Ghoulies II (1988)
PLOT - The creatures from the first film escape and head to a traveling carnival where they terrorize a haunted house and all the teenagers who enter it.
LOWDOWN - Who doesn't know Ghoulies. Yep, we all remember those classics VHS covers of the little green monsters coming out of the toilet. In the 1980's, many movies decided to cash in on the Gremlins craze and such movies as Critters and Ghoulies were made to join in on the fun. Back at school my friend Amanda brought the double feature DVD to class where we both sat and watched both Ghoulies I and II back to back and honestly spent half the movie laughing our asses off and getting zero work done.
The first Ghoulies told the story of a young man and his girlfriend taking over an old house that was passed down to him. Here he discovers black magic and a spell to summon these little demons from Hell called ghoulies. Durning a party, the man summons the ghoulies and one by one the unsuspecting adults get picked off one by one. In this sequel, which takes place shortly after the original we follow and unknown man as he runs from people in red cloaks (members of a black magic cult?) and tries to dispose of the ghoulies he has in a bag. Hiding in an old car garage, he goes to toss them in a large vat of acid before he accidentally falls in himself and the ghoulies are set loose. It's there that a large tractor trailer pulls in from a traveling carnival. Driven by teenage Larry, and his old drunk uncle who run the haunted house Satan's Den. The ghoulies hitch a ride in the truck and the following morning as the haunted house is being set up they hide.
It's here the audience learns the owner of the carnival has come to visit, putting his foot down and shutting down any of the attractions that aren't making money. His number one target...Satan's Den. That night the ghoulies come out of hiding and begin to terrorize the teens who buy tickets to walk through the house. Thinking it's part of the gags, the people of the town all rush to Satan's Den to get a first look at these "demons" who are running a muck through the house. It isn't long before people begin to disappear, the the monsters are let loose to cause some madness at the carnival and summon even bigger and badder monsters from hell!
I honestly don't think I ever laughed so hard before in my life watching a movie. While the first movie was classic camp fun, the second movie turned up the volume. Ghoulies II doesn't ever lack with pace, it's filled with fun characters, laughable moments, and a huge finale which is nothing less than amazing. With the Ghoulies front row and center, they truly shine in this movie. You'll never see anything until you see a giant ghoulie eating little ghoulies.
With a handsome leading man (Oh Damon Martin..."sigh..." where the fuck are you?) a slightly older female lead (the close ups between both are horrible!) and a cast of reconizable Sasha Jenson, William Butler, and Phil Fondacaro, this film is a great movie to first show a child if they seem interested in horror or wanna watch a "scary movie". It isn't voilent, there's no sex, and it isn't really that scary. In fact I find the ghoulies pretty cute! This is a sequel that's fun, a movie to watch with a crowd of friends.
Also can we take a moment to talk about Damon Martin and Phil Fondacaro dancing down the stairs "A wee but little!" or Butler's line "Come on guys, stop fooling aroundddd."
So Ghoulies II, a fun sequel that's better than the first, and a movie that you should get trashed while watching so in case you wanna follow it up with Ghoulies III: Ghoulies go to college you'll be so drunk you won't remember it!
4 Stars!
