Sunday, August 2

Some quick thoughts on Ghoulies II (1987)

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Eat shit you green asshole!...wait a minute, you already did! AHHHHHHH!!!"

Yes sir, I actually watched Ghoulies II last night. Stop looking at the screen like that. I can feel your damned judging eyes.

This sequel is some kind of strange and tiny fundamental part of my development. My local FOX affiliate used to have creature features on Saturday and Sunday afternoons when I was young(er). Back then, like many of you know, horror flicks on the tube didn't fuck around. Despite being after the hokey horror host phase; a man named Joe Bob was on the "we know drama" network, USA stayed Up All Night, and quasi-horror/dramas like Mary Shelly's Frankenstein weren't fit for air. No, my diet were more credible frights like Waxwork, The Howling, Squirm, and Return of the Living Dead. Then there was Ghoulies II.

They never aired the first in the series to my chagrin. I was stuck watching a dick carnival owner get his ass eaten, Royal Dano probably really drunk on camera, and Phil Fondacaro battle creatures his height. I grew to hate sitting down in anticipation on weekends to see what was on the slate and seeing that damn big rig pulling into a gas station at night--but I watched it anyway.

Visiting this crap now, via Vestron's VHS, it's particularly tame and has a thick "made-for-TV" vibe. The primary reasons to watch are the aforementioned boozed Dano and short Fondacaro performances. According to the IMDB, the violence was trimmed to PG-13, so that explains the dearth of red stuff. I've yet to see Ghoulies, and even though this is bland, I can't help but root for this and Critters as they're riffs on the popularity of Gremlins which I can't seem to warm to.

And there's this, that's right kiddies, f**k like a beast while enjoying the ghoulies!


3 comments:

The Man-Cave said...

I miss Up All Night on USA so much! They use to play ROTLD and other cool horror flicks sometimes.

As a Ghoulies II victim myself, I always thought Dano was really drunk on-camera so it's funny you wrote that. Don't go out of your way to see the first one unless you like low-grades like me.

Jenn said...

I love Ghoulies and I think I love Ghoulies II even more! I think it's the whole carnival thing - if a movie has a fucking carnival in it, I don't care, I love it out of principle. And I love the little cat looking ghoulie. He even meows! Tell me what's not to love about that?

I Like Horror Movies said...

I am 50% with Jenn on this one, love Ghoulies 2 for the carnival action and the puppet action but Ghoulies I just cant get into. I dont recommend the first if you didnt like the second Jay, and I think it goes without saying that 3 and 4 are shite

...do you dare tread upon the staircase?

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