They've like, right, we've made this first film, we'll do a second film and and possibly because of that thing of just like, well, we we haven't got any more story to tell of that first film, you know. Cuz they were like and so they've made the decision, no, we'll we'll just write a new story and everything. And um, yeah, I wonder if also. Cuz I was like, but how do you go from house to essentially what I would describe as certainly a kid-friendly a family film. This is a family horror vaguely film. It's I don't I would not consider it a horror film. It's a family-friendly horror film. That's like like Ghostbusters or something like that. And I do feel that they did have after the first one came out, obviously you've got Gremlins and Ghostbusters. And they were like, shit, maybe we could get like You know, we can get you can get a family audience to this stuff. Where it's like effects heavy and adventure and sort of cuz that's what it is, it's an adventure film.
- Special effects and Phil Tippett's involvement
Oh, it's amazing. Yeah. They called in all favors, that's like the stop motion, I think that's like Phil Tippett who was like who did Mad God and Star Wars. And ended up having to be called in when they were doing Jurassic Park because they still needed someone to do a stop motion dinosaur to for them to teach the computer how to do a dinosaur, you know. That's sort of level of um yeah, so you got a lot of and I think there's some cuz like when you watch the making of cuz the arrow Blu-ray is what I watched it on. And um, so I watched the making of afterwards and it was uh it was really good. Um, but a lot of the time they're all like oh, well, we know the effects aren't all that and we know this and I was like, I think this pretty much stands up. And I think because of its nature, it doesn't matter that your Terradactyl is is a muppet.
- Casting and behind-the-scenes for the 'virgin' character
And also there there's another person that we've seen before cuz the um the girl who's going to be sacrificed who I think who is literally credited as virgin. Yes. … Um, that's um she was in society. She's like the they're Well, that's a bit different. She's the the main girlfriend in Society. Yes, so apparently because she it's um. Devin De Vasquez and she is at that point was a Playboy model and this was her first film. And she saw like, right, I'm a sacrificial virgin. you know, like on an altar and assumed she was doing it naked and then they were like and then she turned up and she was like really surprised that she was going to be clothed. Because and I that I totally get. You told you're doing a horror film and you are a former playmate. You know, you sort of like. Yeah, you you assume you've been hired for that. But also some did drop a prop skull on her head so and she had to go, she had to go to hospital. So. Um, yeah, and and let's face it, that is a that is a thankless fucking role.
- Analysis of 'weird sequels' and production teams
And I I think also again, like we've we've dealt with a lot of weird weird sequels, there's sort of but like total change but from the same team essentially, you know, is quite something. Cuz like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, like the difference between the first and second of those where one is grueling and the second one is hilarious. And but but it's still the story of Leatherface. It's not like they came up with a, you know, it is a there're still continuing the story. Whereas this was just like, no, slam it, fuck this. probably the nearest would have been would be Halloween 3. And again with Halloween 3, we always we said if they'd have done it as the second film, probably people would have taken it was only cuz you did two Michael Myers films and then say, oh, it's an anthology. that people didn't wouldn't have it. But yeah, I think if they'd have done if Halloween 3 had been Halloween 2. probably Halloween with Michael Myers would have just been the very successful start of a uh anthology franchise. … Yes, actually, yes. Oh, yeah, that is a very good analogy. Also, I'm going to have to put in a vote that we do it at some point, but we've got to do obviously we'd have to do the first film first um is The Howling and Howling 2. They are remarkably different films. … but in fairness with with with the Howling, I don't think it's I don't think that's the same team doing the second one. Not I might be way off, but I'm pretty sure it's like different director and different writers and so on. … Well, cuz it the first one based on is that Whitley Strieber? Is that The Howling or is that Wolfen? I can't remember. But it's yeah, but I no way on God's earth is Whitley Strieber right howling 2.
Highlights
Transcript
Show full transcript
Lee Good evening and welcome to horror. I'm Lee.
Chris I'm Chris.
Adam And I'm Adam.
Lee And we are here this evening with a sick Chris, but he is soldering on, so if he sounds croaky, it's not that we're
Chris Not as sick as Gramps.
Lee Yeah.
Lee Yes, but we are here as promised this evening, with spoilers and swearing to cover 1987's House 2: The Second Story.
Adam And just just full stop under that. Excellent.
Chris Excellent work.
Adam The second story, perfect.
Lee It is a fantastic.
