Ed. note: portions of this review originally appeared in a different post on this website.
The original Night of the Demons was already a crazy ride, but six years after that film’s release Brian Trenchard-Smith decided to try to follow up with another excursion into the Halloween-tinged atmosphere of this series with Night of the Demons 2. Bringing back Angela (Amelia Kinkade) and her rotten hijinks in Hull House, Trenchard-Smith anticipates the boredom of doing the same thing all over again by transitioning outside of that element and getting a bit more blasphemous in the process – including a Catholic boarding school housing a number of super-horny kids.
The first thing that should appeal to cult film fans is the sheer zaniness of Night of the Demons 2, which goes off the deep end with its approach to the subject matter. There’s a die-hard nun named Sister Gloria (Jennifer Rhodes) who loves planning Halloween parties and using holy water to vanquish evil; there’s Mouse (Merle Kennedy), Angela’s sister, who is constantly goaded into being tortured by her “friends”; and then there’s Shirley (Zoe Trilling), a total bitch mean girl character who is probably the best tease in the whole film.
Trenchard-Smith is no stranger to B-movie filmmaking; before this, he tackled projects like BMX Bandits, Dead End Drive-In, and Turkey Shoot. His track record immediately indicates a couple of key points: there’s going to be schlocky acting, and there’s going to be a bevy of boobies. Both are true of Night of the Demons 2, which often goes out of its way to show ample skin. And once the film gets to its final encounter with Angela and her band of demons (including one turned by vaginal insertion), Trenchard-Smith just lets the blood and guts fly with abandon. Here, Night of the Demons 2 trumps its predecessor with imaginative sequences that often challenge the “rules” of the first film, also attending a much more Catholic bent to the proceedings.
The Halloween elements are few and far between here – it’s not a mainstay of the film’s plot like Night of the Demons, but it does take place on Halloween and there are a few Halloween parties to add atmosphere. Still, all of that is secondary to a ridiculous movie about a nun battling demons with squirt guns and water balloons full of holy water, and I can’t think of a single person who shouldn’t have fun watching this movie on a chill October night.
Blu-ray
Unlike Night of the Demons, which got a 4K UHD release with a Scream Factory Collector’s Edition, the second installment only receives a Blu-ray option with a new HD scan from the film’s interpositive, most likely due to the inferior source. Here, the results are not significantly better than a previous 2013 Blu-ray release from Olive Films; that already boasted quite the strong transfer, and the limitations of the interpositive source are pretty apparent on this release. Facial textures and closeups feature a nice amount of detail, but the picture quality is consistently softer throughout; the film also features a fair share of out-of-focus shots that don’t help the transfer any. A medium-high grain body is present throughout, quite noticeable in the dark blue lighting sequences. One of the areas this Blu-ray does excel, though, is in its color grading, which features nicely saturated hues including purple and red, as well as an excellent display of inky blacks which are never crushed despite their intense levels. The brightness, too, is certainly toned down from the previous release and highlights shadows much better. Overall, the video quality is not a tremendous improvement over what’s already been available for this film, but it’s still a quality transfer.
For audio, Scream Factory provides a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.o stereo track which sounds fine without any noticeable flaws, even if it is a bit less punchy than it could be. Dialogue volume is good, and occasional bursts of music are managed well (see the Morbid Angel dance sequences). English subtitles are included as well, with some surprising incorrect additions to the Morbid Angel lyrics – a bit odd considering lyrics are readily available for the track.
The extra features are where this disc really shines, though. A number of new extras are combined with previously released options. A new audio commentary with Cristi Harris, Jennifer Rose, Darin Heames, and Johnny Moran accompanies the film; this is a fun listen that almost feels like a party, with all of the cast members commenting on their memories of shooting the film or sharing anecdotes about being in this campy horror movie. An older audio commentary with Brian Trenchard-Smith and director of photography David Lewis is also included.
A lengthy hour-long interview with Brian Trenchard-Smith and Kevin Tenney brings the two directors together to discuss the sequelization of Night of the Demons, what Trenchard-Smith took from Tenney’s original, and where he branched off for his own type of movie. Amelia Kinkade discusses her work in the film including her dance sequence with a particular dress, her direction in acting possessed, and how her work in Night of the Demons 2 helped prepare her for her work with dangerous animals in a 25 minute interview. Cristi Harris provides a 21 minute interview about playing Bibi, going nude as a final girl, and judging things from different time periods in terms of current political correctness. Special effects designer Steve Johnson gives a lengthy 48 minute interview talking about digital effects, being influenced by Dick Smith monster makeup handbook, and generally oscillating back and forth between work on the first and second films. Producer Jeff Geoffray is also interviewed discussing casting and the collaboration between writing and special effects.
Much like the first installment, Scream Factory has included a workprint version of the film in standard definition for those that want to check out a less finished version of the movie, along with 2 hours of dailies! A behind the scenes gallery and trailer round out the rest of the features.
EXTRA FEATURES
- NEW 2023 Film Transfer From The Interpositive
- Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo
- NEW Audio Commentary With Actors Cristi Harris, Jennifer Rose, Darin Heames, And Johnny Moran
- Audio Commentary With Director Brian Trenchard-Smith And Director Of Photography David Lewis
- NEW A Tale Of Two Demons – An Interview With Directors Kevin S. Tenney And Brian Trenchard-Smith (1080p; 1:10:02)
- NEW Trick Or Treat, Sucker – An Interview With Actor Amelia Kinkade (1080p; 25:20)
- NEW Red Curls And Screams – An Interview With Actor Cristi Harris (1080p; 21:21)
- NEW Mayhem Master – An Interview With Special Effects Artist Steve Johnson (1080p; 48:29)
- NEW A Sequel With Guts – An Interview With Producer Jeff Geoffray (1080p; 12:54)
- Night Of The Demons 2 – Workprint (In Standard Definition) (480i; 1:38:28)
- Dailies (480i; 2:09:34)
- Behind-The-Scenes Photo Gallery (no chapter breaks; 5:58)
- Trailer (1080p; 0:45)
Verdict
Night of the Demons 2 looks very good with this HD transfer, but the real draw is the bevy of new extras that are provided on this release; hours of bonus features make this well worth picking up for your Halloween festivities.
