Now with the Star in charge of everything- oh boy.
This is The Terror Within II, the 1991 Sequel that also comes from Roger Corman's Production Company. Weirdly, it is Concorde Films on this Film, as opposed to NEW Concorde for the previous Film. Times change quickly!
Speaking of change, let's talk about the obvious one. Andrew Stevens has escalated from being just the Star to being the Star, the Writer AND the Director! Holy Ed Wood, Batman! He's since gone on to Direct a dozen or so projects, ranging from Episodes of Swamp Thing to Virtual Combat with Don 'The Dragon' Wilson. Let's see how it all began, shall we?
The Plot mostly follows the first one and introduces the Bunker we'd only heard about/from briefly in the previous one. I'm not clear how much time has passed exactly, which would have been nice to know. In addition, they no longer call them Gargoyles, which is odd.
Instead, they use the Latin to make it sound scarier- worked for Night of the Lepus, no? This time, we got some other Stars to 'slum it' here like R. Lee Ermey and Stella Stevens.
Hidden amongst the Cast is a two-time Oscar Winner though- it's Cinematographer. Janusz Kaminski would go on to work Oscars for Schlinder's List and Saving Private Ryan, but he started out on stuff like this, Cool as Ice and Little Giants. Can the previous Star make a Film that tops the original? To find out, read on...
In the vague time since the last Film, Stevens wanders the Desert collecting resources. He does so alone, but the Film won't address his missing Co-Star for at least 30 minutes.
Also...that beard. He's like 40% of you as the Shutdown ended, isn't he?
He saves a pair of people from a POV attacking Gargoyle...or just one. The guy dies and leaves his sister in Stevens' care.
He's now the Writer, so, of course, they hook up and she is immediately pregnant. Subtle!
At the other Bunker, we see that apparently there is no some issue with a virus *inside* and not just the creatures to deal with. Is that a retcon or did I just glaze out when it was mentioned in the last Film?
Regardless, their Bunker has the aforementioned Stevens, Ermey AND Burton Gilliam- most well-known for being in
Blazing Saddles alongside Slim Pickens!
While they work on securing plants for a vaccine that is suddenly super-important, Stevens and his lady meet up with a random Cult to get some Peyote- for the vaccine, not personal use.
This distraction accomplishes three things-
1) Padding the runtime to 90 minutes (with Credits)
2) Padding the body count
3) Leading to the woman being raped by one of the creatures, setting up the Third Act.
Speaking of setting up the Third Act, a Gargoyle loses a finger to a closing hatch and one of them takes it inside to study...or just forget about it.
Seriously, they just leave it in a container and forget about it until it kills someone in a larger, goopier form.
So even though Stevens KNOWS what happens when a Gargoyle is birthed, he hides the fact that one will be born soon from the Bunker's inhabitants.
That lasts for all of 5 minutes of on-screen time though.
Naturally, it is born, but it doesn't kill the Mother this time because reasons.
On top of that, it is a hybrid creature, since she was knocked up by Stevens like a day earlier. Sure, whatever you say, Movie!
Ultimately, the Bunker now has TWO menaces to deal with (since it is a Sequel).
Can they stop the hybrid Gargoyle and this mutated Blob one too?
The latter proves to be quite dangerous as the Film needs to start offing the Supporting Players before the end. It is ultimately stopped by Stevens and the 'Mother' working together.
As for the Blob one, it...kind of just dies easily right afterwards. The survivors group back up and... oh, that's the End?!?
A less-than-overwhelming retread. To be honest, I wasn't *expecting* much more, but was hoping for it. First-time Director Stevens does okay here. I do miss the random forced perspective shots though.
The Film is shot well, but you should hope for that given the man behind the shot layouts. Seriously, he worked on Watchers II and Saving Private Ryan! There's one big, obvious problem- the Special Effects. With Jaws 2, its Director spoke of how you can never replicate that first moment when the Shark appears for the Audience, so you have to show it more and more. Someone didn't get that lesson…or couldn't afford to follow it.
Despite having one for the last Film, we don't get to ever see the original Gargoyle Suit(s?) in this Film outside of shadowy, far-away shots. Did they lose it? Did it get worn down from disrepair? I don't know. Regardless, the Film using POV Shots for the Monsters in THE SEQUEL feels like a real slap in the face. When we finally get a new creature- the Hybrid-, they make it covered in blood/goop and there's far less detail here. The addition of the semi-human face is nice, but isn't nearly enough.
Where did the money go? Oh right, you got Ermey and put lots of lights in the new Bunker. It is hard to ignore the seeming ego on display as Stevens is the only competent fighter, seen as the potential savior for the Bunker, gets the girl and saves the day...even if he also caused 80% of the deaths.
Seriously, he faces ZERO repercussions for bringing the fetus in there and making most of the Cast die. Dick.
With hindsight, they should have started with him and the woman together, showing their meeting in flashbacks. That would make it more understandable for him to possibly-doom everyone for her...instead of for a woman he met like 2 days ago and already hooked up with.
Regardless,
Within II is a bit of a retread that has a couple of new ideas that don't really mix things up. You've gotta love this
Rambo-style Poster highlighting ONLY its Star/Writer/Director too.
Next up, a recent $1 purchase that will hopefully pay off. Let's see if the Killer Cut is worth it. Stay tuned...
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