Lee So just a quick rundown for anyone who hasn't seen it, it's a completely, it is a completely new story, so it's just another story about a different haunted house effectively.
Lee A young man inherits his his family home, once owned by his great, great-grandfather who's an explorer, who he who he discovers was once buried with a mystical crystal skull and decides to dig it up and see if it's worth some money.
Lee Only to discover that in fact it has kept his grandfather alive, but buried for the last 70 years, and now the skull is back out, people are coming across time and space to try and steal it for nefarious purposes.
Adam Because somehow the skull opens up dimensions in rooms within the house.
Lee Yes.
Lee Yes, so the reason I wanted to cover this is because we were discussing last time about Batshit sequels and this is one of the batshitest sequels ever, I think, it's fair to say.
Lee It just, it just gets wackier and wackier and weirder and then, and then Bill the electrician turns up, who's just one of my favorite characters in anything ever.
Chris Yeah.
Lee Yeah, and it's just crazy.
Chris Bill the electrician slash adventurer.
Lee Yeah.
Adam On that on that subject, so that's that's probably the most famous person in the film because that's John Ratzenberger who was in Cheers for years.
Chris Yeah.
Adam And I didn't mean that to be rhyming.
Adam And yeah, he plays Bill Bill the electrician and slash adventurer.
Adam And is it, I mean John Ratzenberger obviously we've seen him in loads of stuff and you know him from Cheers and things like that. Just watching it the other day, he is a real Nick Frost performance.
Lee Yes, it is very. Yeah, you're right.
Adam Do you know what I mean? I was like, I've it's not a connection I'd ever made before, but yeah, it's it's a very
Adam I could see Nick Frost if you were to remake this for whatever reason.
Chris He would be perfect. Yeah.
Adam Yeah, he would that's that's who you'd.
Chris electriciang going on, mostly adventuring and.
Chris in quite a nonchalant way he's like, yep, I'm just I'm good at this.
Adam Yeah, it's he's obviously happened regularly enough.
Chris Yeah.
Adam You know, it's not this isn't an outlier for him, you know.
Adam Which kind of in a way adds to the idea that like it's not it's totally blank it's totally fresh start from the first house.
Chris Yeah, wait, so is it a completely different house then?
Adam It is a completely different house, completely different characters.
Adam And the but in house the premise is the same where it's like the house becomes portals to the past of the main character's via Vietnam experience.
Adam And I like the idea that this is just a general problem that houses have.
Lee Yeah.
Adam So Bill sees enough of them. You know what I mean? He he actually probably sees some work at that place.
Adam And met and met his mate from Cheers as well. You know, when for a drink with Norm.
Adam At the same time, but yeah, it's it's weird that it adds to that sort of anthology shared universe of like, oh, well, you know, there's a few houses like that.
Adam This is a slightly more benevolent one than the than the first one.
Lee Yeah, and then the of course the next film, House 3 is just shocker. There isn't even a house in it as far as I remember.
Adam Yeah, I think I think that one's I I can't remember whether it's that one or the last one, but one of them is a film that was developed and then they said, oh, we can call it house.
Lee Yeah, so I'm guessing that was the third. And then the fourth one is actually back to the original guy in the original house, but I don't understand why the original house is now in the middle of a desert.
Adam Yes and.
Adam Yeah, that's.
Adam Yeah, let's just say for anyone curious, I think that I think you can watch house first one, excellent. Second one, excellent. Don't even necessarily have to bother with the other two. They're just like not.
Adam I can't you remember them far better than I do, Lee.
Adam But as you're saying it, I'm like, oh yeah, that is what happens.
Adam But if you'd asked me 10 minutes ago, I could not have told you what happened in three and four.
Chris I mean, third one is always going to stick out in my mind just because I watched it like it was one of those that we watched very young and there was a group of us who was like sleepover and you know, and it and the bit where he's turning up the voltage was just like, oh my God, I've never seen anything like this. What is going on? This is insane, you know, so.
Chris Yeah, that's always going to stick in my head.
Adam So you've got house experience as well, that's how.
Chris That was that was it. So that's how I just imagined all of them to be and then when we saw number one, I was like, okay, that's a bit different than this.
Chris I mean, really this for a for a film that has pretty stupid dialogue, pretty stupid story, pretty stupid characters, it's surprisingly fun.
Adam Oh, it's absolute fun.
Chris It shouldn't, it shouldn't has no right to be as good as it is.
