Plot: What’s it about?
Lacey (Suzanna Love) has just survived a horrific ordeal, one which claimed many lives and almost took her life as well. As that kind of experience is somewhat rare, Lacey’s story is sought after and she agrees to retell the events she endured. All the blood, carnage, chaos, and fear are laid out for public record, a tale that chills even the most stoic of listeners. The story is one that has immense dramatic potential however, the kind of stuff movie producers would love to roll into theaters. So it is no surprise when Lacey is asked to allow her incredible tale to be turned into a motion picture. She is soon flown out to Los Angeles, an urban landscape far from the rural countryside where the hideous events took place. A slick producer has big plans for Lacey’s story and in fact, plans to hatch a franchise from the material. So not just one movie will be made, but an entire series of movies and of course, that means the original, true events are likely to be altered and exploited. A huge bash is thrown to celebrate the massive potential of the franchise, but those in attendance are in for some shocks. The party will turn out to be a hellish experience, as the chaos of Lacey’s past is about to return. Lacey was able to survive once, but can she manage to evade the ultimate evil once again?
As sometimes happens with sequels, Boogeyman 2 fails to live up to the standards of the original picture. But this is a sequel and a horror sequel at that, so I don’t think anyone was expecting a masterpiece here. Ulli Lommel (Olivia, The Boogeyman) returns as director, while his wife and financial supporter Suzanna Love is back in the lead role. Of course, Lommel is uncredited as the director, but come on, his work from the original Boogeyman is the basis for this sequel. And no, I don’t just mean the premise is continued, I mean that a ton of footage from the original movie is used in this picture. A few other sequels have taken this route, which involves numerous flashbacks to the original movie. That means many, many clips from the original and as such, a lot of the duration of Boogeyman 2 is recycled material. There is some new stuff to be found here, but there’s so much rehashed footage, it becomes quite frustrating. Once the fresh material arrives, some of the death scenes are hilarious, but nothing seems to click into place. All sequels are designed to cash in on the original, but this one comes off as especially rushed and desperate. Even the new material is weak and the premise is never executed well, this was just a haphazard production. So unless you’re a diehard genre buff, Boogeyman 2 is hardly worth a rental.
In the lead here is Suzanna Love, who is a fairly famous person, but not because of her work as a movie star. No, Love is an heiress to the Dupont fortune and as such, has immense amounts of cash at her disposal. And that cash was often used to finance motion pictures, with rumors of checks being written right on the set to ensure the continuation of the productions. So which movies did she finance? Well, she was married to Ulli Lommel, so do a little math and it should all become quite obvious. Love made sure her spouse’s films were paid for and at the same time, she took on roles within those pictures. In some instances, she even nabbed the lead role and that was the case with Olivia. But was she deserving of the lead roles she was given, or was she just given them based on her cash and connection to the director? I know some will disagree, but I think Love is a solid worker and in Boogeyman, she is quite passable. A more seasoned actress might have done better, but all things considered, I think her performance is decent. Other films with Love include The Devonsville Terror, Blank Generation, Cocaine Cowboys, The Boogeyman, Brain Waves, and A Smile in the Dark. The cast also includes Rhonda Alrich (Red Shoe Diaries, Dark Blood), Mina Kolb (Bye Bye Love, The Hollywood Knights), and genre regular, no make that genre staple John Carradine (Satan’s Cheerleaders, The Howling).
Video: How does it look?
Boogeyman 2 is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen, which is not enhanced for widescreen televisions. This presentation is solid in most respects, but the lack of anamorphic enhancement causes some ripples to surface. I saw a lot of jagged edges and shimmering in this transfer, which a 16:9 enhanced treatment would have solved, to be sure. The image is clean, thanks to a high quality source print, but with the jagged edges, detail is lessened and by turn, the visuals have a softer appearance. The colors and contrast are fine and show no signs of errors, but as I said, those jagged edges and shimmering are a pain in the ass. If this would have been anamorphic, I bet the visuals would have been excellent. But instead, Image has given us a plain letterbox edition and that has caused some flaws to arise.
Audio: How does it sound?
The original mono option is included here and while it isn’t too impressive, it is more than up to the needed tasks. I heard minimal hiss and distortion here, so age wasn’t really an issue with this mix, aside from the limitations of mono itself. The music is as full as mono allows, while sound effects are clean and well placed also. I had no trouble with the dialogue either, as vocals seemed crisp and at a proper volume balance, never hard to hear or understand. Not all that memorable, but a more than solid presentation.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes special clips from Boogeyman 3 & 5, as well as a special interview with director Ulli Lommel.
