the Story:
- When Jesse McLaughlin and his friend Charlie discover 'Gramps', Jessie's 175 year old grandfather, alive thanks to a crystal skull, there begins a bizarre series of events.
Facts:
- budgeted at 3 million dollars; shot in forty days.
- written within two weeks to fulfill demand.
- The house was actually a nuns monistary in down town LA.
- A scene involving the murder of John (Bill Maher), Kate (Lar Park Lincoln) and Lana (Amy Yasbek) by villain Slim Rezor, was cut from the shooting script at the last minute for budgetary reasons.
- Grossed 8 million domestically.
reviews
- "sequel to the original benefits from Ethan Wiley’s brisk directed elements of suspense, humor, and fantasy…John Ratzenberger puts in a funny appearance as an off the wall electrician, a sort of AC / DC W.C Fields." -- Bill Kaufman, Newsday
- The flick maintains a refreshingly throwaway attitude toward its lively material, emerging as a sort of EC Comics Meets Pee-wee's Playhouse. Vet thesp Royal Dano (Trouble With Harry) does an excellent job as an exhumed old-timer." -- the Phantom of the Movies, Daily News
My review.
***1/2 out of *****
Rather than simply ripping off his original script, writer/director Ethan Wiley creates a very new, inventive Haunted house story. This picture looks different, feels different, sounds different, yet maintains much of the quirky magic of the original. While not as good as the first installment, this pic ups the fun factor, and mixes genres in highly inventive fashion. It's part comedy, haunted house story, Western, time travel fantasy, making for a very unusual; often highly entertaining tale. Dano and Ratzenberger are standouts, while Gross maintains believability amidst the wonderfully off the wall plot.
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