Adam I mean, the two the two the two main guys who aren't Gramps. So obviously it's it's Gramps's great, great, great, great grandson or whatever it is.
Chris So so Jesse and Charlie.
Adam Yeah.
Adam And Charlie who's the best, who's the sort of best mate who's turned up. Just just about a friend, really. Who to start with, you're like, cuz when we were watching it, Clare went, does he get killed? Because she was just like, he's really But oddly enough, one of the most endearing, bumbling sidekicks of very very almost very similar to the burbs.
Lee Yeah.
Lee Yeah.
Lee Yes.
Adam The way that relationship sort of plays out.
Chris The the way you just just creates a, you know, a party and invites everyone. Oh, yeah, I've forgotten about this.
Chris Just.
Adam Yes.
Lee It's that it's that level of obnoxious friend that you only see in 80s movies.
Lee They don't exist in real life or any other type of film.
Adam They don't exist in real life cuz they'd get murdered very early.
Adam You know, it's like the the guy who organizes a party at your house and forgets. He's said he'll have been punched a few times before now.
Lee and we have actually seen him before. I don't know if you remember Chris, so Jonathan Stark who plays Charlie, was also the day dwelling helper in Fright Night.
Chris Oh, okay.
Adam Yes.
Lee Yeah, he's the one who looks after Chris Sarandon while he sleeps.
Chris -huh.
Chris Yeah, I mean, he's he does play the character well, you know.
Chris He does a good job.
Lee He is great.
Chris I like that he was the first one to knock over the the post as well.
Chris I mean, that's that's a funny bit, isn't it?
Lee Just. Yeah.
Chris And who who keeps fixing it as well?
Lee Yeah.
Chris Yeah.
Adam You know, it's you know it's poor Jesse that he's just like.
Adam But yeah, so you so Chris, you said to us that you watch this with your son.
Chris Yeah, well.
Chris Yeah, I mean, I'd seen a little bit of it and then I watched the rest today, so I'd seen like the first 20 minutes or so yesterday and
Chris Then yeah, put it on on our main TV, which normally I definitely can't do, but I was like, there's nothing so far. I'll just put it on and he just heard some of the, you know, some of the talking. He was like, what is going on?
Chris And then he he started watching it. I said, this could be bad. I said, I was trying to remember. I was like, what references does he know? So I said, in the first one, they did have a Cronenberg type monster, so be prepared just in case and no, there was nothing.
Chris That's completely fine.
Lee Yeah, the big bad in this one is the placeholderly named Slim Razer, which is Yeah.
Lee Yeah, which I'd completely forgot about and I was like, how can I forget?
Lee But I loved, I've got to say, I have very vague recollections of coming downstairs, while I think my dad must have been watching this film.
Lee And I wasn't old enough. I'd have been nine at the time, I'm guessing.
Adam Yeah.
Lee And I remember coming down and it was one of those, oh, I come down to get a drink of water, and it was, go to the kitchen, don't look at the television, and I just remember it had obviously been paused on a scene with Slim Razer and it's stuck in my head for years.
Lee And I I couldn't find out what it was. I never spotted it.
Lee And then one day I put on House 2 unexpectedly and went, oh, that's what he was watching that night.
Chris Yeah, quite iconic looking.
Lee It's a great look.
Lee But yeah, and and I've got to say the anthology idea of this of not carrying on the story and just having a separate house is a really good idea.
Lee I mean, it it fell apart very much after three.
Lee And then they did the Halloween thing of trying to go back to bring the old characters back to rekindle it.
Lee Awful, but yeah, the idea of having a separate haunted house each time but in the same as you say Adam, wacky dimensions opening up and stuff is a really good idea.
Adam Because I think, because the first film.
Adam That's where the first film came from is they wanted to make an anthology film.
Adam It was Sean S Cunningham who obviously did the Friday the 13th franchise. And Fred Decker who wrote Die Hard and he's he did like Night of the Creeps and you know just where's where's where's the list? The Monster Squad as well.
Lee
Lee The Monster Squad as well, I think.
Adam Monster Squad, that's what I was thinking. Yeah, I'm just thinking it's like such a it's a good little he's got an excellent little rap sheet. Yeah.
Adam and wrote oh sorry, no, wrote The Predator. That's what I'm thinking of.
Adam and yeah.
Adam But so him and Ethan Wiley wrote the first House film.
Adam And they were like, oh, originally it was going to be they made they were going to make an anthology movie and then they just took the one story that they'd written and expanded it to make the film house.
