Saturday the 14th Strikes Back (1988)

Good movie but grossly overrated

Fantastic!

Absolutely Brilliant!

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

What an idea to produce a sequel to 1981's utterly silly and forgettable horror-comedy "Saturday The 14th". But since in the glorious '80s decade film producers could get away with practically everything and due to the fact the original had been a modest video rental hit - how could it not have been, with its title clearly spoofing the immensely popular "Friday The 13th" movies at the time - it simply had to happen, I guess. So, 7 years later Howard R. Cohen returns to write & direct the lamentable "Saturday The 14th Strikes Back". It's the same concept of a family moving into a haunted house in a quiet neighborhood. In the cellar there's this crack in the floor that's supposed to unleash all the evil in hell on the following Saturday the 14th. It's up to the teenage son of the family to battle the evil and stop the invasion of ghouls & monsters. The film's simply beyond ridiculous and everything about it ranges from bad to worse, including the jokes. Although some moments are actually dumb enough to provide a couple chuckles. And it stars Ray Walston (from cult horror favorites like "Galaxy of Terror" and "Popcorn") as a senile gramps craving for eggs & bacon. But he doesn't save this movie. Far from, actually. All the other sources of laughter, will merely come from gazing at all the levels of ineptness. This bunch of silly nonsense includes: a repairman getting turned into a chicken, a hungry sofa, a cookie-munching critter under the bed, a musical interlude with female vampires singing, Michael Berryman as a mummy, the family's daughter getting sucked down the bathtub drain through the pipes and a lot of stock footage from other films during the climax where evil is supposed to emerge on a global level. It's not really that the movie manages to entertain with all this, it's more likely to keep you watching just because of the 'What the hell were they thinking?' question. Watch the two films back-to-back and you're sure to leave the room cross-eyed in desperate need for some intellectual stimuli. Or a good drink.

Well, the only really redeeming part of the movie for me is that it is one of the few movie with sleep mind control in it. The sister, the mother, the father and the sexy aunt are controlled twice during the movie while they sleep. What they are doing is pretty strange, but the scenes are kinda cool. If only the movie had been rated R, we would have gotten to see some sexier night attire.I haven't seen the whole thing, but I will one of these days.Overall, the movie could have been a lot better, but the execution was a little botched.

Horror fans, movie fans, and people in general are reluctant to say anything good about the 1981 horror spoof Saturday the 14th. All would have to admit though, that it is far funnier than this film, that is if they were tricked into seeing this one. It's pretty much the same story. The young boy in the family is the only one who notices the monsters wandering about the house. Simple humor can work, but it does not carry a second movie. It was pretty cute how in the first film the kid was trying to hide the monsters in order to protect his parents. This time the less likeable pre-teen is trying to warn his family and of course they don't believe him.I liked the first movie. I admit at first I was laughing at it, but later with it. I barely cracked a smile watching this video. One almost successful scene involved an English sport of horse shooting on TV, but the joke went on too long with the shooter showing up at their house. Another potentially funny moment spoofed the news sensation of the child falling down the well in the 80's. They used the joke twice because I guess they knew it was one of their better ideas.Comparing the sister-in-the-bathtub scenes in both movies shows why this one does not work. Having her get sucked through the pipes is just plain stupid while having the Creature from the Black Lagoon rise up next to her is edgy. Michael Berryman is in the medicine cabinet as a mummy, but his role as one of the leading monsters is not reason enough to see the film. I'm a big fan of Berryman and his monster is the best one in the movie, but the movie should probably be avoided.

Basically that's an easy way of saying that this movie was not one of his best. But basically the films about this Teenage guy who moves with his family to a new home and it's hunted. He is trying to stop the spirits from coming into the human world. It's Kinda weird and at times boring with low production budget that you can notice. I had a hard time watching it without screaming. Even though I like Jason Presson work, this was definatley not one that I liked as much. I have to say that cuz I did buy the DVD.