Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!

When I read the summary for Silent Night, Deadly Night 3, I had to ask myself, "wait, didn't Ricky die at the end of Part 2?" And the answer is, sorta. Ricky's reign of terror in Part 2 ended with him getting shot by the police. But just before the movie went to credits we got a shot of Ricky opening his eyes and smiling, followed by an unmatched shot of a knife being thrust at the camera. So, he lived, sorta. It would seem that Ricky's life was saved by some enterprising doctors who wanted to play God. This involved just barely bringing him back to life and chopping the top of his head off so his brain could be seen through a plastic bubble. Sounds like modern medicine run amok, yes? Well, what if I told you that he's brought back to life by a blind girl with ESP? It doesn't sounds so crazy now does it? No, I didn't think so.

Rating: 34%

(Image from Wikipedia)

Halloween II

Halloween II isn't as good as the original Halloween, but how could it be? The music isn't as good as the original. The mask isn't as good as the original. Laurie gets sidelined for the bulk of the movie while she recovers from the injuries she sustained during the original. And it sprinkles in some unnecessary back story which will eventually be purged from the mythology of the series. It just doesn't cut the mustard. It cuts a few throats, sure, but not the mustard. And yet, it's not all bad. I've seen The Curse of Michael Myers and Halloween: Resurrection. It's definitely better than those two movies.

Rating: 70%

(Image from Wikipedia)

Scream 2

Scream 2 was released almost one year to the day after the original Scream and it shows. It seems to have been made to capitalize on all of the elements of the original that surprised audiences and critics, while failing to deliver on some of the aspects that made the original so good. The humor is amped up and the cast features even more hip, young television actors. It's also very meta, with the characters recognizing and pontificating on the fact that they're in a sequel. Moreover, it features commentary on the success of the original film with the introduction of the film-within-the-film, Stab, which dramatizes the events of the first film. It fails to deliver a story on par with the original, recycling the framework from the first film without injecting enough original content.

Rating: 65%

(Image from ca.movieposter.com)