Adam So it's weird cuz I think yeah, it's almost like, well, we can still do the anthology idea. Now we just do it across the series rather than within a feature length film. And so this is directed by Ethan Wiley who was co-writes it with Fred Decker and had co-written with Fred Decker the first one.
Adam And yeah, it's
Lee Did you Did you I don't think I've spotted it before, but watching it this time. Adam, did you spot Kane Hodder?
Adam Yes, he's the because the gorilla who gets knocked out by the cave man.
Chris Yeah.
Adam And and obviously you've got Bill Bill in there.
Chris Yeah, yeah. That's surprise.
Adam Yeah, playing a smarmy shit, so that's that's great quite spot on.
Adam I think that's that's the weird thing as well is that you've also got Royal Dano, who we have seen twice before now because he's in Killer Klowns from Outer Space, he's the farmer.
Lee
Adam with a fringe jeans or whatever it is who gets who gets killed right at the start.
Adam And he was also in The Dark Half.
Adam And he's I believe he's the guy who gets beaten to death with his own false leg.
Lee Yeah.
Lee And my favorite role of his though, it's got to be says it's got to be said is something Wicked This Way Comes.
Lee where he plays the Lightning salesman.
Adam Yes.
Lee Yeah, he's so good in that.
Adam And he's obviously he was the judge in Twin Peaks, the one who comes up when Cooper's in stuck.
Lee Yes.
Adam I can't remember quite what the which the point is, but like he comes in for a couple of episodes and he's just a sort of basically it's like.
Adam oh, well, John Huston won't do it, so we'll get Royal Dano and he'll he'll bring off the same sort of gravitas.
Adam But him as Gramps, I think I think that's possible.
Chris I mean you do feel for him when he when he realizes he doesn't look quite as good as he used to.
Lee Yeah.
Adam Yeah.
Adam It's weirdly enough, I think you've Lee, I when as we were watching it, I was like, you really hit on a lovely pairing with Bubba Ho-Tep because you've got the sort of obviously the Western theme in this is much more pronounced than it is in Bubba Ho-Tep because this is you are dealing with the old West and sort of stuff from that.
Chris
Adam I have also discovered that on the soundtrack, it's a bass harmonica, which is a sound that I've now discovered that's what it is, but it's a sound that I love it turns up on loads of sort of library music and bits from the Twilight Zone and stuff like that where it's just that really deep. sort of thing on the soundtrack, which is just pure sort of like, right, it's the Wild West. That's right. So.
Lee Yeah.
Lee I love how Jesse enters the Wild West as well.
Lee So he's in his house, he sees a window at the end and through it he can see the Wild West. Instead of looking for a latch or an opening, he just throws himself through it like he's been chucked in a bar fight for no reason whatsoever. There must have been a better way of getting to the other side of that glass.
Adam Also, that's I think that's going to be Kane Hodder cuz he did all the stunts on this.
Lee Yeah.
Adam As well as the as well as like being the the gorilla cameo.
Adam But but yeah, no, I just think Gramps is just such a it's a brilliant creation, like the performance, the look and the story, you know.
Adam I think there is just and this again falls into that category.
Adam Cuz I hadn't seen this until very relatively recently, last few years or whatever it was was the first time I saw it.
Adam And the one thing I don't like about it is that I didn't watch it when I was younger and have like this really great film and plus that sort of love of if you'd have discovered it at the time, you know. Cuz this is this is a great, this is a great kids film.
Chris Yeah.
Adam You know, and I'm pretty I'm pretty certain I'm probably cuz Ted has been saying he wants to watch a proper horror film because obviously he's on YouTube.
Adam And he hears talk of that's the thing cuz it's children friendly YouTube.
Adam don't actually see anything. They're not going to put clips in or whatever like that.
Adam But he knows the name Chucky. He knows the name of Ghostface or whatever like that.
Adam And it's sort of yeah, so he's been like, you know, I'd like to watch a horror film.
Adam And there was I'm trying and I was trying to think of something that was up to date enough.
Adam You know, there was no way actually a best way of describing it, Ghostbusters. He loves Ghostbusters.
Chris Well.
Adam So it was like, you know, that we're we're.
Adam And I suddenly realized actually that when this came out was obviously just after cuz you watch house and house is like, I know I've got my date down.
Adam Yeah.
Adam So house is 85.
Chris
Adam And then the sequel is 87 and it's, you know, it's pretty much.
