Day 19 Waxwork II Lost In Time - Ten reasons why this movie rocks.

 Day 19 Waxwork II Lost In Time - Ten reasons why this movie rocks.

PLOT - Taking place moments after the Waxwork has burnt down to the ground, teenagers Mark and Sarah return home confused and slightly dazed on what exactly they witnessed and escaped from. It isn't long before a piece of the waxwork that wasn't destroyed, a severed hand finds itself in Sarah's apartment and brutally murders Sarah's stepfather. Framed for the murder, Sarah is on trial on the crime and shortly after she makes bail Mark and her return to an old friend's house trying to find any evidence to prove Sarah's innocence before it's too late. Discovering a strange compass, the couple open up a gateway that brings them to different worlds where the battle of good and evil are constantly being played out.

LOWDOWN - I believe I've written nearly a dozen posts on how much I truly adore and love the Waxwork movies, mostly it's very strange and underrated sequel Lost In Time. So instead of doing a typical review going on and on about how much I just love this movie, I decided to jazz things up a bit. This time I'm going to show why this movie is awesome. As far as sequels go, Lost In Time is one of my all time favorites. It's a wonderful crazy adventure and pays tribute to tons of horror classics. Nothing is better than watching Zach Galligan and the blond dude from Die Hard battle it out at the end of the film stumbling into different worlds. So here it is kids,why Waxwork is awesome...

1)Directed by Anthony Hickox. 

I've become a massive Hickox fan over the last couple of years. This man seriously in the late 80's and early 90's could do no wrong in my eyes. Even tho I haven't taken the time yet to watch his later works, I can't help but adore his films Waxwork, Waxwork II Lost In Time, Warlock 2 The Armageddon, and Hellraiser III Hell On Earth. The man had a very amazing direction to his stories and I loved the element of adventure in all of them. With a very visual take towards his movies, he was able to make a few truly awesome sequels, and some great original ideas himself. I still dream of the day Galligan and him will return to do another project!

2) Zach Galligan returns

I think it's safe to say I have a soft part in my heart for Mr. Galligan. Most of us remember and know him as the kids from Gremlins. I will forever remember him as Mark Loftmore from the Waxwork movies. A not to typical leading character, Mark Loftmore is a blend of several different things. Coming from money, he's a preppy, very handsome guy who seems to be a little goofy at times, and a ladies man (China and Sarah anyone?) When he wasn't getting his maid to write his history papers, Mark was a brave guy who went toe to toe with saving Sarah, battling zombies, and even doing an epic sword fight! In the sequel Galligan was smart enough to return and Hickox and him teamed up and yet again made complete movie magic. Mark yet again is trying to help poor Sarah and discovers as he stumbles into different worlds that he's a time warrior from God. With tons of awesome wigs, Galligan steals the show and even brings a tear to my eye at the end. 

 3) The score

This isn't exactly the soundtrack, in fact it's just a fan made video set to the music of Rain Man (...) but I still dig it! Sadly the Lost In Time soundtrack has yet to be released while the original score is on ITunes. If you ever watch the epic scene of when Mark and Sarah become surrounded by the horses they will know exactly what I'm talking about with the music. It still gives me nerd chills!

4) The amazing rap video at the end (...)

Hey it was the 90's, there's no blame here. Along with throwing everything but the kitchen sink into this movie, they also decided that there should be a rap video at the end. With some sick dance moves from the actors, and a rap group by the name of the LA Possy, pure gold was made when this happened. Also how can you beat lyrics like "Lost in time like a bug in a jar, no matter where you go...there you are."

5) It's villain

How can you top the evil Mr. Lincoln from the original? Simple...cast the blond guy from Die Hard. I love the scene where him and Galligan are sword fighting across all the different worlds. Very much like Shocker but with less metal music.

6) Bruce Campbell

When he wasn't getting beaten up by Sam Raimi, Bruce aka the king of horror did a few cameos/bit parts in some really awesome movies in the 1990's. Two of my favorites are of course Darkman and Escape From LA. One wonderful little treat for horror fans with Waxwork II is seeing Mr. Campbell camp it up with Galligan in the black and white section of the movie that's paying tribute to The Haunting. Nothing is better than watching Zach Galligan throw vinegar on Bruce's open chest wound. Classic...

7) The fact it "takes place" right after the original.

Gotta love when sequels are made and new actors step in with the makers hoping the audiance won't notice. Same thing happened with A Nightmare On Elm Street 4 The Dream Master. Well after a breakup with director Anthony Hickox, Ms. Foreman decided to bow out when they started getting ready to make the sequel to Waxwork. Instead they re-casted her with a much taller and different looking model. Nothing against this new actress, in fact I found her very sweet but she's no Foreman. Still, gotta love the fact Sarah looks nothing like she did in the first movie. Her hair is longer, and her dress is much shorter. Even Zach Galligan told me how funny he thought the casting for this was. Speaking of Zach love that his hair is longer and his shirt is a different color. But who's paying attention to detail...

8) Drew Barrymore

Speaking of epic cameos, how about this one. Actress Drew Barrymore appeared very briefly in Lost In Time as a girl laying in bed (I shit you not) this was at kinda of limbo in Drew's career (aka drugs) a few years later she cleaned up her act and appeared in the 90's classic Scream. Still I find this movie pretty cool that such a big actress (remember she had a lot of pretty good movies from the 80's under her belt before this) to appear in such a small cameo. Love when Zach falls back on the bed and looks at her before tipping his top hat.

9) It's unlike any sequel we've seen before...

Trust me, this is a good thing. Many argue on if this is a good movie or not, or if it's as good as the original. I sorta look at Lost In Time as it's own movie. It's really not like anything we've ever seen before. Yes it's a direct sequel with the same characters returning, but what I like about it is that it strays away from the original storyline. Instead of just trying to focus on the wax musuem, it takes a step further with the whole different worlds thing and even deals with time travel. This movie has it all, zombies, aliens, midevil knights, ghosts, black magic, and sword fighting. This is honestly an original crazy ride that has to be seen to be believed.

10) I own a crew shirt from it!

I'm sure everyone is tried of hearing about how I won this awesome Waxwork II crew shirt that was owned by actor Zach Galligan. But guess what...I'm gonna talk about it again! Muhahahaha! I won this little baby at a silent acution held by director Adam Green to raise money for the One Fund for Boston this part spring. Zach was awesome enough to donate his very own personal crew shirt from the movie for the auction which like a complete psycho I sat in front of the entire night and ended up winning. As a huge Waxwork fan this is a dream come true. Zach told me he got the shirt after that awesome bug in a jar music video and wore it a couple of times. It's a 22 year old shirt but still looks mint. Zach was awesome cool enough to sign it, and it now sits in my den along with the rest of my Waxwork collection. Couldn't think of a better place for it!