So finally we review the long awaited 'Revenge of The Boogeyman'... well I hope none of you were waiting with baited breath...I highly doubt it to your credit. Much sympathy should be forthcoming for myself and Will for having to sit through this travesty. If it wasn't enough to have to sit through The Boogeyman, we were subjected to pretty much sitting through a re-hash of the same movie by way of flashbacks.
For this movie we follow Lacey from the original as she visits a friend in the city. She relives the events of the first movie when she is convinced to commit her experiences to celluloid. Please gawd nooooooooooooo. We don't need to sit through any more 'Boogeymen' thank you very much (NB: There is another one.... Redux... we shall be visiting that in our future project after completing The Nasties). Anyways... I deviate. As I said, the first half of the movie is basically clips from 'The Boogeyman' with some explanations as to what is going on. Its effective enough and probably manages to make the previous installment look a little more interesting than it actually was. There are some odd additions though, like weird sound effects and odd echoing added to voices. I don't know what exactly the director was trying to achieve, but he failed miserably I'm sure.
When we've done with the flashbacks, we're basically treated to a pile of tosh. A lot of laughable deaths, bad acting and inexplicable situations. If you don't hear yourself say "But Why....." at least once while waiting the deaths or the lead-up to them, I would be somewhat surprised.
Amongst the deaths are (and before I start, I promise I'm not joking) deaths by electric toothbrush, shaving foam, ice tongs and a car exhaust, which a young woman was completely unable to tear herself away from. It would be hilarious if it weren't so frustratingly awful. She walks to the back of a car in a garage. A ladder falls and bangs into her backside, knocking her forwards and as she falls towards the ground at the back of the car, the sudden urge to open her mouth and wrap it around the exhaust pipe on her way down (no pun intended) emerges. If that isn't enough to stomach... as the car revs away (by way of an invisible foot) she keeps a hold of the exhaust!! I mean give it up woman dear!!! WTF was that all about???
As well as the deaths being... well crap, the aghast expressions on the victims faces before they meet their maker is even worse - a wide-mouthed gawp for about 10 seconds while comtemplating their demise. Also the lighting goes to pot and there is the reflection of a shard of glass (I neglected to say Lacey carries the original shard from the first movie around with her and a weird butler at her friends house discovers it and steals it) shone in their faces before anything kicks off. Do they clear off? Do they hell!! They stand around looking nonchalent, before we get the 10 second gawp and then the eventual laughable death.
I don't know what more I can say about it really. I realise this is a bit of a pants review, but the thought of going into detail about basically.... well nothing happening of any consequence was more than I could stomach at the minute.
The only thing I would pass on to you about this movie, is that I think everyone should avoid it at all costs. One for Nasties completists only!
BIG FAT AVOID.
Please use the comments bellow only to comment on this post - to write your own review, please comment on the main post for this movie.
Showing posts with label Revenge of the Boogeyman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Revenge of the Boogeyman. Show all posts
22 Aug 2012
Revenge of the Boogeyman - Will's Review
Before I even get to my thoughts on this movie, I should explain the delay.
Knowing that this movie was also known as "Boogeyman 2" I went right on ahead and got a copy of "Boogeyman 2". Except, when that movie started, the on screen title was "Boogeyman 2: Redux"...
This was enough to make me pause and launch into research mode: it seems that in 2002, Co-Director / co-writer Ulli Lommel went back and filmed some new scenes (of himself - he's also an actor in both versions of this movie) and re-edited "Revenge of the Boogeyman" into a whole new movie, which is available as "Boogeyman 2: Redux" or "Boogeyman 2: The Directors Cut" Which is a bit of a cheek as Bruce Star is the listed director on the original version. To confuse matters further, the original and redux versions both share an IMDB and Wikipedia page, as they are classed as different cuts of the same movie.
For the sake of completeness, we should probably go back and review Redux as part of our next project once we've finished with the DPP list...
Anyway, onto the real "Revenge of The Boogeyman":
I mentioned that Lommel co-wrote/directed this; What is actually meant by that is that of the movie's 80min runtime, he wrote and directed the 31mins that are recycled footage from the first film!
Yes, over a third of this movie is "flashbacks" to the first film; all of those moments are in the first half of the film, and I found it interesting that the first half of this film was not only much better than the second half, but was actually better than the original 'The Boogeyman'.
Not only is the pacing of original movie benefit from the "cliffs notes" approach, but the surrounding story is reasonably interesting; 6 months after the events of "The Boogeyman", Lacy (the girl from the original) has gone to visit her friend Bonnie in LA; and it just so happens that Bonnies husband, Mickey is a European Film director (Played by Lommel). It's not long before Lacy is telling her friends what happened 6 months ago - while Bonney and Mickey's butler, Joseph listens in...
Joseph also soon discovers that Lacy still has a piece of the mirror, which she carries around in a box full of charms, talismans, and crystals.
It's not long before Bonnie is throwing a party in Lacy's honour (inviting loads of Hollywood types along as she believes Lacy's story could be made into the movie that will launchLommel's Mickey's into mainstreem success). Meanwhile Joseph steals the mirror fragment and chaos ensues.
The Hollywood types are not painted in a remotely flattering light (word is that Lommel objected to the idea of a sequel, and this was his post-modern attack on the Hollywood system) constantly seducing people lower down the 'food chain' or being horrendously tactless to lacy, and it's no shame when they start getting picked off.