Adam almost rolls immediately into it. They've like, right, we've made this first film, we'll do a second film and and possibly because of that thing of just like, well, we we haven't got any more story to tell of that first film, you know.
Lee Yeah.
Adam Cuz they were like and so they've made the decision, no, we'll we'll just write a new story and everything.
Adam And yeah, I wonder if also.
Adam Cuz I was like, but how do you go from house to essentially what I would describe as certainly a kid-friendly a family film.
Lee Yes.
Adam This is a family horror vaguely film. It's I don't I would not consider it a horror film.
Chris No. Yeah. But it could it could be if they'd really wanted to.
Adam It's a family-friendly horror film. That's like like Ghostbusters or something like that. And I do feel that they did have after the first one came out, obviously you've got Gremlins and Ghostbusters.
Adam And they were like, shit, maybe we could get like You know, we can get you can get a family audience to this stuff.
Adam Where it's like effects heavy and adventure and sort of cuz that's what it is, it's an adventure film.
Lee Yeah.
Adam You know, really.
Adam but yeah, I just I so I.
Chris I mean they got some pretty good stop motion creatures in there.
Adam Oh, it's amazing. Yeah.
Adam They called in all favors, that's like the stop motion, I think that's like Phil Tippett who was like who did Mad God and Star Wars.
Adam And ended up having to be called in when they were doing Jurassic Park because they still needed someone to do a stop motion dinosaur to for them to teach the computer how to do a dinosaur, you know. That's sort of level of yeah, so you got a lot of and I think there's some cuz like when you watch the making of cuz the arrow Blu-ray is what I watched it on.
Adam And so I watched the making of afterwards and it was it was really good. but a lot of the time they're all like oh, well, we know the effects aren't all that and we know this and I was like, I think this pretty much stands up.
Chris Yeah.
Adam And I think because of its nature, it doesn't matter that your Terradactyl is is a muppet.
Chris Yeah.
Adam No. Do you know what I mean?
Adam It's a character. Yeah.
Chris I mean, when when you get him to sit down to dinner, like you don't need to worry too much.
Adam Very much. Thank you, Chris. There you go. That is exactly the thought I needed. Yes.
Adam If you're having the puppy or pupperpillar or dog a pillar or.
Lee It's the only thing I don't like about this film. It is too twee and it's just.
Adam It is too cute.
Adam But fortunately it's but then in a weird way, it's like that sort of thing of again with a kids film or it's like Uni in Dungeons and Dragons, but unlike Uni in Dungeons and Dragons where they forced the little fucker into everything and there's a pain in the ass and you want to slap her and Bobby fucking senseless because you're like, you're just fucking trouble, the pair of you.
Chris Yeah.
Adam Whereas I think the dog just turns up, is a dog, Gramps feeds it beer, and you know.
Lee It.
Lee But it is funny. So a bit like yourself, Adam, I saw this for the first time probably four or five years ago. and I've only seen it the once. Yeah, and all I remember is Bill the electrician. It was the bit I remember and I was like, that is I I just remember how out of place it was and how it takes such a sudden turn when he turns up. And I was like, I I remember having very fond memories of it, so I wanted to go back and revisit it and I thought it's. I did think it'd probably be a very good companion piece. But I was surprised just how well it.
Chris Yeah.
Adam Yeah. Well, especially because it's also got that sort of it's got a nice little heart to it.
Adam that you do sort of it's Gramps sort of, you know, realizing these well, not just old, but dead and maybe it's time to move on, you know.
Chris Has a right in Halloween party though.
Lee Yeah.
Adam This is the thing as well we've done weirdly, weirdly for October, we've got a film with a Halloween party in it and we didn't even plan that.
Adam We we usually just rattle through October. It's kind of like, well, of course we're watching horror films.
Adam What do you mean? Oh, Halloween. Oh, oh, yeah.
Lee Yeah.
Adam Yeah.
Adam Yeah, so yeah, I think it's nice that we've we've coincided with a bit of Halloween there.
Lee Yeah.
Lee Yeah, absolutely. even if it was unintentional.
Lee But yes, and again, this is another one of those films. It's only an hour and a half like it's a nice quick. and it feels like a film of various parts.
Adam Yeah.
Lee The first bit, yeah, is like a sort of the bits with Gramps are it's like a buddy comedy bit and then you've you know, towards the end you've got your adventure and then after your adventure with Bill, then you get your going back to the Wild West and fighting a ghost of a yeah, a ghost of an old cowboy.
