Taking two of the writers from the original mess that was House of the Dead, this sequel that no one in their right mind would ever ask for ends up being mildly entertaining. It has one thing going for it this time out: House of the Dead 2 knows it had no chance of succeeding, so the entire movie plays out as hilarious camp. It doesn't always work, and it's still an awful piece of schlock, but at least someone had the idea not to take this seriously.
As with the first film, there's little here that has to do with the video game it's based on. In fact, there's not much going on here that relates to the original as far as the story is concerned either. Since the vast majority of people were smarter than to see that one, it's all for the better. Instead of college kids racking up a kill count against a zombie armada, it's a special forces team.
Set on a college campus to skimp on the budget, House of the Dead 2 confines itself to a few same-looking locales. There are a few solid scares here, though zombie fans will likely be well prepared. There's nothing here that truly sticks out aside from a few moments of over-the-top comedy. You've likely seen this same movie before in a different form as nothing here breaks up the monotony of soldiers firing rounds into the heads of the undead.
Certain plot points are introduced and then dropped immediately. One of the soldiers is bitten by a mosquito and infected. It would have made an interesting device to carry the story on, yet we never hear of it again. The scene even plays out as if it's going to change the entire film, including another piece of the grating soundtrack that sounds like death is about to be brought down on every character.
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Article comments
1 - Chris Beaumont
I'd been looking forward to your take on this. I must say that I enjoyed the heck out of it and thought the zombie effects looked quite good. My review went up a couple of days ago, I felt inspired to write about it.
The mosquito guy does make a return, but I agree, the device could have been used to better effect.
Looking forward to the DVD release!
2 - Matt Paprocki
Yeah, I read your review too. It's rare to find two people who enjoy these flicks, and it's even more shocking when it's a sequel to something that awful.
Shame most people won't see it.
3 - Chris Beaumont
Well, perhaps someone will read our reviews and give it a shot. I bet it will do well as a rental when the DVD comes out next month.