Sadly, this is where the film takes a rapid downturn, each death in the new part of the movie is preceded by a weird lighting effect; it goes completely dark, and then a spotlight (supposedly the reflection from the mirror) flashes around the area, usually in the face of the victims - but it is never clear (or rather, it is usually very clear, but entirely inconsistent) whether the characters are aware of the lighting change, or if it is just for our benefit. The victims also stand around looking blank long after things have taken a turn for the strange; one character gets smacked on the ass by a ladder and ends up with a car exhaust in her mouth, but then just crouches there, looking surprised, for a good 30 seconds while the car starts itself!
There also seems to be a strange obsession with keeping the killers identity a secrete even though they have the mirror fragment, which we saw Joseph steal!
An interesting novelty, and half-worth checking out if you haven't seen The Boogyman (or if you haven't seen it for a while), but far FAR from great.
Body Count: 13 (Including 6 of the 8 killings from the original)
Most Memorable Death: Make sure you rush all the way to the back!
Please use the comments bellow only to comment on this post - to write your own review, please comment on the main post for this movie.
Knowing that this movie was also known as "Boogeyman 2" I went right on ahead and got a copy of "Boogeyman 2". Except, when that movie started, the on screen title was "Boogeyman 2: Redux"...
This was enough to make me pause and launch into research mode: it seems that in 2002, Co-Director / co-writer Ulli Lommel went back and filmed some new scenes (of himself - he's also an actor in both versions of this movie) and re-edited "Revenge of the Boogeyman" into a whole new movie, which is available as "Boogeyman 2: Redux" or "Boogeyman 2: The Directors Cut" Which is a bit of a cheek as Bruce Star is the listed director on the original version. To confuse matters further, the original and redux versions both share an IMDB and Wikipedia page, as they are classed as different cuts of the same movie.
For the sake of completeness, we should probably go back and review Redux as part of our next project once we've finished with the DPP list...
Anyway, onto the real "Revenge of The Boogeyman":
I mentioned that Lommel co-wrote/directed this; What is actually meant by that is that of the movie's 80min runtime, he wrote and directed the 31mins that are recycled footage from the first film!
Yes, over a third of this movie is "flashbacks" to the first film; all of those moments are in the first half of the film, and I found it interesting that the first half of this film was not only much better than the second half, but was actually better than the original 'The Boogeyman'.
One small thing though - I don't remember John Carradine farting in the original:
I swear I did not add that sound effect!
Not only is the pacing of original movie benefit from the "cliffs notes" approach, but the surrounding story is reasonably interesting; 6 months after the events of "The Boogeyman", Lacy (the girl from the original) has gone to visit her friend Bonnie in LA; and it just so happens that Bonnies husband, Mickey is a European Film director (Played by Lommel). It's not long before Lacy is telling her friends what happened 6 months ago - while Bonney and Mickey's butler, Joseph listens in...
There is also a conversation between Joseph and Bonnie's daughter, which has an inexplicable voice-effect added to it, for no reason whatsoever:
Joseph also soon discovers that Lacy still has a piece of the mirror, which she carries around in a box full of charms, talismans, and crystals.
It's not long before Bonnie is throwing a party in Lacy's honour (inviting loads of Hollywood types along as she believes Lacy's story could be made into the movie that will launch
The Hollywood types are not painted in a remotely flattering light (word is that Lommel objected to the idea of a sequel, and this was his post-modern attack on the Hollywood system) constantly seducing people lower down the 'food chain' or being horrendously tactless to lacy, and it's no shame when they start getting picked off.
Sadly, this is where the film takes a rapid downturn, each death in the new part of the movie is preceded by a weird lighting effect; it goes completely dark, and then a spotlight (supposedly the reflection from the mirror) flashes around the area, usually in the face of the victims - but it is never clear (or rather, it is usually very clear, but entirely inconsistent) whether the characters are aware of the lighting change, or if it is just for our benefit. The victims also stand around looking blank long after things have taken a turn for the strange; one character gets smacked on the ass by a ladder and ends up with a car exhaust in her mouth, but then just crouches there, looking surprised, for a good 30 seconds while the car starts itself!
There also seems to be a strange obsession with keeping the killers identity a secrete even though they have the mirror fragment, which we saw Joseph steal!
An interesting novelty, and half-worth checking out if you haven't seen The Boogyman (or if you haven't seen it for a while), but far FAR from great.
Body Count: 13 (Including 6 of the 8 killings from the original)
Most Memorable Death: Make sure you rush all the way to the back!
Please use the comments bellow only to comment on this post - to write your own review, please comment on the main post for this movie.
29 Jul 2012
WEEK 63: Revenge of the Boogeyman
Alternate Titles : Revenge of the Bogeyman, Boogeyman II, The Boogey Man 2, The Boogeyman 2, Bogeyman 2
Year: 1983
Reviews / Author Comments due: 04/09/2012 Reviews put on hold while original version is sourced.
DPP Status: Removed from list July 1984
BBFC Status: No entry exists on the BBFC Website, The Redux version is currently available rated 18, although even this seems not to be listed with the BBFC.
IMDB: LINK
Wikipedia: LINK
DVD: Not Available (Note that the currently availbale Directors Cut / "Redux" version is a very different film)
Feel free to use the comments section of this post to add your own reviews and thoughts about this movie.
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