Lee yeah, and it's just it slots together really well.
Adam And you you fight very Indiana Jones.
Adam I'm not even going to offend anyone by claiming to know what ancient people they might be in that tent.
Lee Yeah.
Chris Yeah.
Lee Oh, I've no idea. They're very not.
Chris They're not the best fighters. We know that.
Adam That's true. That's true.
Lee That's true.
Adam And also there there's another person that we've seen before cuz the the girl who's going to be sacrificed who I think who is literally credited as virgin.
Chris Yeah.
Adam Yes.
Lee
Chris
Lee
Chris
Adam that's she was in society. She's like the they're Well, that's a bit different. She's the the main girlfriend in Society.
Chris Well, that's a bit different.
Adam Yes, so apparently because she it's
Adam Devin De Vasquez and she is at that point was a Playboy model and this was her first film.
Adam And she saw like, right, I'm a sacrificial virgin.
Lee Yeah.
Adam you know, like on an altar and assumed she was doing it naked and then they were like and then she turned up and she was like really surprised that she was going to be clothed.
Lee Yeah.
Adam Because and I that I totally get. You told you're doing a horror film and you are a former playmate.
Lee You would assume.
Adam You know, you sort of like.
Lee Wouldn't you?
Adam Yeah, you you assume you've been hired for that.
Adam But also some did drop a prop skull on her head so and she had to go, she had to go to hospital.
Lee Yeah.
Adam So.
Adam yeah, and and let's face it, that is a that is a thankless fucking role.
Adam Both as a character and as a as a performance cuz it's like.
Adam that's the only bit where you're like, yeah, I think that's that's just you've gone because you're going down the adventure route.
Adam Of course he has to get the girl.
Lee Yeah.
Adam And it's like, yeah, but under the circumstances, this just is very sudden this film, you know.
Lee Yeah.
Lee but yes, it just to spoil the end for anyone who hasn't seen it.
Lee I do like that end where they basically just decide their lives are crap where they are and it's fuck much more fun to just go into one of these other dimensions and live there, which is.
Adam Yeah.
Chris Yeah.
Adam Yeah.
Lee Yeah.
Adam I I think it's also probably because it's also because it relates back to cuz I love that bit where.
Adam they're just listening to pops telling his stories.
Adam And Gramps, sorry, not pops, they're listening to Gramps telling his stories.
Adam And it is almost like, well, what should we do now? You know.
Adam Well, Gramps made that sound fucking brilliant.
Adam Should we go and do that?
Lee Yeah.
Lee Yeah, it is that is a good scene as well.
Lee And the fact that it shows you how much, you know, every time it cuts away and comes back there's more and more beer cans to show you just how long they've just sat listening to him all day basically and got through a whole case of beer.
Lee It's Yeah, it's it's yeah, there's just so much about this that I really like.
Lee I think it's really.
Adam It did put me in mind of Abe Simpson, no, I was thinking. No, Homer, no, Homer, Homer Simpson from my youth with the style at the time.
Lee No, Homer, Homer.
Chris Homer, yeah.
Lee And I liked his relationship with Charlie as well, despite the fact Charlie isn't the descendant of him.
Lee The two of them just going, you know, waiting until Jesse goes to bed and then taking the car.
Chris Yeah.
Lee Just going and sitting on a hill and drinking whiskey until they're both drunk and then driving home.
Adam Yeah.
Adam And that and also, I mean, I just love the fact that all the way through it, Gramps remains wonderfully disreputable, but but is, you know, he's he's I keep going to say he's older now.
Adam Yeah, he's dead, so he's pretty that's that's as fucking old as you get, really, you know.
Adam Well, he's undead, that's really as old as you get and but I still love the thing like where the two guys take the like the two.
Adam whatever cultists take the skull and they find him on the floor and he's like, oh yeah, there was about must have been 20 or 30 of his whole bullshit.
Lee Yeah.
Chris Yeah, yeah.
Lee Yeah.
Adam And and and oddly enough, one of those is one of those films where it's like of. oh, they're going to have the whole thing where that No, the wife turns out to be a bastard.
Lee Yeah.
Chris Yeah.
Adam She is just like, yeah.
Chris Yeah.
Adam No.
Lee Yeah, they all do. They all kind of abandon.
Lee And again, you know, that whole thing is yes, so it's his friend who he hasn't seen in ages comes in and gives him a kiss.
