THE BARN PART II (2022)
The Barn Part II takes place three years later with sole survivor Michelle (Lexi Dripps) in college and trying to move on from the events of that fateful night, by heading up the building of her sorority’s annual Halloween haunt. She and her sorority pal Heather (Sable Griedel) choose an old farmhouse as the location, and history repeats as the demonic entities she once escaped return to haunt the haunt on Halloween night and start killing anyone whose paths they cross. Will Michelle escape their grasp a second time?
Sequel to The Barn is again written and directed by Justin M. Seaman and sadly seems to be missing the enthusiasm, heart and Halloween spirit that made the first film so endearing. The sequel seems to meander along from scene to scene without any real energy or life. Even a dialogue sequence from horror icon Doug Bradley elicits more snores than scares. The film looks cheap, something the first did not, and comes across more like some local theater company production than a movie, with fake looking sets and even faker looking make-up effects. The demons look exactly like what they are, actors in rubbery masks. They look fake and aren’t scary. Even the abundant gore is hit or miss. The pace is slow, some scenes drag on longer than they need to, and the final confrontation lacks the impact it needs, like the fun climax of the first installment. This sequel is very by the numbers where the first flick had a lot of heart and spirit. This flick doesn’t even feel like it’s taking place on Halloween. On the plus side, Lexi Dripps makes a fun heroine as Michelle, as does cute and spunky Sable Griedel as Heather. There are some fun cameos by the likes of Joe Bob Briggs and Llyod Kaufman, though having forty plus year-old Diana “Darcy the Mail Girl” Prince playing a sorority girl is asking for a little too much suspension of disbelief. She’s fun, but it just doesn’t work. All in all, a disappointing sequel though one still hopes a Part III might get this indie horror franchise back on track. Also stars Linnea Quigley and Ari Lehman returning in their original roles, as Sara Barnhart and Dr. Rock respectively, expanded for this latest round of hijinks.
-MonsterZero NJ
MonsterZero NJ's Movie Madhouse 