Holiday Flix: Sometimes They Come Back...Again

Another rises from the dust!  Sometimes They Come Back...Again is a 1996 Horror Film that is a Sequel to a Film based on a Book that didn't have one.  

Thankfully, there are only 3 of these, as opposed to the dozen or so Children of the Corn Films.  I covered the original Film a couple of Years back and it was...interesting.  This is a Sequel that is, well, not a Sequel.  

It's basically the same Movie again- just sillier.  To be clear, the original Film featured Ghost Greasers, murder and other freaky stuff.  

This is still the far sillier Film.  The bar has been raised!  

I have one more of these- probably for next year-, so who knows what the future holds?  In the meantime, let's focus on this one.  It has freaky killers, magical powers, childhood flashbacks and some Casting that has aged interestingly in the ensuing 23 Years.  

To find out more about why you should come back, read on...

A man- Michael Gross- is called back home (presumably Maine) when his Mother dies.

His Daughter- future 2-Time Oscar Winner Hillary Swank!- comes with him and makes some new friends for her stay.

Which is she more proud of- this or The Next Karate Kid?

This is the Villain, an evil Greaser (again).  This time, they are played by Alexis Arquette.

That's...a lot to unpack given her later history, so I'll skip it.  You just can't ignore the 'elephant in the room' completely though.  Not judging, of course- especially since she's no longer with us.

This Priest- whom I last saw as Captain Ahab- is into some weird occult stuff of his own.

To that end, he feels like a character transplanted from a completely different Movie.  

He's in an over-the-top Horror Film, while this initially plays things straight.

Visions of weird stuff start to come up, like this moment.

Beyond the bit of the Casting and the naturally freaky nature of this image, I can't help but notice that Swank did *not* sign the form agreeing to show any nudity.  

They just got as close as humanly possible.

Gross is haunted by memories of his past. In it, his Sister romanced a Greaser, who was in a Satanic Cult with his 2 friends. He accidentally killed them- as you do.

I never thought I'd see another 'bloodtrocution' after Metalocalypse, but there we are.

The demonic Greaser comes back via some sort of magic and starts killing people get parts to bring back his friends.  

They don't come back looking quite as handsome...

A couple things to highlight (good and bad) in this part...

1) Gross' friend (played by 'That Kid From The Sandlot' in Flashbacks) is killed off-camera.  Ouch.

2) They kill this annoying Lawnmower Man in a way that comes from the original Story.  Weird.

3) Nobody seems bothered by the reappearance of Arquette, who died 30 years ago.  Small Towns...

4) An important side-character- one of Swank's new friends- is also killed off-camera (after showing her tits).

5) The other friend- Jan Brady from the Film Versions- is killed by her Tarot Cards in a silly Scene.  Marsha, Marsha- oh god- my forehead!!!

The Greasers have seemingly unlimited powers and 'I Read the Screenplay' Powers a la Vin Diesel.

That said, they walk towards Gross, into a pool of blood and get shocked- again!  

No, really.  

The End.

Completely silly, completely unnecessary and... kind of hilarious fun.  The whole thing is just plain nuts.  Demon Greasers come back- somehow- and use their magic powers to try and kill a guy.  

Their list of powers includes earth manipulation (pulling the Lawnmower Man into the ground), shapeshifting (to be the Cops), telekinesis (the Tarot Card thing), teleportation and many other things.  Basically, they can do what the Plot needs them to.  

The idea that the lead one is more snake-like is a bit on the nose, eh?  The make-up towards the end turns a bit into Buffy too- probably more than intended.  Gross plays this straight, while Arquette turns into Freddy Kreuger by the end!  Seriously, her and the Priest were given 100% completely different direction!  For her part, Swank acts pretty darn well too.  

The whole thing is basically a weirder, sillier and dumber version of the original.  They upped the ante in every way- sometimes way too far.  The Greaser's deaths in the original were definitely a strange accident, while this one is kind-of-definitely murder.  Speaking of murder, I have to re-emphasize how they emulated The Lawnmower Man in what feels like an homage to King.  That's nice...in an unsanctioned Remake/Sequel to a Film that already deviated from his work.  

Speaking of that, Mr. King's name is now no longer above the Title and is relegated solely to this...

Next up, a Cult Classic that I finally watched thanks to Rifftrax.  Will this 8-armed creature not suck?  Stay tuned...