TOMB OF NOSTALGIA: PET SEMATARY TWO (1992)

PET SEMATARY TWO (1992)

Sequel to the 1989 Stephen King book-based movie opens with the accidental on-set death of actress Renee Matthews (Darlanne Fluegel) right in front of her teen son Jeff (Edward Furlong). His veterinarian father Chase (Anthony Edwards) decides to get him as far from L.A. as possible and moves them across country to remote Ludlow, Maine. Ludlow is still affected by the events involving the Creed family and frightening strikes twice as Jeff and his new friend Drew (Jason McGuire) bury Drew’s murdered dog Zowie in the infamous “Pet Sematary” …along with the dog’s killer, Drew’s a-hole of a stepfather Sheriff Gus Gilbert (Clancy Brown). Bad idea on both counts!

Spooky sequel is directed by Mary Lambert, who also directed the first, from a script by Richard Outten. It’s more of an over-the-top and fun movie with Clancy Brown’s diabolically evil reanimated sheriff stealing every scene and making for an entertaining and creepy villain. There are some legitimately spooky moments, some very bloody kills, too and it is thick with atmosphere, despite its somewhat off-the-wall tone. Though it is early 90s, it still feels like an 80s flick and wisely plays its carnage and more ludicrous story straight. Why no one, including his own wife, seems to realize the jerk of a sheriff is a reanimated corpse, complete with gaping neck wound from the revived and pissed off Zowie, is amusingly hilarious in itself. Even with some unintentional goofiness, it is still a dark and effective chiller all the more entertaining because it mixes the scares and more oddball moments very well. Technically it looks great with Russell Carpenter’s unsettling cinematography and is given extra atmosphere from Mark Governor’s spooky score. Flick was a box office disappointment in 1992 and was not received well critically either, but all these years later and with the proper nostalgia, it is actually a fun night on the couch with the appropriate beverages.

The cast here is good. Furlong makes a solid lead as the emotionally wounded Jeff and even he gets to play a little darkly over-the-top when Jeff decides to try to reanimate mom you know where. Anthony Edwards is good as his concerned father who is starting to realize something very weird is going on in town. Clancy Brown is an over-the-top blast as the douche sheriff reanimated as an even bigger dirtbag. He simply gives every scene all he’s got and takes the villainous ball and runs with it enthusiastically. Jason McGuire is also good and sympathetic as the bullied Drew. A boy picked on by classmates and his stepfather. Jared Rushton is also very effective as local bully Clyde Parker and Lisa Waltz is solid as well as Drew’s mom Amanda who is too afraid of Gus to defend her son against his harsh discipline. A good cast 

Whether you think this is a good movie or a worthy sequel to a film now regarded as a classic is up to you. It also depends on how serious you want to take it. If you just accept it as its own thing and just go with it, you can have a lot of fun with Pet Sematary Two. It has some very spooky and atmospheric moments, some good gore and a delightfully over-the-top and sinister bad guy, even before he returns from the grave. It has a good cast, and, with the addition of teen bully Clyde, not one but two villains who get to dial it up to 11 once they get buried in that place that Ludlow citizens should know enough to avoid…

…. but if they did, there wouldn’t be a movie and a sequel now would there?

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 3 (out of 4) drill bits!

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TOMB OF NOSTALGIA: LADY IN WHITE (1988)

LADY IN WHITE (1988)

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I have to admit I only just saw this for the first time a short while ago. One of those flicks that slipped between the cracks. I’ve watched it twice now and, to be honest, can’t say that it really worked for me. Film, based on a real legend from Rochester N.Y., is considered a bit of a classic and tells the story of young Frankie Scarletti (Lukas Haas) who sees the ghost of a murdered girl and is almost himself killed by the man responsible. Now the spirits of the girl and her mourning mother, known as The Lady In White, won’t let Frankie rest till he solves the mystery of who done it…a mystery that could add him to the list of the fiend’s young victims.

Biggest problem for me is that the tone of the film is all over the place. One minute it’s a whimsical Spielberg-ish comedy such as in the opening scenes, the next minute a supernatural thriller in a Disney vein complete with floating, glowing specters and the next, a serious drama dealing with racism and the murder of little kids. It goes back and forth and writer/director Frank LaLoggia never settles on exactly what film he is trying to make. And when it comes to it’s more whimsical moments, the whimsy often slips into outright silly. LaLoggia does have a sumptuous visual eye and the film looks great, especially during the fairy tale-like supernatural scenes but, those scenes and the slapstick humor don’t gel with the more serious issues such as the murder of young children and the accusing of the wrong man solely because he is black. LaLoggia’s scene staging is also a bit clumsy and his work with actors isn’t much better as most of the performances across the board are wooden and even from veteran actors like Len Cariou and Alex Rocco, though Haas does good work for a kid his age. The fact that Frankie’s family is filled with cartoonish Italian stereotypes also weakens any potency the film tries to build…especially when it tries to make statements about racism and prejudice…and the dialog all-around is weak at times. Not to mention that we the audience have solved the who-dunnit long before the last act reveal. Overall, the film comes across as very corny, silly and a bit bombastic at times, which overpowers some of the simple charm it develops in quieter moments. The FX are also pretty cheesy by today’s standards and it’s hard to be chilled by what they represent. On the plus side, there is an atmospheric score by LaLoggia himself and Russell Carpenter provided the beautiful cinematography which really shines when the film delves into it’s more fantastic elements.

So, I can’t really say I like the film, because I really didn’t. There are some nice fantasy sequences and the visuals are sumptuous but, the tone is uneven and LaLoggia isn’t really a good director when it comes to getting performances out of the actors and staging scenes. He doesn’t seem to know what kind of film he really wants to make and never decides on a tone to properly set his tale. He also is overindulgent when subtle was working just fine. The film has some nice moments but, is too scatterbrained to be completely effective. Overall, it’s a bit of a silly film that has serious aspirations that just don’t blend with the more whimsical and fantastic elements. At least it is far better than his Fear No Evil, which is absolutely awful.

-MonsterZero NJ

2 ladies in white.