Lee And then she walks up, slaps him in the face and then starts kicking him when he's down.
Lee You're like, well, I mean, I.
Lee that's you know, that's slightly over the top, but secondly, she didn't even see it.
Lee It was just the, you know, the producer told her.
Chris Yeah.
Adam He pointed to her by slimy Bill Mayer.
Lee She immediately believes it and just attacks him.
Chris To be fair, his his explanation did sound a little bit far-fetched.
Adam The delay as well, where it's like he opens the cupboard and reveals a pterodactyl.
Lee Yeah.
Chris Yeah.
Adam See.
Lee But yeah, just a good fun film all around really.
Lee It's as you say, it's very family-friendly, it's a nice rainy afternoon film, I think, really.
Adam Yeah.
Lee Yeah.
Adam Very very comforting in its own sort of way.
Adam And I I think also again, like we've we've dealt with a lot of weird weird sequels, there's sort of but like total change but from the same team essentially, you know, is quite something.
Adam Cuz like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, like the difference between the first and second of those where one is grueling and the second one is hilarious.
Lee Yeah.
Adam And but but it's still the story of Leatherface.
Adam It's not like they came up with a, you know, it is a there're still continuing the story.
Adam Whereas this was just like, no, slam it, fuck this.
Adam probably the nearest would have been would be Halloween 3.
Lee Yeah.
Adam And again with Halloween 3, we always we said if they'd have done it as the second film, probably people would have taken it was only cuz you did two Michael Myers films and then say, oh, it's an anthology.
Chris Yeah.
Adam that people didn't wouldn't have it.
Adam But yeah, I think if they'd have done if Halloween 3 had been Halloween 2.
Adam probably Halloween with Michael Myers would have just been the very successful start of a anthology franchise.
Lee Whereas what we got here was Troll and Troll 2, effectively.
Adam Yes, actually, yes.
Chris Oh, yeah.
Adam Oh, yeah, that is a very good analogy.
Adam Also, I'm going to have to put in a vote that we do it at some point, but we've got to do obviously we'd have to do the first film first is The Howling and Howling 2.
Lee Yes.
Adam They are remarkably different films.
Lee Yeah, oh yeah, 100%.
Lee Again, they definitely sits in the same the same sort of.
Adam but in fairness with with with the Howling, I don't think it's I don't think that's the same team doing the second one.
Lee No.
Adam Not I might be way off, but I'm pretty sure it's like different director and different writers and so on.
Lee Yeah.
Lee I I think you're right. I'd be very surprised if it wasn't.
Adam Well, cuz it the first one based on is that Whitley Strieber? Is that The Howling or is that Wolfen?
Lee I'm not sure.
Adam I can't remember. But it's yeah, but I no way on God's earth is Whitley Strieber right howling 2.
Lee No.
Chris No.
Adam so yes, so we're going to be back in a fortnight's time.
Adam we went to an event, which we will discuss when it when we discuss the film on the next episode.
Adam But we all went and together on a lovely little day out and we saw what did we what's Oh, my God.
Lee What did we what's Oh, my God.
Adam Virgin Witch.
Lee Yeah.
Lee But the one that we're going to be covering is.
Chris Blood on Satan's Claws.
Lee I just couldn't remember the title for some reason. I just completely escaped.
Lee Yes, so Blood on Satan's Claws will be covering next.
Lee
Lee Yeah.
Chris Not not quite as family-friendly.
Lee No.
Lee Absolutely not.
Lee But again, well, again, we'll discuss it at the time, but that anthology connection again.
Adam Yes.
Chris Yes.
Lee But yes.
Lee So we will be back for that in a fortnight's time, so go and check out House 2.
Lee Shout out to your kids, it's fine. Apart from the, you know, the cowboy getting his head shot off at the end.
Lee But even that is.
Adam That I think's fine. The only bit I'm worried about is I'm just thinking maybe the early bit.
Adam Like when you just see him in silhouette in the I might I might dive in when they arrive at the house.
Lee Yeah.
Adam Yeah, when Jesse turns up, yeah.
Lee Yeah, when Jesse turns up, yeah.
Adam Yeah.
Lee but yes, so go and check that out.
Lee Go and check out Blood on Satan's Claw.
Lee And we'll be back in a fortnight's time to discuss that.
Lee Thanks very much for listening. Good night.
Chris Good night.
Adam Good night.
Lee Stay awesome, Chris.
Chris Thank you.
